Originally posted on my Thrillhead Blog

(continued from above)

Skiing this face involves knowing the route, and being able to link lots of traverses across cliff bands. Thankfully, we had Andy who had been there the week before.

Skiing was still fun though!

Andy

Me

Joe

Finally, we reached our exit couloir!

Skiing the apron was fun because you could finally let go! There weren’t any more cliffs you could fall over

Even when we were done with the face, we still had quite a bit of skiing left.

One of the most interesting bits was this bridge.

Let’s have a closer look at that….

At the end of the day we enjoyed the sunset on the Bells, looking at them in awe. “Dang, we skied that?” Yep, another fourteener skied!

On Sunday, Joe and Andy tackled the Landry Line on Pyramid. Please view their [url=http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=121661]trip report[/url]. And, congrats, boys on charging such a difficult line!

It was a great weekend of camping, climbing, and skiing in the Maroon Lakes basin. Thanks Andy and Joe for making it a fantastic weekend!

Originally posted on my Thrillhead Blog

North Maroon Peak (14,011′)
4-26-2008
Andy, Joe, Brittany

The Maroon Bells are often said to be the most photographed mountains in Colorado. Any person who catches a glimpse of these beautiful peaks can understand why. The double peaks rise up strikingly and jagged from the Maroon Lakes below.

“The Bells” consist of two peaks. The one on the north end is called North Maroon. But the one on the south end is called Maroon. Many people, included Lou Dawson, refer to this southern peak as South Maroon, where it’s official name is actually Maroon.

Also of debate is the status of North Maroon as an official fourteener. This originated back in the 1870′s with the Hayden Survey, as they considered the two peaks as one big mountain called Maroon Mountain. In his report, Gannett described that these peaks were named after the color of the sandstone that made them- a deep maroon color.

The first ski descent of North Maroon was made by Fritz Stammberger, an immigrant from Germany who had settled in the Aspen area. The descent is described by Lou Dawson below.

Outside of Aspen is a double-topped fourteener called the Maroon Bells. Known as the “Deadly Bells” to local mountain rescue teams, the mountain has claimed scores of lives, and still makes casual climbers quake with fear. It’s steep, striated with relentless cliff bands, and built with rock so loose the climbing is often like scrambling up a gravel pile. With the tight snowpack of spring, however, the Bells mutate. They’re safer and easier to climb for those knowing snowcraft, and they become skiable.

In 1971 few people knew the secret of Maroon Bells snow, but Stammberger did. On June 24 he cramponed up the north face of North Maroon Peak (the north Bell), donned his planks, and skied back down. Even by today’s standards the descent wasn’t easy: Stammberger fell over a 15-foot cliff, and skied a narrow section exceeding 50 degrees. Moreover, he used no ropes and had no support team. Stammberger’s feat amazed the locals and was trumpeted in the Aspen newspaper. Yet as with the coverage of Bill Briggs’s Grand Teton ski that same spring, the Maroon Bells ski descent was too far from North American ski reality to receive much mainstream press.
- Lou Dawson, Wild Snow

Last June, I attempted North Maroon with Frank and Jordan. When we began climbing up the North Face it was so icy that only the front point of our crampons and about 1/2 of an inch of our ice axes dug into the snow. I was uncomfortable with those conditions, and opted to turn around, while Frank and Jordan continued on their journey. But, as many of you know, any time a mountain defeats you, it becomes a nemesis. The fact that I turned around on that peak plagued me for the rest of the summer. I didn’t think I’d be back this season. But after seeing the trip report from Dave, Andy, and Mark,last week I knew I could climb it in the conditions they had. I regretted not going along with them also.

Sometimes things have an uncanny way of working themselves out. I was lucky to get an email from Joe earlier in the week, asking me to go ski North Maroon with him. Somewhere along the lines, Andy contacted Joe, saying he wanted to go hit Pyramid this weekend. Compromises were made, and an agreement was made that all three of us would ski North Maroon on Saturday. Andy, having been there the week before, could show us the ski route. Then, we would make a Pyramid attempt on Sunday.

We arrived in Aspen late on Friday night. We used Joe’s snowmobile to tow us and our gear to the campsite at Maroon Lakes. We didn’t arrive until midnight.

“Winter camping there is fun!

You can use the summer service buildings to aid in shelter.

After having a late arrival the night before, we got off to a bit of a late start. We didn’t leave the camp until 7:20. With the cloudy and cold weather forecasted, however, we were not worried about warming on the North Face.

Skinning in across the lake.

Route finding was relatively easy and I must say a skin in April through this basin is much more enjoyable than a hike with skis on your back in June! We headed up through the narrow couloir shown in this pic.

Suddenly, we found ourselves in the basin below the North Face, with the Maroon lakes valley far below.

Joe and Andy with the North Face of N. Maroon behind them.

