Peak 1 - Breckenridge

Peak 1 dominates the view to the south from Dane's place in Frisco. Until this weekend, Dane had been forced to look up at Peak 1 and wonder what it would be like to ski it. No more.

On Saturday, Dane and I left from a trailhead in the town of Frisco. We ascended the north ridge of Peak 1, which was fun and exciting in itself. Overall, I think we climbed up and skied down 3,500 vertical feet.


Dane on top of Peak 1

We skied off the summit proper but were forced to take the east ridge for a short distance before dropping off the north side to avoid the hanging snowfield barring a direct descent from the summit towards Dane's house. We had a general idea of where we would go down, but found a pleasant surprise after rounding the edge of the hanging snowfield.


Looking down the upper chute

We found ourselves looking down a much tighter chute than we had been able to spot from his house, which must have been barely hidden by any of a number of rock bands. We found this chute irresistible and began the main stretch of our descent.


Dane dropping in to the upper chute

We found the chute to be steep and sustained for about 1,500 vertical feet before emptying out into the large bowl on the northeast side of Peak 1.


Dane making turns in the upper chute

Lower down, we found the obvious and super aesthetic chute that we had seen from Dane's house. This chute was much shorter, but begged to be skied nonetheless. So we put our skins back on, skied back up to the top of the ridge, and looked down the somewhat intimidating constructing chute.


Looking down the lower chute - the walls on either side make the line obvious, even though you can't see most of the chute

I made slow, controlled turns down the chute until it became too narrow to do so, at which point I just pointed my skis downhill. At the narrowest point, I believe I could have reached out and touched both walls with my 6-foot wingspan. Dane followed in a similar fashion.


Looking back at the lower chute

Shortly after descending through the thickly wooded forest smothering the lower slopes of Peak 1, we found ourselves relaxing in the hot tub. Once again, we were looking up at the awe inspiring Peak 1, but this time we didn't wonder what it would be like to ski it.


Peak 1 from Dane's hot tub


This zoomed in view of the peak from the hot tub provides a more global perspective of the lines we skied.