Originally posted on my Thrillhead Blog

TR: Snowmass Mountain (14, 092′)
6/20/2008
Marko, Britany, Jim

Snowmass is always one of those obvious peaks seen from far away. True to its name, Snowmass seems to always have a huge mass of snow on it’s east side. For a couple of years I’ve wanted to ski this east bowl, but I always knew it was a slog- approximately 22 miles round trip.

So, I started looking at the approach from the west side, through Lead King Basin and Geneva Lake. This approach is normally about half the distance as the approach from the east side, but not this year. Reports of avy debris blocking the road only 2 miles past Marble put a quick damper on that plan, along with doumall reporting that there was now snow from the summit on the west side.

Then the east side became the plan. Partners fell easily into place. And the slog up Snowmass Creek began around 9:30 am on Thursday morning.

Part way up the valley, you catch a beautiful glimpse of Snowmass from the Bear Creek drainage.

However, the peak is still miles away.

A closer view of Snowmass Mountain, which is the “lump” on the left of the pointed peak.

Eventually, the trail brings you to a series of lakes. Below is the first of the lakes, and the snowbridge people have been using to cross. The snowbridge is still quite solid. But, a major downfall to using this to cross the creek is the amount of sidehilling and bushwhacking you must do on the other side of the lake. There is about a mile of this. With our already heavy packs being further bulked down with our skis and boots, this bushwhacking plainly sucked. But, it wouldn’t be bad for most regular hikers.

We actually used the snowbridge to cross the river on the way down. On the way up, we bypassed the snowbridge on the way up and opted to try for the log jam a mile down the trail. Jim standing by the log jam.

Jim tried the log jam, but the logs were easily rolled. It looked like he was in the “log-roll” game at the water park where I grew up in Ohio. I suspect as the water levels go down a bit the logs settle, making it easier to cross. But, we actually found it easier just wading across the river below the log jam. The river was pretty fast and deep- thigh deep for me. We were able to use submerged logs on the bottom of the creek to help make the crossing easier.
Marko crossing.

From there, we continued on the trail as it quickly gained elevation. Just a few hundred feet above Oxbow Lake we found ourselves in a dark forest with a trail covered in snow. I quickly switched to skins. Seven miles of carrying my already heavy pack with skis and boots on it as well was plenty enough. It was about another mile to Snowmass Lake. But, it was definitely a sight for sore eyes after carrying our packs for 8 miles and 2,600′ vert!

We quickly set up camp near Snowmass Lake.

And we spent the evening enjoying the amazing views.

Hagerman Peak stands impressively over Snowmass Lake, with Snowmass Mountain on the right.

We woke early in the morning and got a fairly early start at 4:15 am. The hike started with an immediate creek crossing in knee-deep water which was freezing cold- ending up on the other side with a steep (at least it feels steep trying to walk with wet barefeet) frozen/snowy embankment. Somewhere in the process of pulling myself up the frozen embankment from the icy-cold water I felt my pole slip out from my hand and into the creek. “My pole! My pole!”. But it was still dark. We couldn’t see anything in the creek. And before I knew it, my pole was gone. Many thanks to Marko and Jim, though, for always making sure I had another pole to use when I needed it!

Nevertheless, onward we went, and we were happy to find ourselves walking on frozen snow. Cold temperatures in the night had allowed the snow to freeze quite solidly.

Skinning up the bowl toward Snowmass.

Marko, with the Maroon Bells in the background.

Eventually, we made our way to the ridge on the south side of Snowmass where we found some fun climbing.

And finally the summit! Marko posing on the summit block.

Looking down at Geneva Lake.

Getting ready for the skiing, Capitol behind.

Wanting to ski from the summit, I picked this line to the lookers right of the peak.

I told the others it was probably not wise to follow me. As I made my way down, the snow was manky on the upper face and I ended up exposing twice as much rock as had been there before. A look back at my line on the upper face.

Me skiing the bottom of the line.

Jim and Marko took a line to the lookers left, a bit further down the ridge. Jim skiing.

Marko.

And then, we had the opportunity to ski corn all the way down to Snowmass Lake.

The creek crossing back to camp.