The week before, Andy had climbed the North Face. But, this time we opted to climb the couloir on the far lookers right of the face.

This couloir eventually leads to the NW ridge, and we followed that ridge to the summit.

The ridge had a lot of mixed climbing. Sometimes snow, sometimes rock.

We opted to break out the rope once on a really exposed rock move. (Thanks Joe )

And then, there was the summit!

But this first.

Andy on the summit.

I was just happy to be there

Snowmass was looking really nice.

So was Capitol.

South Maroon looks close enough to touch.

It always amazes me how close Aspen is to Crested Butte. It takes hours to drive between the two in the winter. Yet, only a few mountains separate them. Whetstone, the mountain shown here, sits just above the town of Crested Butte.

Part of the reason I like to climb fourteeners is for views like this. Next time when I’m in Crested Butte, I’d like to ski this couloir!

Joe, ready to ski from the summit.

From the summit we made our way down the eastern ridge to cross over a bit of snow that covered the challenging “Punk Rock” band.

Crossing the Punk Rock band was a bit sketchy. Andy is just above it here. The entrance is to his right.

The snow covering the punk rock band is basically a cornice on the east ridge, so you have to be careful.

A view of the Punk Rock band from below.

This picture captures the exposure. The North Face of North Maroon is truly a no-fall zone!

All the time while skiing this face, you are constantly aware that nothing but cliffs dangle below you. Where the snow ends, the air begins.

Originally posted on my Thrillhead Blog

The Elk Range hosts the most difficult fourteeners in Colorado. This range is not one to be taken lightly. The recent high pressure that has entered Colorado and a stable, deep snowpack have opened up a perfect window of opportunity for these peaks to be climbed.

Victory #1- Capitol

Many of the Elk peaks do not fall easily. Sometimes it can take several attempts for people to find their sweet success. But success is ever so sweeter as the number of attempts grows. Capitol is one of those peaks.

On Sunday, [url=http://thrillheadcreations.com/forum/weblog.php?w=3]Frank[/url] and a crew of four others (Pete Sowar, Sean Crossen, Chris Webster, and Pam Rice) headed out to set up their base camp for yet another Capitol attempt. I am unsure how many other attempts Frank, Pete, Chris and Sean have made on Capitol in the past. But, I do know it was multiple attempts each. All of them were ready to get this peak in the past.

For those of you who are not familiar with Capitol, it is known to be the most difficult fourteener in Colorado. There are only two known prior descents: 1) Lou Dawson (unsure of the year) the fourteener man himself and 2) Chris Davenport and [url=http://www.wildsnow.com/?p=243]Neil Beidleman[/url]in 2006.

Last week, Ted Mahon and Al Beyer skied Capitol via a [url=http://www.wildsnow.com/?p=1096]new route[/url]. Also, [url=http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=121021]Andy Dimmen and Jordan White [/url]attempted to ski Capitol and opted to turn around not far from the summit. Al

Here are a few pictures from their trip report to give you a better idea of the severity of this peak:

Today, ski mountaineering history has been changed. Just hours ago I received a phone call from Frank, standing on a pass after skiing Capitol. I would like to congratulate the following for their successful ski of Capitol via the Secret Chute (a new route developed by Pete Sowar): Frank Konsella, Pete Sowar, Chris Webster, and Pam Rice.

I know this is a huge victory for Frank. He has attempted this peak three other times, only to be turned around each time. I know this peak has made him suffer, both mentally and physically, as you can view in this [url=http://thrillheadcreations.com/forum/weblog_entry.php?e=138]blog entry[/url]. His success on Capitol leaves him with only five fourteeners left to ski: Long’s Peak, Windom, Sunlight, Eolus, and Harvard.

I know Capitol was a huge personal success for Pete Sowar. He has developed more than one route on this peak. His first route was snagged by the Davenport-Beidleman duo in 2006 and named as such. For Pete, this made the thirst for this peak even stronger. A poor snow/weather year in 2007 meant that this peak had to wait another year. I bet the victory was felt sweetest by Pete himself.

With the success of Capitol, Chris Webster has less than 50 fourteeners to ski as well.

And I would like to give a special kudos to Pam Rice, the first woman to ski Capitol. What an accomplishment, and I hope to follow shortly in her footsteps. I cannot think of a better woman than Pam to have been the first to ski Capitol.

Victory #2 – North Maroon

Victories come on different levels. I had my own victory this weekend when I skied North Maroon on Saturday.

Last June, I gave North Maroon my first attempt. But, when I started up the first couloir on the North Face, I was immediately on edge, and trembling. The face was iced over- to the point where only the front points of my crampons and only about 1/2 of an inch of the pick on my ice axe would dig into the ice. Frank looked down at me and asked how I was doing. I said, “I’m scared. Really really scared.” He said, “Okay, I think it’s time for you to turn around.” No argument there. North Maroon would have to wait.

