Category: Backcountry Skiing

Jenkins Mountain 13,432′ 6.12.11

Posted by Frank – June 23, 2011

Jenkins Mountain is the westernmost summit along the ridge of peaks looming North above Taylor Park. The peak is named for James Jenkins, a miner who founded the mining camp of Pieplant (1896-1910) at the base of the mountain. Years ago a friend of mine observed what appeared to be a nice looking couloir on the North side of the mountain, but the line is generally pretty hidden and Jenkins isn’t all that popular, so nobody seemed to have much information on it. Then Google Earth came around, and once again, this line appeared to have a lot of promise. Still, it took another couple of years before Brittany and I finally decided it was time to at least take a look. We were glad we did.

We started off around 10,300′ at the old Pieplant townsite. There are a number of well-preserved buildings in the area, and the well-marked Timberline trail heads straight towards Jenkins from there. Apparently the town was named for a Rhubarb-like plant which grows wild in the area, which local miners made pies out of.
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The old mining trail seen above leads straight to treeline on Jenkins, and even after switching to ski boots we made the summit in just under 3 hours. Jenkins is one of those great summits that “connects the dots”, geographically speaking. The central Sawatch range couldn’t be any clearer from this vantage point- Clear Creek with the ghost towns/ trailheads of Winfield and Vicksburg to the East, 14er La Plata and popular ski peak Sayres just to the North of that, and even the high 13er Grizzly and Lincoln Creek looking close enough to touch. La Plata/ Clear Creek:
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Taylor Reservoir:
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Castle and Cathedral:
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Some exploration near the summit revealed that Jenkins actually has a number of fine couloirs that drop off the North side into Church Basin, so we chose the steepest, cleanest looking one a little bit East of the summit. We dubbed it the “Belltower Couloir”, since it drops into Church Basin. Frank:
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Maroon Peak Southwest Couloir Attempt 6.7.11

Posted by Frank – June 11, 2011

The South Face of Maroon Peak seems to pop up in almost every trip report we do here on 14erskiers. It’s such an aesthetic face, and it seems to be visible from every high peak in the Crested Butte area. Though I was able to ski it on an overnight trip back in 2003, it’s been a long-standing goal of mine to ski it in a day from Crested Butte. Though one-day descents of this line have recently become common from the Maroon Lake trailhead on the Aspen side, Crested Butte skiers generally set up camp somewhere in the upper East Fork of the Crystal River, below Frigid Air Pass. Single day trips up Maroon would be relatively easy with a snowmobile if snowmobiles were allowed through the town of Gothic, which for some reason they are not, despite the same road seeing thousands of cars, trucks, ATV’s and motorcycles all summer long. Sigh.

Fravert Basin and Maroon Peak from near Frigid Air Pass:
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We considered making an attempt last weekend, but convinced ourselves the face would already be runneled and avalanche-strewn due the sunny exposure and preponderance of dark rocks on the face. So we skied some lines up Rustler’s Gulch instead. Thanks to the internet, we discovered that the face was actually in great shape as of Sunday, so we made plans to ski it while we still could. Safely past Gothic, we made our way up to the Wilderness boundary in Schofield Park and started up the long gradual climb to Frigid Air Pass. Things were looking good:
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Sometimes Frigid Air can be a major obstacle to accessing Fravert Basin, as it is guarded be large cornices. The late, great Jack Hannon had to dig a hole through the cornice on a trip to Maroon back in the late 90′s. Thankfully we arrived at a pretty small spot, and it was easy enough to jump in. Pete gives the count-down:
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Golden Tops North Face and Cassi Peak SW Couloir 6.5.11

Posted by Frank – June 9, 2011

With Gothic road open to the Judd Falls trailhead as of 6/3/11, Brittany and I were ready for the change of scenery (so to speak) and set our sights on a couple of goals in the upper Rustler’s Gulch area. I had skied the aesthetic South Couloir of Golden Tops (UN 13,260′) a couple of years ago, and had been wanting to go back to ski the North side. Our plan also included either Precarious or Cassi Peak (UN 13,232′), one of the few peaks in the area I hadn’t yet summited.

