Skiing George's Bowl in Cardiff Fork

Fast Facts:

• Start Elevation: 7,273

• Peak Elevation: 10,025

• Daily Vertical: 4,287 (see Strava)

• Distance: 8.83 miles

• Elapsed Time: 5:01

• Date: April 18, 2025

If you’re looking for a safer option on a high avalanche danger day, George’s Bowl is a solid choice to consider. That said, on one of my tours into Cardiff Fork, a slide came down from the Deep Pockets run and reached the skin track—so it's important to stay aware of overhead hazards.

To reach George’s, start by parking at the Cardiff Fork lot. From there, skin or walk along the road until you pass the outhouses, then head right toward Kessler Peak. Follow the summer road for about 2.4 miles—which took us just over an hour—before turning right (west) toward the south ridge of Kessler Peak.

This area is popular, so there’s usually a well-defined skin track in place. The ascent is straightforward and non-technical, with no overhanging terrain to be concerned about. From the turnoff on the summer road, it took us about an hour to reach the ridge—covering 1.2 miles and climbing from 8,400 to 10,000 feet.

As you ascend, you’ll get a great view of the various lines within George’s Bowl. One of the best features of this zone is its consistently pitched slope of about 30 degrees, offering between 600 and 800 feet of vertical descent —depending on where you choose to stop and transition.

We had a late season storm that delivered 12" in BCC on April 18th. It is always a bonus powder day anytime you get a chance to ski pow post tax day. The storm was a two part storm that started out wet and got colder and dryer over the 24 hours. We elected to ski George's because we were concerned that things would sluff/slide on the old hard surface on steeper terrain. It only felt like this area received bout 8" so you could still feel the firm layer below on the skin up but the snow bonded well with that layer. I thought it would ski more like dust on crust but when I made my first few turns, I was pleasantly surprised that it skied well and didn't really feel the hard pack below.