Castle and Conundrum Spring Ski Descents
Jon, Matt, Jon‘s buddy Nate, and I motored to Aspen this past Friday night with the intent of skiing Castle and Conundrum. We were able to drive up the Montezuma road to around 10,800 ft (there was no use trying to get higher due to a monster snow drift blocking the road). It‘s not the best elevation I‘ve ever achieved on this road but it was good enough. Bivy sacks and sleeping bags went down next to the car and the four of us were asleep shortly after. The alarm went off at 3:30am and we hit the trail at 4:30. Thanks to Matt‘s killer pace right out of the gate we were able to reach the top of the jeep trail in an hour and a half, seeing a sunrise from this basin is one of the better experiences I‘ve had in the mountains this year. Continue reading…
The Front Range got absolutely hammered this spring by several large storms in late April and early May. A month ago Longs Peak held so much snow we were able to skin straight across the boulder field, and Keplinger‘s Couloir had better coverage than in any trip report I‘d ever seen. Grays and Torreys had so much snow we were able to ski to within 300 feet of the car on May 29. Evans yielded a summit ski descent, as did Bierstadt. This really has been the year for the Front Range. Matt and I met at the bottom of the toll road and loaded up into one vehicle. The fee was $10 per person, and the ranger told us we would likely only be able to get within 1000‘ of the summit as they were still plowing. 