(note: I asked around and nobody seemed to know any history for this line. It might be the first ascent/descent, but it might not. It is still a rad couloir, so I slapped a name on it)
For the past 10 or so years I have been a climber much more than a snow slider. With the amazing ski conditions in the rockies this year, it was time to swing the pendulum back.
Now, while I’m not usually one to complain about endless days of powder skiing. It seems pretty obvious that the real reason to be a skier in the front range is the spring skiing. True spring was quite reluctant to come this year, but in the last few weeks, the bigger lines have finally opened up.
This brings me to the point of classic ski lines; Unlike most climbing lines that really must be seen and attempted to appreciate their status, quite a lot about a ski line can be appreciated from a simple topo map. Nowhere is this more evident than couloir skiing. The recipe is very simple:
1) Look for U-shaped contours on map. The deeper the “U”s, the more classic the line
2) Evaluate length of the couloir. The longer the couloir, the more classic the line
3) Evaluate the angle of the couloir. Generally steeper is better, to the extent you can still ski it.
With this mindset, I passed a few hours of our never ending winter staring at maps of Rocky Mountain National Park.
The next question was whether the line might be continuously skiable, or even held snow. This line turns out to be in a fairly remote region of RMNP; The west aspect of Mount Alice has surprsingly few pictures. Extensive google sleuthing revealed exactly one image:
But, the image revealed what I hoped for. A line choked with snow, even in the middle of summer.
Now, the next challenge was how exactly to reach this line. It is in a fairly remote region of the national park. There are no trails to the base, or even near it for that matter. Thus, the options included:
1) Skiing to the divide from Bear Lake, then descending to the base (~20 miles RT, ~9000′ vert)
2) Skiing to the summit of Mount Alice from Wild Basin, then dropping in blind (~20 miles RT, ~8000′ vert)
3) Skiing up the North Inlet from Grand Lake (~19 miles RT, 5000′ vert)
4) Skiing up the East Inlet from Grand Lake then dropping in to North Inlet drainage (~18 miles RT, 6000′ vert)
We chose #4, although in retrospect, #3 may have been easier, and would have certainly been a safer exit in the warming afternoon.
The final two ingredients were a stable weather forecast, and a willing partner. I floated the idea to most of my ski partners. Everybody was tentatively interested, but they also had various summer activities getting in the way.
Finally, a free weekend with a good forecast showed up. I floated out the plan to previously-interested parties, but Joe was the only possible taker. It took some convincing to talk Joe out of climbing ice in 90 degree temps, and instead having a nice suffer fest on skis. Joe hasn’t skied much this year, and probably never on a line like this, but he was still game for the adventure and a chance to scope out a less-visited area of the park. So, we left Boulder on Friday night at 9:30 PM and drove the long way round to Grand Lake. We arrived at the trailhead around 11:30, then packed our bags and turned in for a whopping 2 hrs of sleep.
2AM – the alarm goes off and we get stirring. A few minutes later an officer does his rounds through the parking lot. Luckily we are already awake, so our short nap goes unpunished. Around 2:30 we set off.
It was awesome getting to see so much new beautiful terrain. All sorts of ideas for ice climbing, rock climbing and skiing were inspired.
The approach is long, but mostly flat (+2k/8miles) to spirit lake. From there we followed a minor drainage up to the saddle between Mount Alice and Pt 12,241. The views opened up even more!
From the saddle, we made a descending traverse to the west aspect of Alice.
We passed more skiable lines along the way, but these were not what we came for.
I misjudged the map a bit, so we ended up doing a bit more booting on the traverse than I expected. Still this saved us dropping down further and having more vert to regain.
Finally, we got our first view of the line. The lower half looked great, but it quickly split and disappeared. Hopefully the lines were continuous and we were in the correct spot.
Soon we were starting up. There was some wet slide debris that I though might ruin the descent a bit. Mostly the couloir provided easy and aesthetic climbing, with a few sections of 45 degree or so snow.
At the top, I threw down my pack and took a nice break. Joe followed came along shortly. Joe was pretty exhausted at the top, and he decided he wasnt up for skiing the couloir. We discussed alternate descents, but I didnt really want to descend the couloir and ascend the saddle alone in the afternoon warmth. Thankfully, Joe decided to down climb the couloir while I skied. The snow stayed perfect the entire run. The skiing is extremely classic, with steep rollovers and turns revealing more and more beautiful skiing. Because of the aspect and deep walls, the skiers left side softens more than the right, allowing you to choose whatever snow consistency your prefer.
