After three good ski days in the previous week, I wanted to squeeze in some more. Kim was hungry for some skiing also so we planned an outing together. After mulling it over for a bit, we decided to try for Sayres. Kim had skied La Plata on Tuesday and Sayres looked pretty good in her pics.
Photo by Kim Ross
So, to try Sayres we went. Kim and I were also joined by our friend Lacy.
After tagging El Diente the previous day, we went back for more. It was another early wake-up at 3 am. Early wake-ups like this always start out a bit hazy. Once my mind began to clear away the dreams, I became acutely aware of just how cold it was outside- much colder than yesterday. Our suspicions were confirmed as we passed through the first few snow patches. We happily found the snow frozen solid where it had been slushy the day before.
As we continued to hike above treeline, the sun still had not risen above the mountains. Both Frank and I commented on just how cold it was. We believe that temperatures were into the teens.
I jumped when the cell phone rang, and fumbled around, trying to shut off the annoying noise that was emanating from it. It’s too early, I thought. The wind is howling and it’s warm outside. We’re never going to get this thing done.
It was 3 am, only 4 hours after pulling in to our camping site, and I hadn’t slept at all. Not one wink. It was the time of day that I’m not sure whether to call it morning or night. We were debating: Do we get up at try for this peak? Or do we just stay and sleep? We had a lot of things going against us- warm night temperatures, howling wind, little sleep. But, still, I couldn’t just lie there. I had to try. I made the call, “We’re up. We might as well try.”
We pounded our Monster Coffee drinks and CityMarket blueberry muffins and off we went. A few minutes into our hike up the road, we hit the first snow patch- slushy all the way to the ground. I almost turned around right then and there. We’re never going to make this. We traveled through more and more slushy patches. Maybe the snow will be frozen above treeline. If not, we can just turn around and go back to bed.
The near full-moon guided us through the night and the wind continued to blow. Then the sun began to peek out from behind the earth. For a brief time, the moon and sun battled for brightness. But, like a predestined Greek myth, the sun always wins.
It’s been fascinating, in my opinion, to witness the way 14ers are approached and skied in the PD (Post-Davenport) era. While Dawson’s books have been around for quite some time and give detailed information on many 14er ski routes, Davenport’s website and real-time photo trip reports really changed the game in a lot of ways. Suddenly everyone knew Mount Wilson and El Diente were doable from the summit, suddenly everyone knew the way to ski Pyramid was by climbing the NE ridge, suddenly aspiring fourteener skiers had a better idea what time of year a certain peak might be “in”. Routes have continued to evolve, with another example being our Secret Chute route on Capitol, which we had a feeling might become the standard route for that peak.
I thought about the way standard ski lines develop on these peaks as Brittany and I ascended El Diente last weekend. I call it the Lattrell Line, because it’s got some good alliteration, but I’m sure locals have both climbed and skied the route before. Regardless, we hadn’t heard of or seen this route before Jarrett Luttrell snowboarded it earlier this month (although I had speculated that a line might exist). As we were ascending Jarrett’s descent line on El Diente, and knowing the other popular route on El Diente, the North Face to the hanging traverse, I was struck by how much better Jarrett’s line is. It’s longer, steeper, more hidden, easier to climb, and everything else a classic line might be. It is our hope that this line will soon become the standard line for skiers of El Diente. We will do a full TR of our day on El Diente shortly, but for now here’s the route itself.
The route. Yellow sections are hidden.
The route is just around the corner from the Northwest Buttress, closer to Navajo Lake. If it looks like you’re climbing into a brick wall, you’re on the right track.
Just when you think there is no way the line goes through, a small exit couloir finally appears:
This leads to what we’re calling the “Fox Traverse”, because it vaguely looks like a Fox’ head (you can see our tracks if you look closely enough):
After the Fox Traverse, you enter the second exit couloir that leads nearly to the summit:
From the summit:
There it is. It’s in great shape right now and probably will be for a while, so get it while the getting’s good.
Last week, I tried to keep my schedule open for some more fourteener skiing. But, the weather forecasts kept calling for really high winds. Though some lines are okay to attempt in high winds, my remaining fourteeners are a bit technical- and not peaks I wish to climb during high winds.
So, I convinced Jarrett to join me on an exploration up Copper Creek.
We originally were hoping to do some lines off of Avery. But, as we approached, we realized the snow line was high on the east-facing aspect we were considering. We’d be hiking a lot for just a few turns if we went up the west side, whereas the snowline reached the valley on the east. So, up the east side we went- to Queen Basin.
Jarrett Luttrell, Capitol Peak:
Brittany and I first met Jarrett Luttrell on a trip to Chicago Basin, when we successfully skied and boarded Sunlight, Windom, and Eolus. Jordan and Brittany quickly headed back to the Front Range after we departed the train, while Jarrett and I headed to a Mexican joint to get some food and a well-deserved margarita. With only Harvard left before my fourteener quest would be complete, I suppose I was already contemplating what it would mean for me once that goal was complete. Naturally, our conversation turned towards Jarrett’s goal to snowboard all the fourteeners, and what that would mean to him.
What struck me most about that conversation was Jarrett’s genuine desire not just to be the first to ride the fourteeners, but to also “do it right”. “Doing it right” meant a lot of things for Jarrett, but certainly included sticking to the same standards as the skiers. I think he even said something to the effect of “I hope whoever snowboards them all first doesn’t cut any corners, and make snowboarders look bad.” Don’t worry Jarrett, your accomplishment stands tall, snowboarders and Crested Buttians are all proud of you. Congrats!
