Last Saturday several of us headed over to Summit County to ski the northeast line off Red Peak B (13,189′) in the southern Gore Range, known colloquially as “The Big Bad Wolf”. The route is one of several dropping off Red and its eastern sub-summit (most of which sport Little Red Riding Hood themed names), and offers up roughly 1,800′ of steep skiing down to Willow Lake just south of Mt. Silverthorne. Read more…
The plan was to hit “Big Bad Wolf” Couloir from Willowbrook based on a brief report mentioned in Stan Wagon’s site from a couple years ago. I hadn’t seen much posted about this line anywhere and was intrigued. I knew the snow conditions would be solid, with moderate/low avy danger due to the recent storms, so another Gore slog was in store. After the Silver 2 weeks ago and CC Rider on C, figured I’d keep the momentum going. What I learned was, in a range full of potential ski lines, Red Peak is near the top of that list with regards to diversity, aesthetics and fantastic consistent skiing. Hugh, Jon and I met around 4:30am in Morrison, made it to Willowbrook TH around 6am and were skinning soon after. The first couple miles flew by and we reached the Gore Range Trail junction, where we continued to follow the summer trail, till it made sense to follow Willow Creek in a more direct line to the base of Big Eyes. We were granted a few solid panos of the Willow/Salmon cirques early on in some open marshlands. After 2.5 hours, we popped out of the trees almost directly at the base of Big Eyes Couloir on EE Red and took a prolonged break. Keep reading…
Fall in the Gore. I like the sound of that. Fall in the Park. I like the sound of that too. On this day we’ll give the nod to the Gore. For a guy who still can’t ski, one who spends most of the winter behind a desk with his trusty calculator close by at all times, the clock is ticking. However, with a couple of months to go, I’m trying to make the most of my time and spending as much of it in the great outdoors as possible. Keep reading…
When some ill-timed weather/snow conditions prompted our group to call off some ambitious weekend plans we had for the San Juans, I was not surprised when Brian suggested the Eastern Gores as a consolation. Matt was in, as was his significant other, Gerlinde, who had just returned home from climbing a 20,000+ footer in the Himilayas. Congrats again Gerlinde! We settled on Red Peak B’s South Face, which we believed would provide us a safe, low-angled tour. Read more…