Category Archives: San Juans

The Journey Above 14K: The Colorado 14ers

Dillon Sarnelli August 4, 2013 3 Comments

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Dillon. I grew up in New Jersey and moved to Colorado at the end of 2010. I like chicken, diet soda, beer, and greek yogurt. I’m an accountant, but still think taxes are evil. I didn’t find my mountain wife on top of one of these 14er’s, but am still holding out hope. AND I really hate my snowshoes. That’s probably all of the pertinent information you need on me. I figured the best way to give you my perspective into this 14er journey would be to take you all along for the ride. Enjoy! Keep reading…

Yankee Boy Basin 13er Ski Descents

Ben April 26, 2013 2 Comments

With several feet of new snow falling up north and the ensuing avalanche issues still fresh in our minds, our group decided to head down south to ski in Yankee Boy this past weekend. With good coverage and a low CAIC rating, the excellent weather forecast is what put us over the edge. The San Juans are indeed a commitment to drive to from Denver, but with a combination of factors as perfect as we had, pulling the trigger was an easy call. For years Brian and I have looked forward to skiing some of the lessar-known lines in the basin. Keep reading…

Kicking Things Off in the Southern Mountains

Ben March 30, 2013 No Comments

Brian, Rick, and I decided to load up the car with gear and drive down to the San Juans this past weekend. We were not entirely sure what we’d find in terms of snow stability and coverage, but we managed to talk ourselves into taking the plunge. Tracking the CAIC reports and weather the week prior to our departure helped somewhat, but it’s nearly impossible to drive 350 miles to go ski steep terrain in March and feel totally confident about your decision. That said, we did have some reliable local beta that seemed to be giving us a green light. Keep reading…

Laboring in the Weminuche: Ruby to Chicago 13ers

Ben September 1, 2012 3 Comments

After our return from the PNW in June Brian and I began laying down an itinerary for a summer backpacking trip to the Weminuche. We reached out for partners and established a group of ten highly interested, which would ultimately be reduced to a final list of seven. None of us had climbed any of the Ruby Basin 13ers previously with the exception of Brian, who headed in a few years ago and hit Pigeon, Turret, and the Animas Group with some fellow 14ers.com members. Matt, Mark, and Tim have been fast at work on the Centennials so their interests in a Pigeon/Turret/Jupiter combo were very high. Keep reading…

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