Systems Check

With only a few days left before we leave for Denali, Dane and I thought it would be a good idea to do an overnight trip to check out the various systems we plan to bring on Denali (stoves, tent, camp shoes, clothing layers, etc.).  We chose to do this trip in the Indian Peaks Wilderness, an area where I have been many times, but entered from the west (something I've never done) with the ultimate destination of Lone Eagle Peak.

Lone Eagle Peak

The weather apparently did not understand what we were trying to accomplish as it snained (a combination of snow and rain) on us pretty much the whole time.  This warm and wet weather couldn't have been more opposite from what we expect to encounter on Denali.  Nonetheless, we had fun and accomplished what we wanted to.  The system I am most excited about: camp shoes/booties.  From inside to outside this system consists of: warm socks, down booties, 1/3 inch foam footbed, and overboots.  I think my feet will be warm and happy when I'm not in my ski boots.

Cherokee Peak

As for the trip itself, we hiked about 4 miles with skies on our backs due to lack of snow, then skied another 5ish miles before setting up camp near the base of Cherokee Peak.  The next day we hiked up a little further to the base of Lone Eagle Peak where we got some amazing views for a few minutes before the mountain disappeared in heavy snow.  The return trip to the car was uneventful and good practice for skiing with a heavy pack.

Dane crossing one of the several bridges on the way up the trail

I was super impressed with the ruggedness of the west side of the Indian Peaks Wilderness, which I found dramatically different than the east side.  The rock formations are reminiscent of those I've seen in the Winds and Tetons of Wyoming; rising abruptly and seeming to hover directly above you.

Dane and I have both been up Quandary Peak many times.  Most or all of these trips have been with skis in the springtime, but we've always ridden the same line (northeast bowls) down.  Yesterday we finally got to ski  the Cristo Couloir off the south side of the summit.  With 4 inches of fresh snow and a nonexistent wind, we thought we'd have perfect conditions for a safe powder descent of this famous line.

As it turned out, the surface which all the snow fell on was hard and crusty.  This made both the layer of fresh snow prone to sliding on the old surface and the skiing less enjoyable.  I suppose we should have expected this, but we were trying to be optimistic.  We skied the upper part very cautiously as we were concerned that our sluff would accumulate and become difficult to manage - which ultimately never happened.  There were a few sections in the middle where things felt more stable and we were able to let 'em rip.

Because it was snowing and a partial white out, none of the pictures turned out (see exhibit 1).  However, we took a few videos that aren't half bad.

Exhibit 1

Me skiing the middle section of the Cristo Couloir

Dane Boarding lower down in the Cristo

We're heading out for a 3-day trip to the Indian Peaks Wilderness today to test out some of our gear and systems for Denali.  We anticipate this will go well, and hope that it does, because we fly up to Anchorage in 5 days.

Buffalo Mountain and The Citadel

Yesterday Dane, Ava and I skied the North Couloir on Buffalo Mountain.  This peak lies at the southern edge of the Gore Range and only a few miles from Dane's place.  The North Couloir is sustained at 35 to 40 degrees for about 2500 vertical feet.  The snow surface didn't warm up and soften quite like we had hoped, but it was great fun on a big line anyway.

Dane digging a snow pit at the top of the North Couloir on Buffalo Mountain

Dane midway down the North Couloir

This should have been a reasonably quick 3000 feet up and 3000 feet back down to the car, but we had some navigational difficulties on the way down, which added an extra few miles of bushwhacking.

Today Dane and I skied the Northeast Couloir off of The Citadel.  The Citadel is a unique peak in the Summit County region of Colorado because it miraculously escaped the scour of the glaciers during the more recent ice ages.  Consequently, it is much steeper and more jagged than most other mountains in the area.  We had a great tour where we went up the valley (Dry Gulch) on one side of the mountain and skied down the valley (Herman Gulch) on the other side where we had stashed a car.  We were pleasantly surprised by the fact that we were able to ski from the top as the guidebook we consulted made this seem unreasonable.

North Face of the Citadel (we skied the only continuous snow line from the summit)

Lower down we discovered this confined gully which held great snow!

Once again, conditions were a bit on the icy side up high but improved as we descended.  The leading edge of a big forecasted storm hit shortly after we got back to the car, so skiing in the near future might be more wintry than we've had for the past several days.

