Category Archives: Thirteeners

Willow Lake Never Disappoints

      3 Comments on Willow Lake Never Disappoints

4th of July fell on a Monday this year, and I found myself in the Sangres for the holiday weekend. The forecast was not especially enticing for Sunday, so John and I made a single peak objective for the day: unnamed 13,546, adjacent to centennial Adams and next to scenic Willow Lake. The night had been rainy and the dawn revealed an overcast gray sky. While not cheerful, it made the long approach from the trailhead much more cooler and enjoyable than my prior two visits. Keep reading…

A Few Good Days in April

      No Comments on A Few Good Days in April

It’s no secret that this year’s spring season has been a temperamental one in terms of weather, snowpack, and ski conditions for just about every skier in the state who doesn’t enjoy absolute freedom of schedule. The high country has been continuously raked by winds and dust storms throughout most of April and into May. Our snowpack ended up being nothing to write home about (slightly below average and with some aspects and ski lines never really coming into condition). Keep reading…

January in the Gore: Upper-Piney Creek and “Peak D”

      No Comments on January in the Gore: Upper-Piney Creek and “Peak D”

With an unusually long period of relative stability persisting in the backcountry around Vail, Dave Bourassa and I decided to head out for a late-January tour in the upper-Piney Creek area. With no particular plan in mind we skinned up to the base of the Piney Bristle summit block, skied down into upper-Piney, climbed and skied a neat line off “Peak D” and then ascended back up to Dave’s sled at sunset. Read more…

Colorful Colorado: Fall Thirteener Roundup

      4 Comments on Colorful Colorado: Fall Thirteener Roundup

Summer is more or less over in Colorado, with snow starting to accumulate in the high country as winter’s grip slowly tightens. But as per usual the late-summer/fall window made for a nice venue to bag some peaks and ultimately hit my 500th thirteener summit this past Sunday, a nice milestone to reach just ahead of ski season. As I fell behind on keeping up with blog posts throughout the fall I figured I’d summarize things in one go. So without further ado, here are the highlights… Read more…