We hung out at camp for a couple of hours, eating, laughing, and then finally packing to head on out back to the trailhead. None of us was looking forward to the slog out. We were able to ski for nearly a mile. But, after that, the skis and boot went back on the pack. I must say, two days in a row of carrying a heavy packs like this (the skis and boots are the killer) is truly grueling. We were all finding our own states of misery and pain. But, we all persisted.

Jim and Marko taking a break after the snow bridge crossing.

On our way down, we met a few groups heading up to Snowmass Lake, including a pair of skiers.

Finally, around 7 pm, we arrived back at the trailhead. Marko captured this photo of me so happy to take my pack off, and Jim giving beta to another skier.

I am glad to have completed Snowmass this season, though the distance carrying a heavy pack made it a difficult feat. This wraps up my fourteener attempts for this season, as any new ones I need do not have enough snow to ski any longer.

I wanted to thank Jim and Marko for joining me. I couldn’t have done it without you two. Thanks also to Marko for contributing lots of pictures.

And I want to thank all of you as a whole. When Frank completed his fourteeners, I was worried about being able to find partners to join me on skiing my remaining 15 fourteeners. However, people and partners have come out of the woodwork, and I truly appreciate all the support and beta dozens people have been giving me. I now have only 9 fourteeners left, and it wouldn’t be so without the help of so many of you!

Am I done skiing this year? Hopefully not! I hope to get in a few more days of summer snow fun!

Originally posted on my Thrillhead Blog

Wilson Peak (14,017′)
6-12-2008
Pam, Brittany, Catherine

Over the last few years, I’ve skied a whole heck of a lot of fourteeners and aside from Frank, my partners on these fourteeners have been a mix. I’ve done fourteeners with one other person, I’ve done them with five others. I’ve even done one solo. But, an all ladies fourteener hadn’t happened yet, and was long overdue. I was happy to have Pam and Catherine joining me on this peak.

Wilson Peak is one of those peaks you may have seen a lot in pictures, but not even realized it. This peak has been used by
Coors for years as part of it’s logo- an advertising symbol.

Wilson Peak is the smallest of a cluster of fourteeners often referred to as the Wilson Group: Wilson Peak, Mt. Wilson, and El Diente. This cluster is located in the San Miguel Range of the San Juans, near the town of Telluride.

So, why is there a Wilson Peak and a Mount Wilson? History doesn’t have a great explanation. These peaks seem to be self-named by Wilson himself, who was an established mountaineer who worked as a topographer on the Hayden Survey of the San Juans in 1874.

The Wilson Group are among the most difficult fourteeners to reach for folks residing in Denver as they are about 8 hours away. Because of this, Pam, Catherine and I left mid-day on Wednesday to make our trek southwest.

We arrived in the daylight, with plenty of time to catch a glimpse of the mountain.

Closer.

Around 9,700′, the dirt road to Silver Pick begins to turn a bit burly. We found many fallen trees over the road. We were able to move most of them out of the way at first.

But, eventually there were two trees in a row that were too big for us to lift. Someone needs to go in there with a chainsaw! We ended up working our way back down the road and camping at 9,700′.

We began our morning early, starting our hike at 3:30 am.

We approached Wilson Peak via the Northwest, via Silver Pick Basin.

Pam and Catherine making their way up Silver Pick Basin.

Approaching this route requires booting up a bowl, followed by a couloir. Me booting up the last bit of the bowl.

Pam and Catherine in the couloir.

Once at the top of the couloir, the climb became fun!

This particular section was the crux of the climb. A lack of footholds and huge exposure to the right made it tricky.

Pam shortly after the crux.

Once we reached the summit, proper celebrations began. We each brought up a can of Coors- a must do for this peak : ) Catherine, Pam, Me:

As from all fourteeners, the views on the summit were spectacular. You can faintly see the town of Telluride, with Sneffels, Wetterhorn, and Uncompahgre in the distance.

Mount Wilson and El Diente, the neighbors of Wilson Peak.

Lizard Head, one of Colorado’s thirteeners- known to be a very difficult climb due to the rotten rock.

