Category Archives: Hikes & Scrambles

"Rain Peak": Getting Graupel’d in the Graupel Gully

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Back in April of 2013, after a ski of the infamous and elusive “What Big Eyes You Have” Couloir off East East Red, Ben and I took notice of a striking cirque to the northwest, which seemed to hold a number of options for ski routes. The most obvious of such routes, from our vantage point, was Graupel Gully on unranked 13er – “Rain Peak”. East Thorne is more or less the monarch of this region, being so visible from any vantage point to the east. Keep reading…

May Corn on Hagar and Citadel

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With spring in full bloom and a decent weather forecast, we decided to head out and search for corn on a pair of local classics this past Saturday. 13,220 foot Hagar Mountain sits at the head of Dry Gulch, which can be accessed from the north side of I-70 just east of the Eisenhower tunnel. Mike, Brian, Dillon, and I started up the drainage at 5am, but not before stashing a vehicle at the Herman Gulch trailhead down the road. Keep reading…

Climbing the Cone

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Something has been missing from my life in 2014. My mountain pursuits have been tabled since a solo trip up Lady Washington and a weekend at Barr Camp with my oldest and her friends in January. For the past few months, stress has been ever-present and while I’ve had plenty of support from family and friends, a spur-of-the-moment move (which did little to restore my faith in my fellow man) and drastic spike in my workload has had me reeling as of late. Keep reading…

East Partner’s Southwest Couloir: A (Fun) Gore Slog

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Ben and I had stumbled upon the SW Couloir route on East Partner while searching around the internet. The Gores are one of those ranges with a ton of great lines and not a ton of advertisement, but we were fortunate enough to find some brief, but sufficient enough info on this gem. One of the nicest aspects of skiing in the Gores, which also could serve as one of the biggest deterrents, is the options you have once you haul up in to these deep drainages. Read more…