TR: Teocalli (20 Mar 2010)

Teocalli is one of those inspiring peaks that is easily viewed from Crested Butte’s ski area.

Rising to 13,209′, this peak dominates like a mini-Maroon Bell, but stands in the shadow of Castle. Teocalli has been on my list of things to ski for quite awhile and conditions set up perfectly this weekend to give this peak a good shot. So, Frank, Jarrett, and I met early Sunday morning at the Brush Creek trailhead.

Spring snow allowed for easy snowmobiling up Brush Creek to the bottom of Teocalli.

Skinning.

A view of the Brush Creek Valley below with the ski area to the right.

Skinning eventually turned to boot-packing.

The summit was quite windy.

Our playground:

East Face of Gothic in the center of the pic.

South face of Castle, which we skied a few years ago.

Frank.

Frank’s view of the south face.

Frank headed down the ridge below to check out the west chutes. Still debating, we decided to see what conditions were like on the south face. As Jarrett dropped in, the new snow on the face fractured- at least 100 feet wide. Jarrett was able to save himself from getting caught up in the sliding snow.

Though the fracture was only a few inches deep, traveling with it could have had serious consequences.

Since the fresh snow on the south face had slid leaving an icy layer below, we decided to take a west-facing chute which looked a bit more enticing.

Frank.

Jarrett.

Brittany

Jarrett on the lower slopes.

After exiting our chute, we headed south down to the valley toward our parked sleds.

Pockets were easily triggered on south-facing aspects.

Another look at Teocalli from below.

Riding out Brush Creek.

This picture makes me look like I actually know what I’m doing on a snowmobile. I promise, I don’t 🙂

Though the snow wasn’t perfect, we hit some nice pockets of good snow on Teocalli. It was great to hit a good line and check another peak off the list. Here’s a pic that shows our line, taken January 2009. 2000’+ vertical-foot couloir on a perfectly bluebird day. Doesn’t get much better than that 🙂

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Brittany Walker Konsella

Aside from skiing, biking, and all outdoorsy things,Brittany Walker Konsella also loves smiles and chocolate 🙂 Even though she excels at higher level math and chemistry, she still confuses left from right. Find out more about Brittany!

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