Our planned descent route was via the northeast face. As we gazed at the face from the summit, we were disappointed at how melted out the couloirs were. There are two couloirs that people generally ski, one on the skiers left and the other on the right. The route on the left had no snow at the top and would have required a sketchy downclimb over loose rock. The route on the right followed the ridge down a bit, then entering a couloir that had a mix of rocks and snow at the top. I’d say after the last couple of hot days, this line is most likely fully melted out now at the top.

Me skiing from the summit.

Pam.

Like I said, the entrance was pretty bony.

But then it got better.

Pam.

Catherine.

Apparently I thought my lei tasted good

And then our line opened up to a wonderful apron of corn.

Pam.

Me.

Catherine.

Our line.

To get back to the Silver Pick road, we traversed left, staying as high as we could, generally above treeline. The traverse was a bit more difficult than usual, I suspect, as parts of it were no longer snow-covered.

The snow wasn’t all that we were hoping for on this line. Still, the climb was fun. And I had a great day out with the ladies!

Thanks again, Pam, for contributing another round of great pics!

Originally posted on my Thrillhead Blog

TR: Maroon Peak (14,156′)
6-8-2008
Chris Webster, Pam Rice, Frank Stern

What does it mean when your friends pick you up for the weekend ski and ask you if you’ve brought a salty glass because they have a pitcher of margs to drink on the way up? Is that a good sign or a bad sign? Only time would tell

Well, the signs weren’t so good when we arrived to the Maroon Lake parking lot at 11 pm and it was raining. The forecast of 20% precipitation seemed like a bit of an understatement. We went to sleep and somewhere in the night rain turned to snow. We woke up at 2:30 in the morning to snow falling from the sky. At this time of the morning (or is it still night?) motivation is always lacking, and the snow didn’t help. Most of us had thoughts of bagging the trip and just sleeping in for a bit. But we have Frank to thank: He motivated us to get going. “We’re here right? We might as well go check it out.”

The recent snowfall made it difficult for us to find the trail in the morning. We lost the trail a few times in the darkness, adding to our time. By the time we arrived at Crater Lake, it was light enough to turn off our headlamps.

When we arrived at the Garbage Chute (which is just below the East Chutes and the Bell Cord), we could barely see that there were even mountains above us.

This was the time of critical decision. Do we go up? Or do we turn around. And then a good thing happened. We saw blue sky!

We figured the front must be breaking up. So, up we went.

Pam

The bit of snow and light clouds created some beautiful light. Every time I looked back down the valley, I was stunned by its beauty.

Frank leading the way up the East Chutes.

Pam.

Part way up, we started encountering snow that was difficult to boot pack in. The rain and clouds prevented the snow from freezing well the night before and we were postholing in “cement”. Around then, two other climbers, Joe and August caught up to us. Joe was a skier, August a climber.
At that time, I was leading the way,
but getting tired from the conditions. As soon as August passed, though, I was thankful. He lead the rest of the way to the
top at a good pace for the rest of us to follow.

Me and Joe.

August

View of the valley from the top of the East Chute. The snow that had fallen in the valley was rapidly melting away.

At the top of the chutes we swung around to the SW side of the mountain and scrambled our way up to the summit.

Pam and Chris.

Me.

Chris approaching the summit.

Me on the summit, Pyramid behind.

The Elks still look spectacularly coated with snow !

Joe

I tried to rally the group to ski the SE face. It looked so sweet!

But, the group consensus was for the Bell Cord. It’s a classic line, of course, and I didn’t want the group to split up. So, to the Bell Cord we went!

Skiing the ridge to the East Face (which precedes the Bell Cord).

Pam skiing from the summit.

Chris got some great shots of me skiing off the top of that face. (Thanks!)

Pam ([size=9]taken by Chris[/size])

Chris.

Frank.

Pam says she can’t take a picture to save her life. I think she’s lying. I handed her my camera for a bit and this is the results.

Frank ([size=9]by Pam[/size])

Originally posted on my Thrillhead Blog

Entering the actual Bell Cord couloir ([size=9]by Pam[/size])

Pam skiing down the Bell Cord.

Frank

Joe

Chris.

The bottom of the couloir was a bit runneled and laden with debris. But the top was great! When we got to the bottom of the Bell Chord we enjoyed some nice corn in the apron. We hopped over a few deep runnels in search of better snow, but all in all, it was still fun!