Brittany climbing towards the basin underneath Golden Tops. Trail 403 is in the forested area behind her. It’ll be a while…
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South Maroon. We tried this peak a couple of days later on 6/7/2011. Unfortunately, we found it to be in rough condition. More on that later…
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Brittany climbing the South Couloir of Golden Tops:
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Capitol Peak North Face Ski Descent

Posted by Frank – June 5, 2011

HUGE congrats to Jordan White, Anton Sponar, and Colter Hinchcliffe, who made what is probably a 1st descent on the North Face of Capitol today (6-5-11). A number of ski mountaineers had their eyes on this prize, and the huge spring of 2011 finally made it happen. Stoked that these guys were the ones who got it (I had my eyes on it too, I just didn’t want to climb it again.) Here’s a photo from the top of Mt Daly on 4-29-08:

Another view:
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Spider Face to The White Widow 5.31.11

Posted by Frank – June 2, 2011

Now that snowline has begun its relentless upward creep towards the highest peaks, access is becoming more difficult and it’s time to set our sights on different zones. Springtime typically means the Gothic valley for Crested Butte ski mountaineers, but the heavy snowfalls we’ve had this spring have greatly delayed the opening of the road. With the road partially melted, unplowed, and still gated, the only choice was to go in with bikes.
photo John Jasper
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Our goal for the day was the Spider Face. Brittany and I tried to ski this same line last spring, but found a little too much water ice for our tastes. With this year’s deep snowpack, we hoped that much of the ice would still be covered by snow. This photo is from 6-5-11, just a few days later:
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Wang Chung Handrail and Thoughts on Moving Snow 5.12.11

Posted by Frank – May 18, 2011

About a week ago, I headed up Axtell for the last time? this season, after yet another springtime dump. Nearby Irwin has surely eclipsed the 800″ mark for the season, and the Gunnison Basin is still sitting at 169% of average. If the weather will cooperate, we should have along springtime of epic ski mountaineering ahead of us for another month or more. Zach Berman, Scott Yost and I found ourselves in a thick fog at the top of our line, and a long wait for an opening to present itself and let us ski. A great hole never came, so I eventually dropped in once conditions had at least reached an “OK” level. The skiing was good, with a few inches of surfy supportable powder on top of a semi-frozen crust. No pics in the fog, but here’s the video:

Wang Chung Handrail 5-12-11 from 14erskiers on Vimeo.

Those of you who actually watch the POV may notice that I stop at a tree at around :40 and quickly get slammed with my slough seconds later. Let me start by saying I was roughly 99% sure that the snow would slough off as I dropped in. Let me also say that I clearly failed at slough management on this run, since getting hit by slough, even right above a tree, isn’t the name of the game. But while some skiers would say that my decision to ski this line was “reckless” or something similar, I think it should be noted that moving snow is simply part of the game on steep lines. Colorado skiers don’t get to experience this very often, but skiers in places like Alaska and British Columbia do it on a daily basis. For some, that will never be acceptable. For others, the additional considerations of moving snow can make a line that much more interesting and enjoyable. The very best at slough management pretty much have their phd ski degree from Harvard or MIT.

Why even discuss this? Well, online discussions at The Aspen Times, Powder Magazine, and Wildsnow regarding Nick Devore’s recent accident which resulted in a broken femur spurred me to say something. The first thing to say is that 14erskiers wishes Nick the best in his recovery. We know too many people who have had the same injury but thankfully they’ve all bounced back strong.

