The 15-person "snow coach" slides around another corner and rears the summit of 12,500-foot Grayrock Peak. We're seven miles out from the edges of Durango Mountain Resort, with another four miles to go by snowcat until the boxy vehicle pirouettes to a stop. We climb down onto a wind-swept shoulder above tree line and gasp at the views of the surrounding San Juan Mountains: to the northeast, boxy Lizard Head; to the west, three 14,000-plus peaks topped by Mount Wilson at 14,276 feet; to the south, the La Plata range and Sleeping Ute Mountain; to the west, the saw blade summits of the Weiminuche Wilderness, including
14,059-foot Sunlight Peak; and just to the northeast, the broad-faced Engineer Mountain at 12,927 feet.

This is the domain of the San Juan Ski Co., a commercial snowcat business that owner-operator Bob Rule launched in 1997. Up here, he rules. As head guide and founder, he also serves as snowcat driver, road engineer, avalanche forecaster, snow safety director, snowcat and snowmobile mechanic, ski and binding technician, parts and metal fabricator, host and definitely head honcho.

I had the pleasure recently of spending a day with Rule and his wife, Carrie, and a group of fellow skiers -- formerly all strangers before our day together in the white world. We caught an early chair out of the Durango Mountain Resort base complex and boarded the snow coach (a large passenger van with its tires replaced with snow treads) for the half-hour or so drive to where the cat was parked. The distance, Rule explained, actually helps guard the powder of their 35,000-acre permit zone -- the largest in Colorado.

In the cat, fellow guide Kevin Devine provided a brief safety orientation, checked avalanche beacons and instruction on their use, and issued a bib with whistle attached.

We emerged from the cat for our first run. Rule skied off first, "setting" the left edge of the area he wanted us to ski in; the right edge being one of the cat "roads." And with whoops and a bit of uneasiness -- how will I ski, what will the snow be like, don't get lost -- we began our day. They chose a low-angle and fairly open run for the first descent; probably to check abilities and help the group gain confidence.

But we all did well and moved at about the same pace, slicing down through a foot or so of powder, or 2-day-old, but still light, powder. Just before lunch, we worked out on a narrow ridge -- Titicaca -- and the gutsier skiers launched off a high cornice and rocks into a soft small bowl. Below lay a long, mellow drift down through small meadows, glades and frozen, buried streambeds.

And so the day went. The sun poked in and out of soaring cloud formations, illuminating distant peaks and snow crystals sparkling against the turquoise sky.

The day ended with some tricky descents of sun-baked slab that left numerous "bomb craters" on the above-treeline run. But that, too, is part of the experience. Tired, quieter, we rolled back toward the ski area in the snow coach, realizing how lucky we were, this group of snow brothers and sisters.

Details: Single seats for the daylong outing cost $250 (there is a discounted space-available rate). A complete cat, seating 12, can also be rented (for $2,500 a day). Avalanche classes and backcountry ski tours can also be arranged. The mountain currently has a base of 56 to 86 inches. San Juan Ski Co. operates out of Durango Mountain Resort, 23 miles north of Durango, Colo. It is about a 41/2 -hour drive from Santa Fe.

Additional details, videos, stills, blogs and more are available at www.sanjuanski.com or call 800-280-1780.

Daniel Gibson can be reached at dbgibson@newmexico.com.