After clearing the mouth of the couloir, Joe decided to rejoin the fun for the bottom 1000′.
At the bottom, we got a nice partial view of the line, and found a great watering hole to hang out for a few hours.
The final crux of the day was navigating the wet slide prone slopes back up to the saddle and down to spirit lake. This wasnt fun, but it all worked out ok.
The long ski and hike out was a bit painful.
However, an 18 hr day does have its perks.
We also saw a moose and my first CO bear, which helped seal the deal. Thanks to Joe for coming along for the suffering. Hopefully you will forget the pain soon, and be up for another adventure.
Chris and I made a last minute 5 day trip to Vegas. We did things in fine style, staying in a hotel, and climbing every day. The result was a great trip filled with super-classic routes.
Day 1 was shortened by the flight and a need for supplied. Still, it was a great chance to test the waters for future shady climbs. We headed to Whiskey Peak in Black Velvet Canyon, where we climbed the short, but super classic Triassic Sands.
Day 2 was the big day for the trip, climbing Levitation 29 (IV, 5.11c). One of the the all time Red Rock classics. I thought this route was a great challenge, with numerous difficult (for me) pitches. While the quality of the rock varies a bit over the route, the steep, well-protected climbing made the climbing awesome. Chris and I both climbed the route with no falls, which I am pretty happy about. This was the most technically challenging long climb I’ve done, and I had to fight pretty hard for the crux.
Day 3 – “Rest Day” We climbed the classic 5.7 Olive Oil. I was pretty blown away by the quality of this one. It is really a beautiful climb, and a great way to spend a mellow day. The downside came when I ripped a gear loop off my harness while leading the 2nd pitch, dropping a significant amount of our already spartan rack. We still made it through, and some surly Austrians returned our slightly banged up gear to us.
Day 4 – We climbed Dream of Wild Turkey’s on Black Velvet Wall. 10 pitches of awesome crack and face climbing up a remarkably steep and moderate wall. Considered one of the world/country’s great climbs for the grade, I’d be hard pressed to disagree. On the 4th pitch we bootied 2 cams and a pretty new 60m climbing rope. Unfortunately, our luck would run out on the 2nd rappel, when our own rope became hopelessly stuck. Chris had the honor of ascending our 7.8mm ropes and fixing the problem.
Day 5 – Another late start day, with a climb of Unimpeachable Groping on Ginger Buttress. We thought the climb would be in the sun, but that isnt true if you arent there first thing in the morning. Nonetheless, we stayed warm enough. After the somewhat hollow and low-quality first pitch, the climb delivered a lot of enjoyable and varied 5.10 sport climbing, with a great 5.8 slab finish to a pretty cool mini-summit.
It has been a while since I had a really long day in the mountains. Luckily that was remedied last weekend in RMNP with Doug and Kevin. Kevin has the whole story on his website (Alpine Ambition), but the short story is: change of plans + unknown route + difficult terrain + deteriorating weather + short days = bail
Anyhow, here are some of my favorite pictures. Notice the rapid change in weather.
In addition to Pervertical Sanctuary on the Diamond, our other big summer goal was to climb the Scenic Cruise in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. The Black Canyon is famous for high adventure, poor rock quality and generally scary climbing. Bits of this are found on the Scenic Cruise, but luckily those parts are few and far between, separated by some of the finest sustained moderate free climbing I’ve ever seen. The climb is about 1700′ long and it feels as though more than half that length is on moves 5.9 and harder. In the middle are two beautiful sustained 5.10 pitches, and in between them the fearsomely reputed 5.10- pegmatite traverse. With the shorter days of fall, we knew we’d have to move fairly quick to finish the route in the light. This seemed like an easy proposition as we quickly dispatched the first few guidebook pitches. By the time we encountered the first sustained 5.9 pitch, the true nature of the route revealed itself. From here on nearly every pitch would present some form of challenge. We kept at it, running out of water regrettably early in the day. We brought 3 L compared to 6 L by the party climbing behind us. Chris did a great job on both of the technical cruxes, while I dispatched the peg traverse with only minimal whimpering and a few hesitations. The climb had so many memorable passages, it is staggering. It certainly ranks among the very best climbs I’ve had the luck to complete.