Colorado Update III

Ava and I skied the Northwest Couloir on Kelso Mountain on Friday while Dane stayed home to try and kick a cold (basically he called in sick for our training program).  We skied up the road to the summer trailhead for Grays and Torreys Peaks, then followed the trail to Grays Peak for a while before turning and skinning up the ridge of Kelso Mountain.  This was Ava's first day in CO, and she managed to ski up and down a peak that is over 13,000 feet tall.

Ava feeling the altitude near the top of Mt. Kelso "I did it! Let's take a rest."

On the way up we got a great view of Dead Dog Couloir on Torreys Peak.  This is on my list, and I hope I get a chance to ski it before Dane and I head to Denali.

Dead Dog Couloir on Torreys Peak (it's the obvious line coming down from just right of the summit)

The ski down was long (2,200 vertical feet) with a sustained pitch.  It was close to 40 degrees for one stretch near the top, then mellowed out for the remainder of the run.  There was a bit of wind slab near the top, but that quickly went away, yielding a bit of powder over spring corn for the majority of the ride down.  Overall, this was the nicest day we've had so far in both terms of weather and snowpack!

Northeast Couloir on Mt. Kelso

The next day Dane, Ava and I met up with Keith, Edyn, Graham, and Mark to attempt skiing Dragon Tail Couloir on Flattop Mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park.  This is a fairly famous line amongst backcountry skiers in Colorado due to its steepness and level of commitment.  The three of us arrived at the Bear Lake parking lot about 10 minutes early, and the other four were about 30 minutes late, so we had plenty of time to play hacky sack with ski boots on.

Ski Boot Hacky Sack

We eventually got our cumbersome group going and skinned our way up Flattop Mountain to the top of the couloir.  There were two people already there, deciding weather the conditions warranted a safe descent.  Keith hiked down into the couloir a ways and dug a pit, ultimately concluding that the top three inches might sluff off, but the snowpack below that was plenty solid.  After much deliberation amongst all potential participants, our entire group decided to drop in to the skier's left side of Dragon Tail (there's a right side that's apparently less steep but narrower).

Keith getting ready to drop in to Dragon Tail

Keith loves being the guinea pig, so we all let him drop in first.  The start of the line involved traversing the steepest part of the slope to the center of the couloir, directly below a looming cornice.  The steepness of this first part, combined with the fact that it happens to be above a 40 foot cliff makes it the most committing part of the descent.

Keith committing to the first turn after the initial entry traverse

After the initial traverse, it mellows out to a nice 45-50 degree slope for several hundred vertical feet, the meat of the line.  The end of this stretch culminates with a choke, which is about 100 feet long and 1.5 ski lengths wide.  After the choke, you transition into the final half of the couloir which is a little flatter and much wider.

Ava and Keith below me in the bottom half of the couloir

Dragon Tail Couloir, with Keith skiing out the apron at the bottom

As if our group of seven wasn't enough, there was another group of five and a group of two (perhaps even more) all skiing Dragon Tail on this fine Saturday.  Some of them climbed part way up the couloir from the bottom, and some of them dropped into the right hand side from the top, while our group was the only one to drop into the left side from the top.  This is surely one of the neatest lines I've ever skied.

Wildlife Photography

Nothing of particular interest to note on the skiing scene, but yesterday we did make friends with a fox while skiing at the closed-for-the-season Breckenridge.  No, we did not feed the little beggar.

Colorado Update II

On Friday, Sean and I skied some most excellent powder on Woodland Mountain in the Indian Peaks Wilderness.  The pits we dug showed the depth of fresh snow to be between 1.5 and 2 feet deep, but for all practical purposes, it was bottomless.


Face shots on Woodland Mountain

Dane got back into town Friday night, so I "moved" up to Frisco where I'll be based for the next 2.5 weeks while we acclimate and condition for Denali.  Getting off on the right foot, we skied Quandary Peak (14,265') today.


Andy skiing the lower bowl on Quandary

The weather is still being quite funky.  It was cold and windy (good Denali training) on Quandary, and on the descent it changed from snowing to sunny and back about three times.

