Category Archives: Backcountry Skiing

Monday at the Cathedral

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For several years now I’ve been slowly chipping away at the Centennial 13ers, trying to do them each in the fashion that makes the most sense. Peaks like Vestal and Dallas in the San Juans for example seem best climbed as summer rock scrambles, since their approaches are long and they both hold classic alpine routes.Peaks like Grizzly and Cronin in the Sawatch on the other hand seem best done as ski outings since they have nice couloirs/faces that make them unique. Keep reading…

All the Seasons of North Star

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It is getting to be that time of year in Colorado when all four seasons can be in play in a single day. I guess in some ways it’s like that almost all the time around here, but that seemed to be in full display this past Saturday. As spring quickly approaches, 80+ degree temperatures and blazing sunshine in Denver clash quite markedly with wintry winds and frozen cornices in the high country. Couple that with an above average snowpack that is about as waterlogged as can be after a wet May blizzard, and you have the makings of a classic spring outing (aka: winter, spring and summer conditions) in the Rockies. Keep reading…

"Rain Peak": Getting Graupel’d in the Graupel Gully

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Back in April of 2013, after a ski of the infamous and elusive “What Big Eyes You Have” Couloir off East East Red, Ben and I took notice of a striking cirque to the northwest, which seemed to hold a number of options for ski routes. The most obvious of such routes, from our vantage point, was Graupel Gully on unranked 13er – “Rain Peak”. East Thorne is more or less the monarch of this region, being so visible from any vantage point to the east. Keep reading…

May Corn on Hagar and Citadel

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With spring in full bloom and a decent weather forecast, we decided to head out and search for corn on a pair of local classics this past Saturday. 13,220 foot Hagar Mountain sits at the head of Dry Gulch, which can be accessed from the north side of I-70 just east of the Eisenhower tunnel. Mike, Brian, Dillon, and I started up the drainage at 5am, but not before stashing a vehicle at the Herman Gulch trailhead down the road. Keep reading…