Chris scopes out the route while we wait for daylight
The higher traverse pitch. The climbing starts with an awkward hand traverse before some difficult 5.9 face climbing with 2/3 of the bolts belonging in a museum.
A day after returning from Europe, I was eager to get out climbing. I wasn’t too psyched on waking up early, but for the right adventure, I made an exception. After perusing various pictures of rocks in RMNP, we settled on an attractive looking buttress on Otis Peak. We have no idea what the buttress is called, or if it has ever been climbed before. We certainly didnt see any evidence on route.
The buttress is located in the center of this photo, just right of Otis Flower Tower
The climbing started at an obvious ledge, where Joe took the first pitch. The rock was occasionally loose, but still fun. It started out nondescript before entering a nice right facing corner (5.6).
I took the next pitch, moving left from the belay, then back right to the obvious ledge below the roof. Generally solid rock, and easy enough to outweigh any spice factor. (mid 5th)
Chris took the next pitch, which even from below was obviously going to be the crux. Initially we thought the line might go directly through the roof. Chris started from the right side of the ledge, with just enough pro to keep things reasonable. After sussing out the direct roof, he instead opted for an awesome, airy underclinging traverse to the right. It took some pressing from me and Joe, but eventually he committed to the moves. After the traverse the climb entered a great right facing corner, reminiscent of the upper pitch on the SE corner of the Saber. One more spicy move, and Chris found a decent belay to bring us up. Even on TR, the climbing was quite exciting. Definitely a great lead by Chris! (5.9)
From the belay, it looked like a cruise to the top. Joe took over, and was immediately stumped by the 5′ headwall in front of him. It turned out to be some fairly tenuous 5.8 climbing that then broke way to much easier terrain above.
At the end of last summer, Chris and I decided that our goal in the park this season would be to climb Pervertical Sanctuary on the Diamond on Long’s Peak. Although we often climb harder at the crags, the climbing on the Diamond is all above 13k feet, making things quite a bit more challenging. We kicked out of work a bit early on Friday so we could make the nice approach to Chasm lake with daylight. As usual, it was hard to sleep with fears of snaffelhounds and other rodents all around us. By 4 AM, we were more than ready to get up, but unfortunately, on the first great weather weekend in a while, so was everybody else. We made it up to the north chimney and almost got suckered up to fields by some misguided folks. By soloing 90% of the chimney, we managed to pass two other parties headed for our route, leaving only the folks bivying on broadway to contend with. Luckily none of them were planning on PV, so we were good to go. Within minutes of reaching the base, the other parties caught up, but we were there first, so it wasnt much of a concern anymore.
We were a bit weary of the opening pitches and their reported runout nature, but they turned out to be very reasonable and quite pleasant. The climb ramps up nicely in both difficulty and quality. The wall becomes steeper and the features more defined. Wild climbing on the third pitch brought us below the crux hand crack. As usual I psyched myself out pretty well going in to the lead. The climbing was exhausting at the altitude, but I managed to hold it together for the 100′ of difficult climbing. The splitter crack continues on for the next crack. Chris had good beta to keep moving up his large cams, and made steady work of the nearly 200′ pitch. From an awesome, comfy belay ledge, it was just one more moderate pitch up to table ledge. As the first party on the raps, we had no waiting to endure, making for a relatively care free descent back to our camp.
Overall, an outstanding quality climb. The only downside was the dangerous feeling race up the north chimney in the morning. I think in the future I’ll keep my Diamond climbing to weekdays.
PHOTOS:
Loaded up with the essential gear, most importantly a Hot ‘n Ready pizza
buttress. On Saturday, Chris and I climbed the Flying Buttress on Mt. Meeker. Even though this route gets tons of stars on the internet and in the guidebooks, it doesnt seem super popular. I really can’t imagine why. The rock is perfect and the climbing is consistently interesting and occasionally outstanding (i.e. the roof). On the way up, Chris decided to pioneer a new approach that avoids any semblance of trail after the 1st five minutes. Aside from the constant doubt as we wandered in the dark up the treed hillside, the new approach paid off with beautiful sunrise views from the alpine ridge. The great morning light provided an opportunity to test out my new toy (camera). The new approach only cost use a bit of time, and we met it up and down the climb well before the forecast storms kicked up.
