Brian, Glen, and I caught a few hours of sleep at the gate closure prior to our 4:30am start. Lucky for us, it was still early enough in the season to have continuous snow from the gate. It was also evident that the area had received a deep overnight freeze, all good omens. After an hour of gliding across a firm crust the sun crept it’s way over the eastern horizon and began to light up the surrounding peaks. Continue reading…
Brian and I met Matt at the bottom of the Tigowon Road at 4am Saturday morning, the last full day of calendar winter. Our sights were set on bagging Holy Cross on skis via it’s classic line, the Cross Couloir. Matt’s Friday afternoon recon mission to 12,000′ above Beaver Creek told the tale of a stable snowpack on north through east facing aspects. The CAIC reported that the recent storm snow had bonded well with the old snowpack, which we knew had been getting baked on east aspects by late winter, higher angle sun for the past two weeks. Keep reading…
Matt, Brian, and I pulled into the Equity Mine Trailhead at midnight, Jetboiled up a Cup O’ Noodles for dinner, and bivied underneath a clear, starry sky. The rest of the crew had pulled in earlier in the afternoon, hoping for a 4:30am start. I was excited at the thought of skiing San Luis and happy to be finally getting out with Sarah’s group. It seemed Colorado had lent us one of those perfect late winter windows. Keep reading…
I managed to rouse a few friends of mine, Brian and David, to get out this past Saturday for what was undoubtedly one of the best weather windows Colorado has seen yet this winter. Temps in the high forties and low wind forecasts were to be enjoyed state-wide. When a weather window like this comes along I usually feel an urge to get out and give something a shot, even if I don’t necessarily have any specific goals in mind. Well this time I didn’t have any specific goals, and neither did Brian. Continue reading…