The idea to try riding over Ophir Pass developed while I was researching a MTB trip to the US in 2005, I was planning to meet up with a group of friends from Texas who I had met in 2002 on a ride through Canyonlands National Park near Moab Utah. I had read an article about a rider who had started in Silverton, rode over the summit and finished in the small village of Ophir.
My plan was for half the group to start from the Silverton side, the other half from Ophir, meet at the summit and then ride down the opposite side, using the vehicles that had been left by the other group to return to our base in Telluride.
I had mentioned it by email to the group before I left Australia, the response was non existent. When we met up in Durango I tried again, three out of the seven showed some interest. When we arrived in Telluride the number of starters had dropped to 2 which included me. On the morning of the ride it was down to just me. I asked for a lift to the township of Ophir so I could do it on my own, after planning this for months I had no intention of not riding it. Rich and his son David then decided to do it with me, I am sure it was not something they really wanted to do but the thought of a novice MTB Aussie getting lost in the mountains, sliced and diced by a bear or falling off the edge was not something they wanted to have on their MTB resume.
We drove through the village of Ophir and continued on for a few miles, the grade at this point was rideable but we decided we would need all the help we could get to make it to the summit by bike. From Ophir at 9695 feet we could see the road snaking its way to the summit at 11789 feet. It was a long long way to the top of the pass. We parked in a small clearing, double checked our hydration packs, loaded the power bars and set off. After half a mile the grade became so steep we had to walk the bikes, from that point on we had to walk the bikes except for a short section between the two hairpins near the summit.
Half way up the climb the road traverses a huge scree slope, millions of rocks above and below you, all looking as though if one was moved the entire slope would start to makes its way to Ophir Village. The road at this point is very narrow and on the day we were there quite busy. There are a few places where it is just wide enough for two cars to pass but that depends on the width of the vehicles, we sat and rested at one of these places and watched as two cars inched past each other, the driver on the way down having the best of it while the one on the way up had to rely on his passengers to tell him how close his wheels were to the drop on the passenger side. Judging by the number of rusted wrecks a thousand feet below the information provided is not always accurate.
Was it worth it? without a doubt, it was one of the most memorable and rewarding rides I have done, not a lot of riding on the way up but to get to the top of a climb like this under your own power is very satisfying. The ride back down was almost as hard as the climb, loose shale and rocks and an impossible grade meant that we were constantly on the brakes. Our arms, wrists and fingers burning from the sustained pressure and in my case a set of burnished brake rotors that howled like an air raid siren for the rest of the trip.
Photos taken using a Sony DSC P200.
