Heading up the broad south face of “Grand Traverse Peak” on March 20th. Click to enlarge.
In the wake of huge March snow totals and one of the crazier avalanche cycles Colorado has ever seen, a pocket of sustained high-pressure finally wiggled its way over the state this past week. Eager to get the spring ski season kicked off, Brian and I were looking to take advantage of the good weather and settling snowpack. Open to ideas we landed on “Grand Traverse Peak” after learning a friend of ours, Dave Bourassa, had skied it a few days prior.
“Grand Traverse Peak” (13,041 ft) lies on the Eagle/Summit Country dividing line in the southern-Gore Range. It’s best known as the iconic postcard peak you can see from Vail Village if you look to the east. In addition to it’s steep west face, it can also be climbed and skied via its much mellower south face which drops down to Deluge Lake. The route makes for a relatively safe winter/early-spring option and a good way to suss out general conditions in the area.
Sunrise over “Snow Peak” (13,024′) to the east of Deluge Lake, seen on the approach.
We were able to make relatively quick work of the approach by forsaking the standard summer trail and staying in Gore Creek to the Deluge Creek intersection. This allows for much of the annoying sidehill skinning along the summer route to be avoided.
Views south towards Holy Cross. Click to enlarge.
A few hours after setting out we broke tree line in Deluge Creek to a spectacular day in the alpine. The sun was out in full force, the peaks were completely caked in white, and spring was most definitely in the air. Fitting, as the spring equinox was mere hours away.
The Deluge Lake shelter.
Just like old times we stopped off at the Deluge Lake shelter and ate a quick breakfast. Brian and I have fond memories of catching some shuteye in this hut as rain poured down outside after we hiked the Grand Traverse in the summer of 2011.
Breaking for breakfast in style.
After our pit stop we skinned around the east side of the lake and began the ascent of the face proper. Like most mountain faces, it looks a lot steeper from afar than it really is.
Onward and upward with a snow-covered Deluge Lake in back. Click to enlarge.
After a long grunt and with the face corning up nicely, we threw skis on our packs for the final push up the steep summit cone. The summit views were spectacular as expected. The day was so clear it was easy to see all the way down to Mt. Elbert and beyond, in addition to the Elks across the way.
“Grand Traverse Peak” summit, 13,041 ft. Click to enlarge.
Looking west down Bighorn Creek towards Vail. Click to enlarge.
The ridge over to “North Traverse Peak” (aka The Grand Traverse).
After a long time up there soaking in more than our fair share of summit scenics, we clicked in and pushed off the top…
Recycled powder directly off the summit quickly transitioned to cream corn lower down.
Great turns, we sure lucked out on this day. Photo by Brian.
Lower on the face with “Mt. Valhalla” and “Palomino Pt” towering above. It’s easy to feel small in places like these. Click to enlarge.
Looking back at the south face route and our tracks from the lake. Click to enlarge.
Thanks to the hard freeze the snow stayed nice and supportive for the ski out. Only about ninety minutes after leaving the summit we popped out of the woods near the Gore Creek Campground. Then it was down to an extended post-ski suds session in the camp chairs. A few hours later the clocked struck 4pm which marked the beginning of what should be a fantastic spring.
Apres.
A vid based on our GPX track:
Cheers to spring, and thanks for reading 🙂