Backpacker Magazine – Fall/Winter Gear Guide 2010

Top 25 Winter Trips: United States

Find the best skiing, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and winter camping trips in the U.S.

by: Dennis Lewon and Casey Lyons

Tags:
• Minnesota
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• Utah
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• Colorado
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• West Virginia
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• Destinations
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• California
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• Mt. Whitney
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• Tennessee
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• New York
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• Yosemite
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• Skiing
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• Snowshoeing
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• Winter Camping
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Snowshoe/XC Ski
Greeter Falls, Savage Gulf Natural Area, TN Skirt 800-foot-high bluffs, then descend to an icy, two-tiered, 65-foot high falls on this 5.6-mile point-to-point. state.tn.us
» Algonquin Peak, Adirondack Park, NY Pack an ice axe, and head 4.1 miles (one-way) from Adriondak Loj to views of Lake Placid from the 5,114-foot summit. apa.state.ny.us; Trip ID 428631*
» Dewey Point, Yosemite  The 7.2 easy miles from Badger Pass Visitor Center offer views of snow-tufted Half Dome, Clouds Rest, and El Capitan. nps.gov/yose; Trip ID 51745

Ski
Southeast Flank, Humboldt Peak, CO In spring, skin and scramble to the 14,064-foot summit, and descend 5,000 feet through a steep gully and forested slopes. fs.fed.us/r2/psicc
» Northwest Couloir, Pfeifferhorn, UT Bootpack 4.5 miles up this 11,326-foot Wasatch Range peak, then shoot down a 50-degree descent to a 50-foot rappel over an ice cliff. climb-utah.com
» Big Jay, VT Find fresh, thigh-deep powder on 3,800-foot Big Jay’s east face— under the rope at Jay Peak Ski Resort. jaypeakresort.com

Camp
Outpost Camp, Mt. Whitney, CA Situated in a wide meadow below granite-hemmed Mirror Lake, this snow-quieted camp sits 3.8 miles from Whitney Portal. fs.fed.us/r5/inyo
» Roaring Plains, Monongahela NF, WV Park in Laneville for this 12.5-mile snowshoe circuit on the South Prong Trail to a trailless ridge with views of Seneca Rocks. fs.usda.gov/mnf
» Oak Island, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, MN Thick ice along the coast of Lake Superior allows only-in-winter access to offshore arches and promontories. nps.gov/apis


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