“Snow Peak” South Face Ski

The south face of “Snow Peak” seen from the summit of Red Mountain last season. When the face is completely filled in, lots of different ski options present themselves.

Last week Brando, Brian and I set off from the Gore Creek Campground and once again made the long approach up into Deluge Creek. This time, the objective was to climb “Snow Peak” (13,024 ft) and hopefully ski off its south side down to Gore Lake. I had gotten a look at Snow’s south face from the summit of “West Deming” the week prior, and after flipping through some old pics of the face taken in past ski seasons to compare snow totals, we decided it’d be worth going to check out.

Rather than the standard ascent route to the Snow/Valhalla saddle, we decided on a sportier route up this west-facing couloir from Deluge. The still very much plastered south face of “Grand Traverse Peak”, which we skied in March, can be seen in back.

“Snow Peak” bears the distinction of being the shortest Gore Range thirteener, only eclipsing the 13,000-foot mark by 24 feet. It’s a rather unassuming and reclusive peak compared to its taller neighbors to the north, Valhalla and Grand Traverse. Like many Gore peaks Snow is tough to get a view of from a road or trailhead, but it can be picked out of the sea of ruggedness visible from the top of the Vail Ski Area if you know where to look. Snow doesn’t present much on the Deluge side for a skier to get excited about. The south face however is a different matter, with multiple continuous ski options direct from the summit that drop 1,700 feet down to Gore Lake.

The west couloir gave way to a fun climb up Snow’s south ridge, a route Brandon had done in summer but one made a bit spicier with snow added into the equation.

Brandon on the final short pitch of snow climbing just below the summit.

We topped out and spent a little bit of time on the nearly windless summit. After a cold freeze the night before the face was softening up to perfection by the time we clicked in and pushed off the top around 11am.

On the summit with “Mt. Valhalla” and the top part of its Heavenly Couloir in back.

Brandon favored the big wide gully that drops off the summit ridge a little bit east of the summit.

Brian and I took the narrow couloir feature straight off the summit. Here’s Brian a little below the initial steep pitch.

…and lower down we found a fun option for the exit out onto the apron. Photo by Brian.

Apron corn time!

The face on the way out with our ski routes marked. Pretty sure there’s even a completely different 3rd option looker’s left of both the routes we skied. 

We coasted around Gore Lake and enjoyed supportive snow and fun corn skiing down into Gore Creek proper. From there it was lots of poling and bushwhacking all the way out to the campground, but amazingly we managed to keep the skis on the entire time. Certainly one of the last days of the year that was still possible, as snowline is accelerating further and further up the valley every day now.

Gore Creek beer cooler.

With spring rapidly winding down I look forward to seeing what else it has in store before it’s time to hang up the planks. Brandon and Brian, thanks for a fun day out there!