Guided Hut Trips in Colorado

Choose Your Hut Activity

Here at Colorado Adventure Guides we are honored to have access to some of the best alpine cabins in the Colorado high-country. There are many different ways to experience your time spent out in a hut and so the first step into your winter hut-based journey is to decide what you are looking to get out of it. Here we have a few different options for you to choose from. Your choice will dictate the dates and huts that we would have available for your specific activity.

• Hut-Based Avalanche Course
• Intro to Backcountry/Hut Tripping Course
• Hut-Based Guided Skiing Experience

Hut Based Avalanche Courses

Immerse yourself into the backcountry on your avalanche education course. Imagine spending the weekend with avalanche professionals in the backcountry, learning about snow safety while sipping tea in front of a crackling wood stove. Backcountry skiing or snowboarding right to the hut to enjoy a cold beer while debriefing the day. For the 2022/2023 season we will be offering both the 3-day AIARE 1 course as well as the 3-day AIARE 2.

Price: $895

• Jan 16-18th : AIARE 2 @ Carner’s Cabin
• Jan 20-22nd: AIARE 1 @ Sisters Cabin
• Feb 27-Mar 1st : AIARE 1 @ Francie’s Cabin
• Mar 24-26th : AIARE 1 @ Carner’s Cabin

Intro to Backcountry/Hut Trip Courses

CAG has partnered with the Summit Huts Association to offer backcountry ski/splitboard and hut trip education! Join us on this 3 day course to learn the ins and outs of backcountry travel in the winter and how to properly execute a winter hut trip. Topics to be covered in the course include gear overviews, basic skinning technique, intro to terrain management, avalanche awareness, and we will also spend time learning the proper etiquette to using a backcountry hut. Students and instructors will work together to prep and cook meals, gather water, keep the fire going, ect.  This 3-day adventure includes the following:

• 3 days and 2 nights at a Summit Huts backcountry hut
• CAG professional Ski or Splitboard Guide
• Use of Ortovox Safety Equipment: Beacon, Shovel, Probe, backpack

Price:  $745

Dates:  Feb 6-8th @ Sisters Hut

Guided Skiing/Riding Hut Trip

Are you looking for the ultimate backcountry skiing and/or riding experience? Then join us on one of our hut-based backcountry skiing trips at Janets Cabin! For 3 days your primary focus will be to relax at the hut and ski your face off! This 3-day adventure includes;

• 3 days and 2 nights at a Summit Huts Classic
• CAG professional Ski or Splitboard Guide
• Easy access to exceptional backcountry skiing and snowboarding for all levels
• Get the goods while increasing your knowledge of backcountry travel and avalanche preparedness
• Meals (breakfast and dinners)
• A complimentary ride on a Copper Mtn’s lift to the backcountry gate and guided touring to the hut near Searle Pass

Dates: Contact us for availability

We can also guide you and your group out of any of the huts we operate out of if you already have the hut/cabin booked! Contact us for guide availability.

Learn About the Huts

Here at Colorado Adventure Guides we are honored to have access to some of the best alpine cabins in the Colorado high-country. Enjoy exclusive access to Duck Lake at Timberline (formerly Alpendorf on the Lake) for access to incredible backcountry skiing or Squaretop expeditions near Guanella Pass. Take an avalanche course in the cozy ambiance of Anna’s Cabin, situated on the Continental Divide near Leadville, CO. Or, as the proud Guide Partner of the Summit Huts Association, we provide a variety backcountry courses and guiding services at Sisters Hut, Janets, and Francie’s Cabin. Explore the details below!

Carner’s Cabin is privately owned and located just south of Fremont Pass between Copper Mountain and Leadville. This rustic cabin offers and easier approach, wonderful vistas and seclusion, and it sits on the Continental Divide at 11,700 feet. The surrounding San Isabel National Forest allows visitors instant access to backcountry skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobile activities. The kitchen is stocked with pots, pans and a gas burner range and stove. There is no running water at the cabin, so melting snow for water is crucial for drinking and washing dishes. There is a compostable toilet indoors for easy access during the winter. For the 2022/2023 we will be running a variety of courses based out of Carner’s Cabin including AIARE 1, AIARE 2, and Steep Skiing Course.

Francie’s Cabin is the most popular huts in Colorado, and for a reason. Owned By Summit Huts the cabin was built in 1994, and is situated near 11,300ft in the popular Crystal Lakes drainage of the Ten-Mile Range. The cabin is equipped with firewood, propane cook tops, cooking and eating utensils (pots/pans/plates/flatware/mugs/glasses), toilet paper, paper towels, and cleaning supplies. As with most winter huts, snowmelt is used for a water supply. Join us for the 2022/2023 season for courses out of Francies Cabin including Intro To Backcountry Skiing Course and AIARE 1. Do you have the cabin booked and just looking for a guide? We can do that to! Contact us for availability!

Located at timberline in the Guller Creek Drainage next to the Copper Mountain Ski Resort, Janet’s Cabin is a fine hut that attracts both novice and expert skiers. The hut requires a little more work to get to than others on our list and was completed in 1990 by Summit Huts Association. For the 2022/2023 season we will be running a guided Ski Hut Trip out of the Cabin. Smaller touring groups will be created based on ski/ride experience. This 3-day adventure includes:

• 3 days and 2 nights at a Summit Huts Classic
• CAG professional Ski or Splitboard Guide
• Easy access to exceptional backcountry skiing and snowboarding for all levels
• Get the goods while increasing your knowledge of backcountry travel and avalanche preparedness
• Meals (breakfast and dinners)
• A complimentary ride on a Copper Mtn’s lift to the backcountry gate and guided touring to the hut near Searle Pass

Sisters Cabin is the newest Summit Huts Division hut and currently operates as a winter-only hut from November through April. Sisters Cabin incorporates state-of-the-art design and green-building techniques to minimize environmental impact and offer guests an experience similar to those they have come to expect at Summit Huts larger flagship huts. For the 2022/2023 season we will be running AIARE L1 and Intro to Backcountry Ski/Splitboard Courses out of Sisters. Do you have the cabin booked and just looking for a guide? We can do that to! Contact us for availability!

Duck Lake is our most historical hut location and is situatued on Guanella Pass at 11,000 feet in the Front Range of Colorado. The original lodge and cabins, known as “Alpendorf on the Lake” served as the family get away for the Coors family. From 1955 until 1957, when the lodge burned down, Duck Lake operated as a small ski area with one chair lift moving skiers up approximately 500 feet to enjoy turns down to the cabins. While the Lift has stopped the turns have not and we are now operating two rustic cabins that host a variety of backcountry adventures and is immediatly adjacent to the abandoned Geneva Basin Ski Resort. We operate Intro to Hut Trips and Intro to Backcountry Skiing/Splitboarding Courses out of this location. Due to our agreement with the property owner, all guests to Duck Lake must be accompanied by a Colorado Adventure Guides staff member.

The Tundra Hut sits below the Continental Divide at 11,594 ft. in a beautiful alpine basin, surrounded by 13,000 ft. peaks. Large windows give you uninterrupted views of Argentine Peak, Mt. Wilcox, and Argentine Pass. It is surrounded by Arapahoe National Forest, with terrain options range from mild to wild. In the winter it is a 5-mile approach that climbs 2,000 ft. Feel free to contact us if you already have the hut reserved, and are just looking for a guide to join you!