Colorado Update

I've now been in Colorado for about a week and a half.  The weather has been quite interesting thus far and has put a bit of a kibosh on my skiing plans.  With multiple feet of fresh snow and an inconsistent melt/freeze cycle, the snowpack is not setting up into the nice, stable spring snowpack that I was hoping for.  We're now looking at 2 days of warm weather followed by yet another storm cycle.

I have made it out a few days, and actually skied some nice powder just a couple days ago on a north facing aspect near tree line up by Loveland Pass.  Also had a beautiful day in the Indian Peaks Wilderness as demonstrated by the above photos.  We made it most of the way to the top of Pawnee Peak before the weather turned bad quickly and we hastily retreated.

Nonetheless, my goal of acclimating is going well with supplementary hikes and runs in the Flatirons.  Dane should be getting back from his course in the next couple days, and we'll probably head up to Summit County to begin the next phase of our acclimation plan (I've been staying in Boulder so far).  My altitude adjustment so far has made me quite glad that I decided to spend a month in Colorado before heading up to Denali.  I'm thoroughly convinced that this pre-acclimation process is going to make our time on the big mountain significantly more fun as well as increase our chances of successfully implementing our plans of skiing off the top!

Seattle Mountain Rescue / National Pond Skimming Championships

Last Thursday evening I attended a Seattle Mountain Rescue (SMR) monthly board meeting.  I had applied to join the search and rescue organization a couple months prior and was finally able to attend one of their meetings.  The purpose of my attendance was for the board to ask me some questions and see if they wanted me to become a part of their volunteer organization.  I apparently passed and I'm now part of SMR.  I won't be around Seattle much in the next 6 months or so, but after that I'm excited to become a more active SMR member!


The morning after the meeting with SMR I started driving to Colorado.  I arrived in Broomfield, CO two days later, just in time for a going away party for Tony and Lisa, who are leaving the Boulder area and heading for Utah.  I snuck out of the party around 10pm to drive up to Summit County.  The following morning I met up with Keith, Edyn, and Graham (KEG) for a day of shenanigans at Vail during their last ski day of the year.  We skied for a few hours in the morning before KEG got costumed up and headed out to compete in the National (World?) Pond Skimming Championships.


I had seen similar events in ski movies over the years, but it was something else to witness an event like this first hand.  Aside from a truly horrible announcer, the event was incredible in the best way.  Contestants picked up as much speed racing down the hill towards a jump that marked the beginning of a 100-foot-long pond.  Five of the 100ish participants made it across.  Most flailed and splashed miserably.

The Tooth

I suppose it was nearly a week ago now, but Jake finally made a trip up to Seattle to visit Molly, Phil, Ava, and me.  We spent quite a bit of time eating and playing Settlers over the course of about 2.5 days.  Thanks to Molly for all the delicious food!

I wanted to show Jake one of my favorite things about Seattle: the close proximity to alpine climbing.  I had been looking for an excuse to climb The Tooth on Snowqualmie Pass, and this was the perfect opportunity.

The Tooth is the big block on the right.  I'll refer to the gendarme to its left as The Fang.  The route we climbed pretty much follows the left skyline but is out of view on the other side of the peak.

We skied the approach to the climb, which took us a bit longer than it should have for a variety of reasons, the stupidest and funniest reason I'll share here.  The route description is very clear about ascending the saddle immediately to the left of The Fang.  This we accomplished without much difficulty.  However, once in this saddle at the base of the fang, I for some reason decided to switch from ski mode into climbing mode and begin climbing - completely failing to traverse around the back side of The Fang to the base of The Tooth and the beginning of our intended route.  After climbing what I retardedly believed to be the first pitch of The Tooth, I found myself at the top of The Fang and immediately slapped my palm to my forehead in disgust of my stupidity.  In hind site, I would recommend this route to anyone as it lets you get an extra pitch of climbing in as well as top out on a sweet little spire.

Jake following the first pitch of The Tooth

We rappelled from The Fang to the base of the Tooth and were quickly back on route.  There had been a lot of snow in the previous weeks, but the weather forecast for this day was sunny and hot!  Our route was on the south face, so I hoped that the sun would turn our climb into a straight forward rock climb.  For this reason, I optimistically brought rock climbing shoes with me.  It turned out there were only a few moves on the entire climb where rock shoes would have been appropriate due to the copious amount of snow that the sun was failing to deal with to my liking.  No problem.  I was prepared to climb in my ski boots.  Jake thought I was crazy when I told him we would be climbing in ski boots, but he soon realized that these were the most appropriate tools for the situation.

The climbing was fun and on the steeper sections the rock was great with sufficient protection.  The flatter sections were covered in snow and we would occasionally start a roller ball down the mountain that grew like they do in cartoons before plunging over the immense and overhanging east face of The Tooth.  The climbing definitely seemed harder than the rating of 5.4, but that's to be expected given the route conditions and use of ski boots.  I unburied many holds that made seemingly tricky moves much easier, which made me wonder how many other holds managed to elude me for the same reason.  Three pitches later, we were on top.

Jake and my leg on the summit with proof of footwear

The views were amazing in all directions - rugged Cascade mountains everywhere!  We rappelled the route in four single rope (70m) rappels.  Finding anchors after each rappel was tricky as some of them were buried under as much as two feet of snow and ice.  However, my strategy of selecting the sturdiest-looking tree and digging down to the base of the trunk, sometimes requiring an ice axe, always revealed some sort of anchor.

Jake rappelling one of the less snowy parts of the route

The ski down was mostly on super wet, heavy, and unconsolidated snow.  Skiing past a couple of struggling snowshoers most of the way back to the car reminded us of how much better bad skiing is than good snowshoeing.  We made it back to Molly and Phil's place just in time for an amazing dinner!

Teriyaki Now: Climbing in Leavenworth

"What do we want?  Teriyaki!  When do we want it?  Now!" we chanted shortly after we drove past the perpetually closed restaurant, Teriyaki Now, in Sultan, WA on our way to Leavenworth for a weekend of climbing.

Ava and I, along with the world's best third wheel, Evan, opted for a weekend of rock climbing to avoid escalating avalanche conditions once again.  Leavenworth is famous for having an eerie and very much out-of-place Bavarian style to the entire town.  I'll spare my readers visual images of the downtown.  Suffice it to say that attending Octoberfest there is now on my bucket list.

Ava on the upper stretches of The Fault, directly above Highway 2

The climbing around Leavenworth is much more spread out than I had anticipated, so it was great having Evan as our acting guide.  We spent Saturday climbing at Castle Rock in Tumwater Canyon.  I led a 3-pitch climb on Lower Castle Rock starting with The Fault (5.6) and finishing with Catapult (5.8) to gain Loggers Ledge, where a slew of climbs begin on Upper Castle Rock.  Evan then led Canary (5.8) and Angel (5.10b), both of which were 3 pitches on Upper Castle Rock.  The rock quality was incredible and everything we did was great fun!

Evan leading the first pitch of Canary

Ava at the amazing finger crack and crux of Angel

That night, as we poached a campsite at a closed campground, it started to snow.  There was only about a half inch on the ground when we got up, but I figured that would be enough to make the rock too wet to be suitable for climbing.  We went exploring on Sunday anyway, half-assed trying to find some other people we knew who were also associated with the UW Climbing Club.  In the process we found ourselves at Clamshell Cave and climbed an aesthetic and unknown single-pitch route (5.7ish) there, on which Ava got to practice leading on gear.

Me leading the unknown climb on Clamshell Cave

After this we backtracked to The Cube, which is a 20-foot high boulder near the base of Clamshell Cave with a beautiful 5.7 hand crack among other bouldering problems.  Evan did this first and made it look relatively easy.  I decided to give it a go next, and although 5.7 is not particularly difficult, the exposure at the top of the boulder combined with my novice crack climbing skills made the finish quite exciting.

Evan's local area knowledge then led us on a side-hill bushwhack for a half hour until we arrived at Givler's Dome.  The super classic climb on this dome is the two-pitch Givler's Crack (5.8) and was one I had randomly picked out of the guidebook as a "must do" based on it's description.  Evan had climbed this crack once before but never led it.  I was happy to give him the lead this time as I felt pretty worked over by all the climbing done thus far, and he was happy to have it.  Givler's Crack was as amazing as I had hoped and made for a great finish to a great weekend!

Givler's Crack

Evan leading the sweetest stretch of Givler's Crack