Brittany's Blog

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=86970

Yesterday I skied Mt. Massive, making that my 30th fourteener of the season. Unfortunately, when I was up there, a big cold front moved through and we were left in a blizzard with white-out conditions. This made an other-wise boring 14er descent quite interesting as we had to navigate out, not being able to tell which way was even down! We were also blasted with high winds, which would blow me to the ground every few minutes when I had my skis on my pack.

I intended to ski Pikes Peak today, but with the high winds and snow the road to the top of Pikes Peak was closed. My plan for skiing Pikes Peak is to drive to the top, ski either the Railroad couloir or Y couloir down, then climb back up to the top. You can climb from lower down on the mountain, but it makes for a really long day, and I’ve had enough of really long days for the season. Pikes peak can be an easy 14er ski, and I have no intention of making it more difficult than it has to be, so I need to wait until the road opens. Today was my last opportunity to ski that peak, and it’s not happening today, so it’s not happening this season. I will have to wait until next season, when the road opens in May.

So, I will have to end the season with Mt. Massive, a total of 30 fourteener ski descents. What’s next? I leave Saturday for Ohio and then off to Peru. When I return it will be too late in the summer to ski fourteeners from the summit.

My season this year was full of frustration, largely due to the weather. The weather was NOT cooperating. Snow-storm after snow-storm prevented me from weekends where skiing fourteeners was not possible. The major fourteener season should be March and April. I planned on hitting several fourteeners during my spring break, the last weekend in March, but due to weather, I was only able to ski one. By the beginning of April I’d only skied 8 fourteeners this season, where my goal was to do over 20 in the season. I was worried I would not be able to accomplish my goals.

Never-the-less, my season goals were accomplished. My goal was to bang out as many fourteeners as I could, focusing on some of the easier ones this season, just getting them done. I wanted to get at least half-way done (27 fourteeners), but I really wanted to get my numbers into the 30′s. Last year I skied 7 fourteeners. By the beginning of April my total was only up to 15. In about 2 months since then I’ve doubled that total, now having 30 fourteener descents completed. I was turned around on 3 fourteeners this season: 1) Handies, which I went back and did a couple of weeks ago 2) Sneffels, which I still need to go back and hit and 3) N. Maroon which is above my skill level which I need to go back and hit next season or the season after once I’ve had a chance to work on my mountaineering skills. Overall, my success rate has been high, but I expect next season it will be less high since many of the fourteeners I have left to ski are more difficult and/or have less reliable snow.

Despite frustration due to the weather, this season has been good for me in a lot of ways. I’ve climbed so many 14ers now that altitude has little to no effect on me anymore. My trip-planning and route finding skills have improved immensely. I’ve also learned a lot about all the fourteeners as a whole and I have plans in sight for the remaining 24 fourteeners I need to complete. I know the things I need to work on for next season in order to complete my goals as well.