Trip
Backcountry Nordic Skiing – Brainard Lake backcountry nordic ski tour. CMC South and Little Raven trails.
Brainard Lake backcountry nordic ski tour. CMC South and Little Raven trails.
Contacts
- Sat, Mar 16, 2024
- Northern Colorado
- Backcountry Nordic Skiing
- Adults
- Easy to Moderate
- Moderate
- Mileage: 4.0 mi
- Elevation Gain: 540 ft
- High Point Elevation: 10,600 ft
- Pace: 2 mph
- 2 (6 capacity)
- FULL (2 capacity)
- Cancellation & Refund Policy
Meet at the Fort Collins South Transit Center, 4915 Fossil Blvd., Fort Collins, CO 80525 for carpooling.
From College Ave., west onto Fairway Lane; Transit Center is south of Harmony Rd.
We'll meet in the NE corner of the parking lot. Look for a white Subaru Outback (mine!).
Meet at 0615 for an 0630 departure from the Transit Center. This should put us at the Brainard Lake TH by 0800. It'll be crowded on a Saturday, so we want to get there early.
If you're coming from elsewhere, be at the Brainard winter lot by 0800.
Enjoy a moderate 5.5 mile/600 ft loop in the Brainard Lake area. We'll do the loop in the CCW direction so we have the "big" downhill at the end! Other than the downhill from Lefthand Reservoir back to the parking lot, which is pretty sustained, it's mostly just rollers elsewhere. The CMC South and Little Raven trails are skis only.
It's impossible to know what the conditions will be almost two weeks out, so be prepared for anything from warm and sunny with old, hard snow; to cold and windy with inches of fresh.
Just to make sure we're all on the same page, you need to request approval before signing up for this outing. In your request, please include the following: the CMC chapter you belong to; a description of your skis/boots (e.g. full metal edge, waxless skis with heavy leather NNN/BC boots); your fitness level and skiing experience.
See https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/us/colorado/cmc-south-trail-and-little-raven-trail?mobileMap=false&ref=sidebar-static-map
Please note: This outing will be reserved for members of the NOCO CMC group until 3/08/24 @ 5pm. After that, registration will be open to members of any group.
Required Equipment
SKIS ONLY. You'll want backcountry touring skis with at least a partial metal edge (full metal edge preferred). NNN/BC or 3-pin binding or equivalent. AT gear will work, but would be overkill. You won't need full length skins, but depending on conditions kicker skins might come in useful if you have them. NO track or skate skis. This is a backcountry, ungroomed trail (albeit a relatively moderate one).