Date: May 9, 2010
Partners: Brian Miller, Carl Dowdy, Marc Barella
Route: Unnamed Couloir to summit ridge, ski descent back down ascent route
Horseshoe Mountain granted us an awesome spring day in the Rockies featuring some sporty climbing and skiing in a gorgeous setting. Though our group was split up for basically the entire day, we all managed to find something fun to do on this peak. At the beginning of the day Marc decided to break off from the group to take a high traverse which he thought would be a quicker way to the summit. Brian, Carl and I stuck together and took a lower road through Horseshoe Gulch. Marc ended up riding the Boudoir Couloir, we ended up skiing a steep, unnamed couloir dropping off Horseshoe’s Northeast Ridge.
Carl skinning towards the Horseshoe Cirque.
Within two hour of leaving the car we made the decision to forgo the Boudoir and head for a narrow slot which looked more fun.
The slot heads up and to the right.
Some steep climbing was in the cards.
Photo by Carl.
Eventually we topped out on the ridge and realized if we wanted to safely ski our ascent route, we’d have to give up the summit. The snow was getting warm and the summit looked to be at least an hour away. We all agreed that skiing a cool line sounded more interesting than summiting and skiing the ridge, so we clicked in and dropped in. While taking a break in a safety zone, we looked across the way and saw Marc digging a pit at the top of the Boudoir. A few minutes later he boarded it top to bottom, we met up with him in Horseshoe Gulch for the ski out. Some ski pics:
Photo by Carl.
Brian making turns lower down.
Photo by Brian.
Marc across the way skiing the Boudoir Couloir.
After regrouping we were able to ski most of the way back to the truck where we capped off the day with some Dale’s. A fun day on a unique peak, I’d head back for sure.
Our route off of Horseshoe’s summit ridge. Photo by Carl.
Cheers!