Time in the mountains has been difficult to come by for me so far this year. Between selling and buying a pair of homes, preparing for Anna-Lisa and I’s move out of Denver, and training for a series of trail races in June/July, it’s been a thin year for ski descents. I haven’t been particularly broken up about it though, because it’s also been a thin year for the Colorado snowpack. Conditions have seemed rough up high for the better part of a month now, not helped by the fact that our base was disappointing to begin with. 2018 won’t be known as a spring season to write home about, but here are a few highlights from the few times I did manage to get out with the planks…
Back in March, Rick Thompson, J Weingast and I took advantage of a picture-perfect day to ski 13,220 ft Hagar Mountain’s south face, a reliable line with a manageable approach that I could see becoming an annual tradition of sorts for our group (full report here).
Rick making turns off the summit of Hagar with “The Citadel” in back.
Another one of Rick lower down with Golden Bear in back. The bare ground down low was an indicator of times to come.
Over a month later, David Yarian and I joined our friend Ross Wood on what would be his first 14er ski descent, the classic east face of Quandary Peak (14,265 ft) outside Breckenridge. It ended up being a perfect weather day, with good coverage on the main face and snow that corned up nicely for a late-morning descent.
David, Ross, and I on Quandary’s summit just before dropping in.
…and a look back on the peak and ski line down the center of the snowy face.
A few days later I was joined by Brian Miller and J on a ski descent of Mt. Tweto (13,672 ft) on the west side of the Mosquito Range. We wound up hitting a line called the “Crack Couloir”, a relatively obscure line which got a lot of attention this spring being in good condition and a route not many people seemed to know about prior to this year.
The guys heading up the drainage towards Mt. Tweto. That’s the Crack Couloir off to the left in the sun.
Nearing the summit after climbing the couloir with Mt. Buckskin and Mt. Democrat in back.
Brian making turns down the gut of the route. This is a neat line with plenty of double fall lines, a few narrow chokes, and some good steeps.
Next up in May, I managed to get out with Carl Dowdy, Marc Barella, and their friend Caroline for a powder day on Kelso Mountain (13,164 ft) near Torreys Peak. On the heels of one of the bigger storms we got all spring, the three of us skinned up Kelso’s north ridge and enjoyed great snow down the gut of the peak’s north gully.
The skin up the ridge got interesting at times, with lots of undulation in the ridge line and rock features bisecting the ridge.
Marc, Carl, and I on Kelso’s summit with Grays and Torreys in back. Photo by Caroline.
Carl off the summit. With the exception of a couple sharks hiding just below the surface, the snow was excellent.
Lastly, some footage from the day:
Then finally in what was to become my last ski day, Marc, Caroline, and I headed up for an attempt on Grizzly Peak near Loveland Pass after seeing what appeared to be good coverage on its north face from Kelso the weekend prior. Unfortunately it was just a mirage, as upon arriving on Grizzly’s summit it was clear every line off the north face was completely out (2018 enthusiasm quickly diminishing at this point).
After a half-hearted discussion about taking the ridge over to Torreys to ski Tuning Fork, we decided to call it a day and bail back down to A Basin. Rather than ski down what we climbed however, we figured we might as well check out “Shit for Brains Couloir” off Black Mountain, as none of us had ever skied it. Turns out it was an expedient way back down to the ski area, but we were too late in the season and conditions left a lot to be desired.
What wound up being my season finale down Shit for Brains.
And that was that. We’re on to summer… 🙂