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We woke to rather warm temperatures on Sunday morning. We decided to stick with our original plan and hope for the best. We did find that the snow had frozen, but very minimally. Warming happened fast. With a slight change of plans, we were able to make the most of the day’s conditions.

There is nothing like a beautiful skin through a forest.

Of course, we maximized our skinning potential when possible. Just 2 days earlier, Pete had been able to skin up this entire section.

Proof that the animals are out to play for the summer.

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Ahh, springtime. April and May are far and away our favorite ski months here at 14erskiers, but that said, they can also be a frustrating time, especially here in Crested Butte. Eventually, the name of the game becomes access, and while our wintertime access here is quite good, at least with a snowmobile, Crested Butte leaves something to be desired at this time of year. If Gunnison county was aggressive with their plows, the way San Juan counties are aggressive with dirt/4wd roads like Yankee boy, Cinnamon Pass, and Engineer Pass, we’d be set. Instead, Gunnison county lets most of the roads melt out, often behind closed gates. Slate river is a perfect example- a group of trees just past the winter closure hold snow, making it impossible to drive unless it gets plowed, which it never does. Yet right after the trees, the road goes out into the open and is frequently dry, making all the great peaks one could access from the road very difficult to get to, whether by snowmobile, bike, hike, or driving. The good news is that Gothic road was recently plowed and should open soon, so we should have better access in the near future, assuming the overnight temperatures start cooperating.

I wonder what would happen if Gunnison County were to open Schofield Pass early- say around the same time as Ouray County opens Yankee Boy- in April. Would skiers and climbers flock to the area the way they do in the San Juans? I’d like to think so, but then again Crested Butte is a bike town with precious little affinity for skiing, so an open Schofield Pass would probably only see bike tracks rather than ski tracks.

In any case, Pete Sowar, Brittany, and I hoped that last week’s snow would make Slate River accessible one last time, so that’s where we headed. Alas, we were wrong and we decided not to subject our snowmobiles to what appeared to be miles of dirt road. We quickly came up with a plan B and headed towards the Kebler Pass trailhead for a quick tour on the North bowl of Peeler. It wasn’t quite the steep skiing that we were hoping to do, but it’s still a great tour in a spectacular basin. Access to our first run wasn’t exactly what anyone would call difficult, as you can see based off where we parked the sleds:

I needed to get a better look at my landing:

It was a big cliff, but I totally stuck it, you can see my bombhole at the end of the arrow:

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Ever since I first really set my eyes on the west side of Owen, I knew I wanted to ski it someday. The west face was quickly added to my ever-growing list of things to ski. Last weekend, we finally checked that one off the list.

The West Side- Purple, Owen in the middle, Ruby on the right.

Our day started early at the Kebler Pass trailhead. We met up with our new friend Jenny and snowmobiled to eastern base of Owen. We skinned to the south ridge, greeted by flying ptarmigans along the way. Yes, these seemingly-lazy birds fly sometimes, and beautifully too!

The cornices on Owen’s ridge are abnormally large this year, a testament to the winds we have had. Because of this, they are calving away, leaving terrifyingly large holes as they peel themselves off the mountain.

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Gothic’s East face is one of the Crested Butte area’s most well-known classic lines. From the ski area, the face looks Alaskan in character, as if it was full of flutes and spines. In reality, the face isn’t as fierce as its appearance makes it out to be, though it remains an incredibly rewarding descent. It certainly isn’t as tough as Google Earth makes it out to be:

Chris Miller, Pete Sowar and I headed out from Washington Gulch, which is still snow covered from the winter closure- just barely. The standard ascent route looked pretty melted out, so we made our way to the looker’s right of the spoon to ascend what some people call the knife.

With some high clouds, we had plenty of time to enjoy the summit before Pete jumped in:

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Four Fabulous Females met in the morning to ski.
The west side of Gothic was their objective, you see.

Approaching Gothic from the south.

They set out skinning in the morning light.
Despite the cloudy skies and short freeze at night.
They skinned over snow and some patches of dirt
Before switching to booting, which made the lungs hurt.

Bootpacking up the south side.

The snow was still firm and held them up well
Though a few parts were soft and gave them some hell.

View of the west side chutes of Gothic.

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