But I didn’t know how long it would have to wait. After feeling humbled by this peak, I wasn’t sure if my skills were up to tackling it this year. But, after my friends Dave, Andy, and Mark skied it last weekend and said that it was in good condition, I regretted not joining them at the time. I was so elated when Joe emailed me, asking if I would join him on North Maroon this weekend. Andy (who had skied the peak the weekend before) also joined us.

It’s amazing how conditions can make a peak seem so difficult. And it’s amazing how much easier a peak can seem in good conditions. The same couloir that made me turn around last June was a cake walk through some powdery yet consolidated snow. I had my own success on North Maroon Saturday, and the success was even sweeter since I was turned down last June. Check back for a trip report in the next day or two.

Victory # 3- Pyramid
Some victories come easier than others. Congrats to Joe and Andy. The two of them skied Pyramid (another difficult Elk peak) on their first attempt on Sunday, after joining me on N. Maroon the previous day. Congrats for standing in the face of such a difficult challenge and succeeding! I’ll be posting a link to their trip reports soon as well.

Lines, Lines, Everywhere Lines

Lines the the Elks are falling like crazy. I know I have only included a few of the major accomplishments done in the Elks in the last few weeks. But, congratulations to all who are achieving great things on this fabulous peaks!

Originally posted on my Thrillhead Blog

Prime time for what? Prime time for fourteeners. The weather and snowpack have been shaping up well for a strong fourteener season, especially in the Elks.

Many big peaks got skied this weekend:
* Pyramid- by a group of young Aspen skiers
* N. Maroon- by Dave Bourassa, Mark Cavaliero, and Andy Dimmen
* Capitol- by Ted Mahon and Al Beyer

Ted’s success on Capitol makes him the third person to have completed all of Colorado’s fourteeners. Congrats to Ted!

This weekend, we also joined in the fourteener slaying by skiing Holy Cross via the Cross Couloir. I was joined by Frank Konsella, Jeremy Wegener, Pete Sowar, and Kellie Baker.

Why do they call the mountain Holy Cross? This picture should answer that question.

For those of you not privy to the history of Colorado’s mountaineering, many of the first recorded ascents of Colorado’s fourteeners were done by surveyers. There were a few different surveying projects that went on. One notable surveying project was the Hayden survey. It was F.V. Hayden himself and photographer W.H. Jackson who made the first recorded ascent of Holy Cross in 1873. In the process, they took the photograph above, and the mountain then became famous.

The standard approach route is not difficult, but it can be long. We began with snowmobiles up the road to the Halfmoon Campground. We then skinned about 1000′ up to Halfmoon Pass, where we skied down about another 1000′. We then had to climb a good 4000′ or so to the summit. We skied the Cross Couloir, but not all the way as the snow does not continue to the bottom of the cross. Instead, the standard route is to exit skiers right on a field of snow, down to the Bowl of Tears lake. We then skied down the drainage until we were near our previous tracks, to skin back up to Halfmoon Pass. From there we skied back to the snowmobiles. All in all, it under 10 hours from when we left the snowmobiles to when we returned.

Frank has written the report for our trip to Holy cross. You can view it here

A few teaser pics:

Holy Cross seen from near Halfmoon Pass.

The Cross Couloir is out of view on the left.

Frank skiing the Cross on the Cross Couloir

Originally posted on my Thrillhead Blog

TR: Kit Carson (4-6-2008)
Frank, Mark, Brittany
Route: Outward Bound Couloir and Southeast Face via the Willow Lake Trailhead
RT Data: 14.5 hours, 13 miles, 5,500′ vert

When I woke up at 3:15 am, after not having slept really the whole night, I was wondering why the heck I like doing this. I couldn’t remember. It had been too long. It was too easy to crawl back into my sleeping bag and just sleep the day away. But, as the day went on, I began to remember. I like climbing up steep couloirs. I like standing on top of that mountain and seeing nearly the entire state of Colorado beneath my feet. I like to see just how many other fourteeners I can recognize and decide what I should ski next. I like the feeling of my legs being so tired I can’t make another step. I like feeling my arms trembling from jamming the ice axe in the snow/ice so many times. It’s weird, I know. But I like it. It’s who I am.

What’s in a name?

Many say that Kit Carson is named after the Wild West “hero” who was known for his success in battles against the Native Americans and Mexicans.