While Nick was clearly hurt in a slab avalanche, not a slough, a look at the photos in the Powder magazine interview show a pretty short slope, one which a good skier like Nick could easily ski in less than a half dozen turns. Even with conditions that made a slide likely, Nick is just one of many strong skiers who could ski a mini-golf line like that well out in front of any moving snow. The problem, of course, is that any small misjudgement or error when combined with moving snow can quickly lead to disaster, as it did for Nick. Personally, I would consider my error in the video above to be a skiing error, not an avalanche awareness one. Same would go for Nick’s accident. I’m sure many would disagree.

This is a case where I wish the comments on 14erskiers reached the levels that they do on Wildsnow- if you have an opinion, please present it here.

Little Alaska Five Peak Tour 5.8.11

Posted by Frank – May 16, 2011

After consecutive days on Pyramid, Sopris, and Ruby chute, Brittany and I were joined by Tom Runcie and we set our sights on “Little Alaska”. Little Alaska is an informal name given by Marble-area skiers for the group of peaks in the upper Yule Creek valley which are quite impressive from the Marble zone. Lou has a great panorama shot of the area on Wildsnow. For Crested Butte skiers, there is an all-too-brief period when this zone is easily accessible via snowmobile once the snow is set up enough for both traction and avalanche stability. On my previous trips to ski “The Blob” and “Ant“, the weather hadn’t been overly cooperative and I had to settle for some low-visibility ski descents, but thankfully that wasn’t the case on this near-perfect day.

So often on my snowmobile, I’m reminded of “Oh, The Places You’ll Go!” by Dr. Seuss. I really love my snowmobile. Best piece of ski gear I own. Tom:
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Brittany:
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Time for bootpack #1, Purple Mountain:
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Mount Sopris Laundry Chutes 5.6.11

Posted by Frank – May 10, 2011

After our successful day on Pyramid’s Landry Line, Brittany and I were looking to do some more skiing somewhere in the Roaring Fork Valley. Pyramid had tired us out, both mentally and physically, so objectives like Thunder Pyramid and Cathedral were out. A few suggestions were made, but ultimately when Jordan suggested Sopris, we were instantly in, since it fit the bill perfectly as something fairly quick, easy, and fun. An added bonus for this trip was Lou Dawson deciding to join us as well. We’ve been trying to get together with the 14er pioneer for years on a tour, so it was nice to finally make it happen.

Though not even a thirteener at 12,953′, the twin Sopris summits tower over 6,000′ above the Crystal and Roaring Fork river valleys, making Sopris appear much taller than it is. Our intended descent route was the Laundry chutes, seen here from the scrub oak halfway up the mountain.
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Nearing treeline:
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The weather was surprisingly cold, windy, and cloudy compared to our cloudless day on Pyramid. Still, it made for some interesting light as another group made their way up the mountain.
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We went straight up the bowl and then found ourselves on the ridge, where the cornices were peeling away from the earth.
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Pyramid Peak Landry Line Video 5.5.11

Posted by Frank – May 9, 2011

I feel so lucky to have skied the Landry Line twice now, and both times in pretty good conditions. I really want to find a better line in Colorado, but I honestly doubt that one exists. It’s such an amazing combination of aesthetics, steepness, and length that just can’t be matched. Brittany’s full TR with 40+ photos can be found HERE.

Snow conditions this time around warranted a more conservative style of skiing than my last time on this line in 2006. Especially at the top (first quarter), the snow was what I call “magic carpet” snow, which peels off like an onion and tries to keep a skier on top. Given the exposure, taking a magic carpet ride simply wasn’t an option, so there were a lot more jump turns and side hops compared to my last Landry run. The 2nd quarter of the run was incredible sloughy powder, the 3rd was mank and avie debris, and the last quarter was perfect hero corn.

I feel like my video from the first go-around is a little higher quality. The gopro helmet cam in this case got washed out- it’s just too white out there! This is the first time I’ve had that happen, so hopefully this is more of a one-time deal. It’s too bad they don’t offer a polarizing filter (as far as I know). The other problem was condensation within the camera body- this wasn’t an issue at the top, but it became progressively worse until the footage wasn’t even usable by the second half of the 4,000′ line. I’m assuming this had something to do with the temperature change. In any case, here’s the video:

Pyramid Landry Line 5-5-11 from 14erskiers on Vimeo.

