Just re-posting some things that were lost when we switched servers a couple of months ago…
Despite NOAA predictions of non-freezing temps in the southern Sangre de Cristo mountains, Jordan and I decided to head down and at least give it a shot. The drive down there was worth the trip alone, as I had never traveled all the way down the Western slope of the Sangres. The views were amazing, and the sights were odd, with UFO sighting platforms and the alligator farm. Makes perfect sense- 400 alligators in a high desert setting:
It’s all about the potatoes down here, with the Crestone group behind:
A bit more zoomed in on the Crestones. The peak, obviously, still goes:
I met up with Jordan on the Lake Como road before it starts to get rough, and we watched the sun set as we started the drive up “Colorado’s roughest road”
I was immediately thankful that I wasn’t driving, and thankful that Jordan was going for it and we nearly reached (before snow stopped us) the first major obstacle known as “jaws 1″. Most drivers don’t pass this point, at least not without a specialized rockcrawler 4×4. We were able to reach the cabin at Lake Como in just an hour and a half, located just under 12,000′. The lights of Alamosa:
3am came early, and we made our way towards our first objective, the SW face of Ellingwood. Temps had obviously made it well below the NOAA’s predictions, probably around 20 as my water bottle would actually freeze when I took it out. The dawn shadow cast by the Sierra Blanca:
And my shadow:
First light on Little Bear, the peak we hoped to climb the following day (That’ll be the part 2 TR in a few days…)
Climbing:
We summited before 7am, but we didn’t wait too long, not wanting the snow to soften too much on Blanca. (Blanca behind)
Jordan:
Frank:
The line on Ellingwood, as seen from Blanca:
Next, we were off to ski Blanca. It was still in the shade, and the climbing conditions continued to be perfect.
By now it was only 9:45, but we were on top of our second peak of the day. Here’s a close-up of Lindsey. Not sure if this little pinner has ever been skied, and it’s a long approach, but it sure looked fun:
The snow on Blanca hadn’t quite made the change into corn, so conditions were pretty brutal (breakable crust + wet debris)
Frank:
Jordan:
from the top:
The difficult conditions even grabbed Jordan and tossed him into some sharks:
Our line on Blanca, as seen from Ellingwood.
We skied Little Bear the following day. Blanca and Ellingwood from Little Bear:
