2010.01.03 VAIL'S BLUE SKY BASIN

Last weekend, I celebrated the opening of Vail's back bowls and Blue Sky Basin. Despite some limited openings, the skiing was spectacular as friends and I layed the first tracks of the year down sections of Red Square, Iron Mask and Pete's Bowl. Although the pictures below are from a not-so-secret out-of-bounds stash at Vail they accurately reflect the weekend's conditions: Blue skies and blower snow!

(Photos - Joel G):

Today, January 6th, Vail celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Blue Sky Basin expansion. These north-facing slopes which require mutliple chairlifts and excessive traversing to reach have been the sight of many quality memories over the past few years including:

1) Big hits off the Lover's Leap cornice (Photo - Jesse H):

2) Megan and J's engagement in 2007:

and 3) one of the funnier stories of last year's ski season:

2009.12.22-23 WOLF CREEK

Powder Fever (pou-der fee-ver):

-noun

1. an affliction causing one to abandon all responsibility and possibly travel long distances to satisfy their desire for deep snow

With Wolf Creek ski resort already receiving 10+ feet of snow on the year and another storm on the way, Ryan and I headed to southern Colorado in hopes of escaping the subpar conditions of Eagle/Summit counties for a few days before the holidays. The storm didn't pan out as expected and a mere six inches was reported over the course of the two days we visited. However, plenty of deep, untracked snow was found in the trees that helped alleviate our powder fever for a few days.

Ryan teles down a spine off the ridge:

Who says Wolf Creek is flat? Finding a cure in Keith's glade (Photo - Ryan A):

Ryan's turn:

I left with a great impression of Wolf Creek after my first visit. Despite hearing complaints from others about the flatness or slow lifts, I thought there was plenty of challenging terrain to keep things interesting and the complete absence of lift lines makes up for any limits in uphill capacity. I found Wolf Creek a refreshing change of pace from the corporate-stuffiness often encountered at other resorts throughout Colorado. Some tips for anyone planning a trip in the future: 1) you'll need to refuel after hiking laps on the knife-edge ridge. So bring only two slices of bread for lunch and a fulfilling vegetarian sandwich can be made from the vast assortment of quality toppings at the condiment bar in the base lodge. And 2) arrive early on a powder day! Despite the advertised 8:30 am opening, we caught the day's first chair at 8:06 am on Wednesday.

2009.12.05 EXPLORING ROCKY MTN NATL PARK

What hoped to be a decent ski outing turned into an exploratory mission for future trips. A desire to sleep in led to a late start and early-season snow levels didn't make for many decent turns. From the popular Bear Lake trailhead, we headed west towards Notchtop Mountain and the Ptarmigan Headwall/Glacier area. Some good views of the area showed that more snow is still needed before this set of couloirs and bowls comes into decent skiing shape.

(Click any photo to enlarge.)

The day's route (in red) from Bear Lake to Lake Helene (Photo - Google Earth):

The wind-swept slopes of Longs Peak:

Skinning towards Notchtop Mountain:

A view up the basin to Ptarmigan glacier:

Devon takes a break beneath Notchtop:

Its amazing how often these amazing areas of Rocky Mtn Natl Park are overlooked when in comes to backcountry skiing. After last year's failed attempt on the Dragontail couloir due to avalanche danger, Andy, Jesse and I are now 0-2 in our ski trips to the park. Hopefully we'll change that trend later this year.

2009.11.27-28 JONES PASS

Finally, some skiing pictures! I spent two days at Jones Pass over the weekend to work off the indulgences of Thanksgiving and get the first backcountry turns of the season.

On Friday, a short skin provided soft, sugary snow in north-facing gullies at treeline, while Saturday's high-altitude turns were assisted by riding Caleb's snowmobile to 12,000 feet.

Devon:

Joel:

Caleb skinning to Jones Pass:

Caleb on another lap:

More pictures can be seen here. Tomorrow is December 1st and Colorado needs some more snow soon!

2009.11.07 GOLD DUST PEAK

Gold Dust Peak is a mountain you won't find in any guidebook. Despite its location in the Northern Sawatch range and proximity to the Vail Valley, little information existed on this 13er (at least within the usual climbing communities online).

Gold Dust Peak from Negro Basin:

With a topo map and compass to guide us, we followed the defined trail up towards Lake Charles before bushwhacking up a cliff-strewn basin towards the base of the peak. Ankle- to thigh-deep snow slowed us at times, but we pushed on towards our target. At the base of the peak, we decided to climb a mellow couloir, then traverse through chilly winds to a spectacular summit where a corniced ridge overhangs the steep north face.

Brandon and the dogs (Rainier and Kona) start the couloir climbing:

Bridget and I near the couloir's end (Photo - Brandon C):

Gold Dust Peak (13,365 feet) with Mount of the Holy Cross looming over my right arm(Photo - J W):

The views from Gold Dust included Holy Cross to the east, Elk Range and Aspen ski resorts to the south, and this one to the north:

New York and Finnegan Peaks (Photo - Brandon C):

Despite easy access and spectacular views, Gold Dust doesn't see much traffic as we were among only a few groups to sign the summit register over the past year, including the first since August. While I've enjoyed climbing the 14ers in Colorado for the past five years, I probably get an even greater thrill from exploring new areas and less-trodden peaks. I expect more of these adventures to come after I close out my final five 14ers next spring/summer.