Mount Yale Spring Ski Descent
I met up with Carl at the Park and Ride off 285 and 470 at 4:00am on Saturday morning. We drove to the Denny Creek TH where Lance and Caroline had car camped for the night, we all shook hands and were on the trail by 6:30. Continuous snow started about 200 yards from the parking lot, the trail was well packed by previous feet so we chose to boot it for awhile. It was refreshing to get out with new partners, this would be my first day out with any of them. Keep reading…
Okay after Monday Stu is down to 11 peaks remaining with 9 weeks of time before his permanent relocation. Since 6 of the 11 are located in the Sawatch, we decided to tick off another “easy” climb while these snow conditions persist: Mt. Yale. We decided to attack from the Avalanche Gulch side as the avy danger seemed to favor a wind-blown ridge, although turns out SarahT, Ken Nolan, and friends summited via the standard route the day before. I‘ve been on the lookout for my first 14er summit ski descent since December, and it turned out my disappointment would continue as we wound up making the last minute decision not to carry skis. Attempting the north-facing aspect of Silver Creek Bowl just didn’t seem prudent given the time of year and avy situation. I‘ll get one eventually though!