The following are some questions 14erskiers asked Jarrett after his final descent, Long’s Peak, on 5-16-10.
After finishing Capitol the previous Sunday, the momentum was rolling. I wanted to try to finish skiing my four remaining fourteeners. The weather was looking perfect for a Sunday attempt on El Diente. Frank and I were joined by our friends Ann Driggers, Pete Sowar, John Jasper, and Pam Rice.
We began our hike from Silver Pick and 3:30 in the morning, and were pleasantly surprised to find that we could use skins just a few hundred feet from the car. Tree-fall, however, will be an issue for cars after the snow melts.
Photo courtesy of Ann Driggers
After an attempt to ski El Diente on Sunday (blog entry coming soon), Frank and I spent a day resting and making our way toward Aspen for an attempt on Pyramid. The weather forecast was not looking highly favorable- a 50% chance of snow after noon, but we were hoping to hit the line early, beating the oncoming weather.
A look at the Landry on Pyramid, our preferred route, line on Monday.
Christy Mahon, formerly known as Christy Sauer, has been tackling fourteeners for the last 10 years or so. This past Sunday, she completed skiing all of the Colorado fourteeners, becoming the first woman to do so.
Christy and I met back in 2008 when we skied Culebra together, along with Frank, Ted Mahon, and Jordan White.
At that time, Christy was well on her way to skiing most of Colorado’s fourteeners, many of which can be viewed on Ted Mahon’s blog. But, in the past year, Christy has been keeping her fourteener accomplishments non-publicized, which has caused some controversy. However, in a personal e-mail she wrote to me regarding this, Christy stated she just didn’t want the added pressure that comes from publishing her fourteeners. Still, long before all of this came to light, I started seeing her name on some of the registers this year, and I knew Christy was about to finish. So, it wasn’t a surprise when word started to spread in the last couple of weeks about Christy skiing Pyramid, leaving one last final peak- Capitol. Her accomplishments came to fruition on Sunday, and Christy became the first woman to ski all of Colorado’s fourteeners. Congratulations Christy!
Many people have asked me how I feel about all of this. Didn’t I want to be the first woman to ski all the Colorado fourteeners? Here’s my answer. Of course I am saddened by the fact that I will not be the first woman. But, I cannot let that deter me. When I initially set my fourteener goals, I wanted to get them done within 5 years. My goal was to ski them all, and ski them all safely. I knew other women were probably out there pursuing the same goal, but I didn’t know who they were at the time. I also knew that there was a high likelihood I would not be the first woman to ski them all. When I began my fourteener project, I told myself that being first would be the icing on the cake. But, finishing them all, and finishing them safely, was most important.
I am a firm believer that when setting goals, you can’t base your goals around the performance of other people. In setting a goal to be first, you are setting a goal around what other people achieve or don’t achieve. Good goal-setting focuses on what YOU can achieve. And I believed I could achieve skiing all the fourteeners in five years. This continues to be my goal.
When I started this project, I really never thought I would be the first woman to ski all the fourteeners. However, at the end of 2008, I found myself ahead of Christy and Pam Rice (a friend and fellow fourteener-skiing woman), with only 9 peaks left. Of course this boosted my confidence, but I knew I still had some of Colorado’s hardest peaks ahead, like Pyramid and Capitol. When I tore my ACL in February of 2009, I basically resigned myself to the fact that I would not likely be the first women, as I had to sit out the entire fourteener season, letting my knee recover from reconstructive surgery. Christy and Pam had the entire spring to jump ahead of me. While Pam decided to wait on the sidelines, foregoing a year of fourteener skiing, Christy took this opportunity to her advantage, jumping ahead of both Pam and I.
Some people have mentioned that I might have become the first woman to ski the fourteeners had I not torn my ACL last year. This might have been the case. But, nothing can ever be certain. Though physically weakening me, tearing my ACL also caused me to build my mental strength which I know has helped me on some peaks this year. Aside from that, I formed new friendships with people who were also undergoing the same recovery. The time I was forced to spend away from skiing, opened professional opportunities for me that would have otherwise not occurred. So, I suppose I will go ahead and say it- although tearing my ACL may have caused me to not be the first woman to ski all the fourteeers, I wouldn’t go back and change anything. I’ve had more positive things come out of tearing my ACL than negative (well, minus the $10,000 in medical bills 
).
So, my sincerest congratulations goes out to Christy and her job well done. Keep on charging, lady!
Friday was a beautiful day. As I strolled down Elk Avenue, I ran into friend after friend. Everyone was out and about enjoying the sunshine. I passed by a group of friends hanging out on the patio at the Brick and inevitably got sucked in. I stayed there for hours, not realizing what the cosmos had planned for me this weekend. Suddenly, I had this feeling that I needed to check my email. Cell phones these days, of course, make this all too convenient. Jordan’s email was the first one I checked, having the intuition that his email was going to relay something big. My gut-feeling proved correct, as he suggested that we attempt a one-day push for Capitol on Sunday.
Photo of Capitol as seen from Pyramid on Sunday, courtesy of Chris Webster
We’d been planning to attempt Capitol for quite some time- Jordan, Jarrett, Caleb, and I. But, the spring weather wasn’t cooperating. A relentlessly stormy spring has allowed little time for corn or a stable spring snowpack. Our window of opportunity seemed to be closing fast, and we knew we had to take advantage of this sunny weekend. So, the four of us, along with Matt, agreed to meet up for our Sunday attempt.