It wasn’t long before we found ourselves back at Maroon Lake, with all the tourists asking us “Did you ski?” “Where did you ski?” “You left at what time???” “You did all this just for one ski run?” “How did you see where you were going in the dark?” “It snowed this morning?”

Sometimes you think the snow will never melt (end of April):

But, somehow, sadly, it usually does.

Our line, as seen from Maroon Lake.

All in all, it was a great day out. The snow was some of the best snow I’ve skied on all spring! Thanks to Chris, Pam for a fantastic ski. Extra thanks to Frank for motivating all of us. And it was great to meet up with August and Joe on the mountain. Thanks all!

Originally posted on my Thrillhead Blog

Originally, we were hoping to ski the S. Couloir on S. Maroon. But a change in weather and finding out some beta about Gothic road made us change our plans at the last minute. Wetterhorn was my back up option. Dave and I had been wanting to ski together all season, but things hadn’t worked out. Finally, they did. I was so happy to have him join me on this San Juans adventure.

I also knew that Jon Turner and his friend Keith would be heading that way. They were setting up a base camp near treeline the night before and we had tentative plans to meet them on the trail in the morning.

Wetterhorn is a prominent fourteener in the San Juan area. However, when driving near Lake City and Montrose, the mountain remains hidden behind other peaks, mainly Uncompahgre. This is largely why the peak was not ascended until 1906. Barnard, Utter, C. Smedley, and W.P. Smedley were on their way to hike Uncompahgre and saw Wetterhorn on the way. They didn’t know of another 14,000 peak in the area, but they decided to climb it anyway, basically because it looked cool

We didn’t leave the Denver area until after 6 pm. So, it was about 11:30 when we pulled into the Matterhorn Creek TH. The roads were clear to the 2×2 parking. But, the road had intermittent snow and dirt starting at the beginning of the 4×4 parking. We camped at a nice spot near the 2×2 parking for a 3:30 wake up call. It was a short night!

We began hiking at 4:25 am from the 2×2 parking at 10,370′. We had a swift pace, and made it to treeline less than an hour later.

Shortly after, we spotted Jon and Keith. And we began to see a fantastic view of Wetterhorn’s face.

We followed the standard route to the summit on the southeast ridge.

Jon Turner with the summit behind.

Dave reached the summit before us.

His view of us from the summit.

We dropped our packs at the top of the notch which lead to the last couple hundred feet of climbing. This pitch is a rather fun scramble to reach the summit! Generally, this pitch doesn’t get skied as it very rarely has snow.

We reached the summit (14,015′)at 8:10, less than 4 hours after we started. Summit shots.

It was a nice, clear day on the summit, with virtually now wind- a fantastic change from my last two fourteener ascents!

Uncompahgre in the back with Matterhorn in front.

Looking down the valley. We began our day at the bottom of the valley going from left to right in the picture.

Like last week, the San Juans were still a sea of snow.

Sneffels in the distance.

We downclimbed from the summit to the notch.

We reached the notch around 8:30 and the snow was still quite firm. We decided to wait for a little while until the snow softened, and didn’t start skiing until 9:10 am. The snow was still a tad firm up top, but it was still enjoyable.

Dave

Jon

Me

Unfortunately, Keith was not feeling well that day, and opted not to join us on the ski. He headed back to camp.

When we reached the bottom of the face it was only 9:30 am. We looked at eachother and we were like, “So, it’s only 9:30. Now what?” So, we headed on over to Matterhorn for another lap. Matterhorn is a 13,590′ peak between Uncompahgre and Wetterhorn.

View of Matterhorn from lower in the valley.

The climb up Matterhorn was also pretty fun.

On the summit of Matterhorn.

Wetterhorn looks even more impressive from Matterhorn.

Now for ski run #2!

We skied our way down the northeast face of Matterhorn and then circled around to the south. We followed the basin out, and headed back to the trailhead. We were back at camp by 12:40, making it a 2-peak day in less than 7.5 hours I’d say we got a good bang for our buck that day.

Thanks again Dave and Jon for joining me! It was a fantastic day!