Best material to build deck at High Elevation

by Greg Leach
(Platoro, Colorado)

I have a cabin that sits at 9,600 ft. elevation. We are able to use the cabin approximately 4-5 months per year. The balance of the time on an annual basis, the cabin is not accessible due to heavy snow pack etc. We've always had a wood deck, which as you can imagine, demands HEAVY maintenance so much of the time we are doing maintenance rather than enjoying the deck. I'd LOVE to do the work to replace the deck with some kind of low maintenance material like Composite OR PVC based decking but not sure what the best material would be to give me the longest life. I've heard of composite with 1/16th inch coating/capping on it, but not sure what to get. ANY advice you could give would be very helpful. Due to the cost, I want to make the right decision.