Coming off of a spectacular fall climb of Isolation Peak, Ben, Brian, Dillon, and I decided to commit to a date around the holidays to get up something early in the winter season. As usual, trying to pick a group of peaks in the winter can be a hilariously complicated ordeal. It is our own fault, really. With snow levels low, the avy danger moderate, and our weather window appearing to be just about perfect Continue reading…
What: Kelso North Couloir. When: June 5, 2013. Who: Ben and Rick. How: Parked at the base of the couloir where the run out hits the road. Wearing trail runners with boots and skis on our backs, we set off at 5:40pm, crossed the creek (Ben more “gracefully” than I) and headed up the lookers right ridge. Keep reading…
As soon as I started researching Centennials it became apparent there are several that just beg to be skied. Rising dramatically from the northern side of Highway 82 and offering up numerous prominent 3,000+ foot road shots off its flanks, “Lackawanna” is undoubtedly one of them. A few trip reports on the interwebs single out a specific gully that drops southwest off the summit ridge of this humble peak. Several parties have used this gully for a late-winter/spring snow ascent, though as of last week no one had logged a ski TR. Continue reading…
I’m sure Salida locals have climbed and skied this behemoth of a peak (thought I don’t personally know of any), but there’s not much, if any, documented ski descents of the east face of Mt. Ouray (edit – Ted Mahon’s short TR came up yesterday on centennial skiers.com…..). Also, given the fact that my ex-wife and I tried to climb and ski the peak several years ago, I think I’ve finally found an experience worth sharing – so here we go. Keep reading…