The day before we left CO for the warm beaches of CA and the soaking wet PNW, Joe, Chris and I managed to get out for a little prework climbing in the park. The goal was simply to get out and climb a popular easy ice climb, the Martha Couloir, in RMNP, then make it into the lab early enough to work a whole day. The night before I seriously weighed whether getting up early and risking not making it to work till noon was worth the trouble, but ultimately I made the right choice and went climbing. Things went even faster than expected, taking around 4.5 hrs car to car, getting us all showered and to work before 10:00 AM. Not bad for ~11 miles and 4000′.
We seemed to skip spring altogether this year, going from heavy May snow to 90 degree temps in the course of 2 weeks. My plans for the spring involved lots of great skiing, but unfortunately the means for many of those plans are rapidly swelling the local creeks and rivers. Luckily, I managed to ski one of the classic lines of CO a few weeks back. Even this trip almost wasn’t though. With the weekend nearing, the forecast seemed to get warmer and windier. After waking up at 4 AM on Saturday, I checked the Snotel to find 40F temps and 60 MPH winds. I went back to bed…
The forecast the next day wasnt much better, but we were desperate and decided to go more or less regardless. We modified the plan a bit, waking an hour earlier, and heading for the more difficult Dead Dog Couloir instead of the Tuning Fork. Having never skied a long steep couloir, we decided to boot up it and check it out, rather than taking then standard summit hike and dropping in blind. This also provided Pete with his first experience in steep snow climbing. The route was severely runneled, which made for nice climbing, but foreboding skiing.
By the top of the couloir, the snow had started to soften, and skiing was starting to look a little more appealing. We finished the short hike to the summit and relaxed a bit to allow some additional softening.
It turned out that some of the 1st turns off the summit were the most serious of the day. With tired rust legs, one must make a tight turn, where the consequences (however unlikely) of a screw up would result in a potentially bad fall down the main face. From here, we reached the entrance to the couloir. The steepest turns (55 degrees or so) are right off the bat, making for an exciting drop in.
Snow conditions in the couloir were pretty difficult, with a choice of the rough runnel in the middle, or the steep double-fall-lined edges. It wasnt always pretty, but we made it down safe and sound, skiing 99% of the way back to the car.
After being out of town the last two weekends, and now staring at a wet and cloudy weekend forecast, this may have been the only real spring trip of the year , but I’m still holding out hope that the heat wave will leave enough scraps for next weekend.
Well maybe not fluffy powder, but hard to complain for a weekday morning in mid-May. This ski season in CO (my first here) was pretty mediocre, and certainly didnt live up to any of the CO hype. As the lifts started shutting down, the local snowpack was looking pretty grim, and plenty of folks were speculating on whether the spring season (the only reason to be a skier in CO as far as I can tell) would even happen. Luckily, mother nature has come to the rescue in a big way, delivering ample amounts of snow to the high country and occasionally in town. 1.5′ of fresh snow in RMNP was enough to convince me to shuffle my work hours around a bit and get out skiing yesterday morning. As a result of Peter’s bus not arriving in Boulder until 5:57, we made a very civilized 6AM departure, arriving at the Bear Lake TH around 7:15. Surprisingly, the forecast clouds had broken, and we enjoyed bluebird skies to start the day. We were even a bit worried the sun was going to soften the snowpack too much.
We decided to check out the south facing Dragon’s Tail couloir on Flattop Peak. If it started getting too warm, we’d just have to head down, or change objectives.
As we neared the couloir, we observed that a large portion had slid the day before, leaving behind a pretty hard bed layer. This made for great climbing conditions, but had some of us a bit worried about ski conditions. Although almost completely non-technical, the couloir does provide a very pleasant ascent, with steep rock walls and some narrow constrictions. It was hard to understand how such a trivial climb could receive so many 4 star ratings on mountainproject and summitpost, but now I can see.
Climbing higher in the couloir, with increasingly variable snow conditions, I became more concerned about the safety and enjoyability of skiing it. At the top, we discussed it and decided we’d rather wait to ski that line until we had more forgiving conditions. Instead, we headed over to the Corral Couloir where we enjoyed great soft snow conditions on more moderate terrain, eventually passing beneath the North Face of Hallet, and arriving at Emerald Lake. All in all, an awesome day in the hills, and hopefully the beginning of a great spring ski season.
, but I’m still holding out hope that the heat wave will leave enough scraps for next weekend.