But others say different. The mountain soars over the tiny town of Crestone. Crestone locals say that the mountain known as Kit Carson was the namesake of the town, and in fact is NOT named Kit Carson, but rather Crestone Peak. But wait, there’s already a Crestone Peak! And, besides, according to the BGN, they will no longer name a mountain a Peak. It seems that somewhere back in the early 1900’s the names of Crestone Peak and Kit Carson got confused or switched somehow. No one knows how it happened. But, Crestone locals swear that a change has happened. They have taken the mistaken so personally that they have filed an official name change request with the BGN, offering Mount Crestone as a replacement name for Kit Carson.
More details can be found here: Crestone Eagle Newspaper

Kit Carson was Lou Dawson’s final peak which awarded him the success of being the first person to ski all of Colorado’s fourteeners. I think I know why it was his last peak. It’s remote, and the approach is long. Timing is everything as the only skiable lines require skiing a southeast face from the summit, which is difficult to find in condition. If the wind hasn’t blown all the snow away, then the sun has melted it. If you wish to make this a one-day trip, that means a very early start (avoiding the typical wet slide activity typical of east aspects) and a very long day. And what a long day it was!

Frank and I met up in Salida the evening before and enjoyed a nice dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Frank Zappa. From there, we headed down to the town of Crestone and on to the Willow Lakes trailhead. Camping is plentiful in the area and we settled in for a short night’s sleep. While we were sleeping, Mark arrived. We began from the Willow Lakes trailhead at 4:20 am.

Early light across the valley.

The trail was largely snow-packed for the first 1000’. Skins could have been used but we found that the trail had been so packed down by hikers to the Willow Lake that we were faster on foot. When the trail rounded a ridge which was a more south-facing aspect, the snow and dirt were rather sporadic until just below the cliff-bands at about 11,000’.

Booting up the bottom of the cliff bands.

Once above the cliff bands we followed the valley to the Willow Lake.

The ice falls at Willow Lake are very picturesque- and the photos don’t do it justice.

Getting past the cliffs around the lake require a bit of rock climbing.

We continued to skin for about another mile past the Willow Lake.

Finally, we caught a glimpse Kit Carson (the big rounded mountain).

But we were a bit concerned about the weather. Though there was no snow predicted, the forecast for the day said winds would be between 15 and 25 mph with gusts up to 40 mph. This continued to worry us as we passed by Challenger Point and saw a series of spindrifts.

But, when we spotted the Outward Bound Couloir we decided we should give it a go.

We stashed our skins by some distinct rocks in the apron of the couloir and put on our crampons for the boot up. We began the boot up the couloir around 10 am.

Mark approching the top of the couloir.

When we reached the top of the couloir, we took a look right and we were a bit disappointed. From the limited view we had, the amount of snow on the SE face didn’t look promising. But, as we rounded the corner more we could see that the SE face was in fact holding plenty of snow to ski! We were in luck!

Mark led the way to the summit.

The snow on the SE face was difficult. It was wind affected, sun affected, and sugary. At times, there would be a thin suncrust on top of sugar. Other times it was pure ice.

Winds settled.

We reached the summit around 1 pm.

View to the north.

Pikes Peak in the distance.

Challenger Point

The nearby majestic Crestone Peak.

Humboldt in the background, with no snow as usual :rolleyes2

The Blanca Group (looking rather thin on snow) towering over the Sand Dunes.

By the time we reached the summit the weather had broken for a bit. We had low winds and nice temperatures on the summit which allowed us to spend at least a half an hour enjoying the summit views.

But, eventually it was time to ski. Frank skiing from the summit

Skiing the southeast couloir was one of the most difficult things that any of us had ever skied. It wasn’t that it was that steep or even that icy. It was the sheer variability and unpredictability of the snow. You really didn’t want to fall because a fall in those conditions could send you for a death slide down to the bottom of the wrong couloir.

Nevertheless, Frank made it look pretty good.

Mark made it look pretty good too!

Mark and me.

Me on the SE face.

Rather than following our exact ascent route, we felt it was better to avoid the sugary snow and ski the SE face down into the South Couloir (also called Cole’s Couloir). We then booted up a few hundred feet back to the notch where we connected with the Outward Bound Couloir.

By the way, the South Couloir looks to be in condition, but not for much longer. It’s melting fast!

Me and Mark preparing to ski at the top of the couloir. By then the winds were howling again!

Frank likes the “Dav shot”

And now for the good turns!!!!!

Mark dropped in first.

Frank.

My turn!

Skiing the apron.

From there, we picked our way down the valley to the lake.

One last look at the wonderful ice falls.

Mark skiing down toward the cliff bands.

We were able to ski to just below the cliff bands at about 10,900′. There, we walked until the trail rounded the ridge to a more northerly aspect at about 10,000′. From there we were able to ski nearly all the way to the parking lot.

This is how Frank celebrated

The day was long, 14 and a half hours round trip. But, it was worth it! The climb was probably more fun than the ski. And we lucked out with the weather as the winds settled when we needed them to settle most. Most importantly, he partly cloudy day afforded us more time to reach the SE face.

All in all, it was another good day out! Thanks boys!!!!!! :D