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Cross Country Skiing and Backpacking
The upper Arkansas Valley and the Buena Vista area are known as the Banana Belt. This is because the Sawatch Range shoves the Jet Stream up and the storms follow it. This means we have very mild temperatures in the winter and very little snow in the town. However, our mountains still get dumped on throughout the winter creating fantastic conditions for cross country skiing. With the San Isabel National Forest out our back door there are miles and miles of trails and roads for skiing. There is everything for every level of skier and snowshoe enthusiast. Many of the roads into the mountains provide great beginner opportunity and there are numerous trails for the experts as well. The Collegiate Peaks Wilderness offers excellent back country experiences. There is nothing like the experience of the Colorado Rockies in the winter. Everything is covered in white and the silence and solitude allows anyone to "get back to nature".
The owner has skied these mountains for 30 years and knows all the secret and best places for getting away from it all and getting the wilderness experience. The staff can point anyone to the skiing and snowshoeing spot that fits their own level of expertise. We have maps of the area and the knowledge to tell you how to get there.
Peak Bagging
Colorado has 54 peaks over 14,000 feet and Buena Vista has the longest continuous range of 14,000 foot peaks in the continental United States right out our back door. The Sawatch Range begins near Salida and runs north past Buena Vista to Leadville. It includes the Collegiate Peaks which are due west of Buena Vista. It also includes Mount Elbert which is Colorado's tallest peak. There are many trailheads for climbing the Fourteeners within 20 miles of the Hi Rocky Store. The store has topographic and U.S. Forest Service maps for the area. The staff at the Hi Rocky is knowledgeable about the area and can tell climbers where the trailheads are and the conditions for the area at any time of the year so that trips can be planned. There are many books in the store that are guide books to climbing the Fourteeners. We also have Fourteener T-shirts with all the peaks on them so that you can check off the peaks that you have bagged.