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Ben White Skis New Hampshire’s 4kers

Posted by Frank – May 3, 2011

Ben White, a 17 year old skier from Essex, Massachusetts recently completed his goal of skiing all 48 of New Hampshire’s peaks over 4,000′- the first to do it within one year. The following is an interview with Ben, lightly edited for clarity.

Photo Alan Hammersmith/ Courtesy Ben White
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Tell us about your ski background.
I have been skiing my whole life. I went out to Utah when I was 11 for a family ski vacation, and that got me totally hooked. We spent a lot of time not skiing on the trails, which was something we could rarely do in the east. After that, I knew I wanted to get a lot better, and fast, so I started racing at Attitash in NH. I did that for 4 years, and was an assistant coach for a 5th. Racing got boring and too much of a commitment for me to enjoy after that 4th year.

When did you start skiing the 4kers, and when did you finish?
I wanted to ski all the 4000 footers in NH in one year. I started November 26th, 2010, and finished April 24th.

What prompted or inspired you to pursue this goal?
I don’t know.

Is this a popular goal for Eastern skiers/ has anyone done it?
No, eastern hiking trails are not fun to ski down. 3 others have done it, but I am the first to do it in one year.
Sunrise on the Presidential Range traverse. Photo Alan Hammersmith/ Courtesy Ben White
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Lou Dawson skied Colorado’s 14ers from the summit, often trying many times to achieve that standard. All the other 14er finishers have tried to do the same. Are you trying to match that standard?
Yup, I did. Except for Tecumseh, where there was no snow on the true summit, we dropped probably 20′ vert (I really have no idea) to the top of Waterville Valley ski area. It wouldn’t have been much of a ski anyways, it was flat. Some peaks just didn’t have any snow on top of the very highest point, they were exposed rock, so I didn’t do that, because I didn’t want to buy new skis.

Which peak was your favorite?
I’m not sure, I’ve thought long and hard about that. Hale had the best skiing, but it was pretty basic tree skiing in fresh snow, nothing too difficult. North Twin had a bulletproof slide that was about 45º+ sustained pitch which was really fun to ski down, it was a good challenge. Adams was the most epic, it was on my presidential traverse (7 peaks in a day. 20 mile tour, 9k of vertical gain, lots of rime ice crap skiing)
Mt. Madison. Photo Alan Hammersmith/ Courtesy Ben White
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Which peak was the hardest?
Wildcat D the first time was hard to ski down. Wildcat ski area is on that one, and it hadn’t opened yet. They were blowing snow, and on the way down, it was a very rapid change between rocks, grass, drifted powder, solid ice and chicken heads. Most of the time, you couldn’t tell the difference between them, because the rocks and grass were just barely covered up, but there was a pow drift in a water bar right next to it, etc.

You will be attending the University of Utah next year. Any thoughts of skiing Utah’s highest 50 or some other goal while you’re there?
That could be cool. I didn’t really think about the 50 highest, I only just looked at the 12,000 footers. Maybe take 2 years to do it, there are 112 of them.

Anything else you’d like to add?
I had never done any backcountry skiing before this year, except for an annual trip into Tuckerman’s with my dad since I was 9. My ski house is a camp that has an outhouse and is the best place in the world.

I also raise awareness for YES Kids (Youth Enrichment Services). They are a local charity (based in Boston) that gets inner city and under privileged youth skiing and other outdoors activities.

I’d also like to thank my sponsors:
Ramp Sports
Lowe Alpine (Backpacks)
Flylow Gear (Clothing, specifically made for backcountry skiing)
Erin Baker’s (Wholesome baked goods, very tasty on the trail)
Green Wax (Environmentally friendly ski wax. None of the regular chemicals in it, and it smells really, really good too)