2014 Colorado Snow Climbing Thread
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I've enjoyed the Colorado Ice Climbing thread for the beta on conditions and for getting new ideas about potential ice routes. I figure a similar thread on couloir conditions would be helpful for snow climbers and skiers. |
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Indian Peaks are in good shape. Expect to skin or walk the road from the main lot. Probably going to be awhile before its bike-able.. |
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Cristo Couloir on Quandary is shaping up pretty well now as well. Get to it early though. It was softening up by 9 or so in the morning. The road isn't plowed up to the lakes yet, and probably won't be clear for quite some time. So you will want either skis or snowshoes. The hike back down the road was a soupy mess on the return trip. We did it without skis or snowshoes and were slightly regretful of the fact. |
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You guys are stressing me out with all these good conditions already, is anything going to be left intact by the end of May?! |
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With all the snow we had this year there will be plenty around, probably well into summer. Cristo usually comes into shape quite early. I am surprised that Dragontail is that nice already though! |
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I'm planning to do Kiener's next weekend, hoping for cool, solid "snice" on Lambs Side |
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Had a great time on Martha's today. The mixed section was a lot of fun (more challenging if you climb on the left side). The ice step near the top is getting pretty mellow. Firm snow and a nice boot track in the upper sections were welcome. |
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Dry Gulch is looking good! These pics are from Friday the 18th. Approached Citadel from Dry Gulch. Skied NE side of Trelese, SE Face on Citadel, and North face of Bethel. Egress to car staged at Herman Gulch.. Snow conditions were awesome! |
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Dreamweaver: the gift that keeps on giving! Superb snow conditions all the way up to the ridge near the summit of Meeker. No ice yet, but plenty of spicy mixed steps -- one after another -- to hold your attention. |
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Lamb slide and the notch were a little sloppy, not really the type of snow climbing that I was looking for, but the mixed step on the Notch was neat, a bit spicy, but good., I actually got one stick into ice, which was, cool I guess. |
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The Blueprint Part Dank wrote:Lamb slide and the notch were a little sloppy, not really the type of snow climbing that I was looking for, but the mixed step on the Notch was neat, a bit spicy, but good., I actually got one stick into ice, which was, cool I guess. I'm looking forward to all the snow melting away and giving us some more enjoyable Alpine Ice to climb. Go ski Lamb's Slide though, it would have been great for skiing yesterday when I was up there.What do you mean by sloppy? Unconsolidated fluffy stuff? Not crusty and good for climbing on? I'm thinking of climbing The Notch next weekend so I'd like to know how bad it was. Thanks for our beta man. |
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LawHous wrote: What do you mean by sloppy? Unconsolidated fluffy stuff? Not crusty and good for climbing on? I'm thinking of climbing The Notch next weekend so I'd like to know how bad it was. Thanks for our beta man.We got a late start. So take this beta with that in mind. I think that if you did Lamb's Slide in the dark, then got to Broadway right at sunlight, you would have a MUCH better time. I climbed with both of my cobras, which worked well mostly because the surface area of my fists buried six inches into the snow helped. Crampons/boots went in about 3/4 of the way, and then my steps slid a few inches about half the time. The Notch couloir is worth the effort though, even in sloppy conditions, it was the coolest place to do a snow climb that I've ever experienced.
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Thanks Dank for going up there and checking out the Notch! |
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Anyone have any thoughts on how the recent wind/snow events have changed the avy forecast? I'm unfortunately solo tomorrow, and I still want to get up something and slide down it on a plank, but I'm not sure how much the conditions changed since Sunday's dump. |
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Gore Range as of Friday 4/25 |
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Tony T. wrote:Anyone have any thoughts on how the recent wind/snow events have changed the avy forecast? I'm unfortunately solo tomorrow, and I still want to get up something and slide down it on a plank, but I'm not sure how much the conditions changed since Sunday's dump. Ideally I want to get up Lost Rat on Gray's, but solo that sounds like a bad idea. I might just stick to a ridgeline like Atlantic and stash my board along the ridge when the snow thins out, but still ride something down. Also, I've heard Audubon might be a good option, but I've never even been up to Brainard Lake. Thoughts?Hi Tony, essentially your question boils down to avy risk assessment -- and btw, my opinion is that the avalanche risk is almost the same regardless of whether or not you solo: you may get lucky if you are caught and buried if 1) your partner did not also get caught 2) your partner is able to find you and dig you out in short order, and 3) you are not injured as a result of trauma; in any case the key to avalanche safety is avoidance, not counting on rescue! I don't know how much snow fell on Gray's in the last storm, but given that Lost Rat has a north aspect and there was a recent heavy wind event that likely caused significant wind loading on top of fresh snow, I'd be wary (though of course there's only one way to know for sure). After a Spring storm, I generally like to wait for a couple of freeze-thaw cycles before venturing onto suspect terrain, so I think your ridge route idea makes sense for today -- hopefully you found something fun. WRT Audubon, the gate a couple of miles before Brainard Lake generally does not open until mid-June and makes for a long approach before then (some folks ride in via mountain bike on mostly clear roads a month or so prior). |
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Rocky_Mtn_High wrote:No ice yet, but plenty of spicy mixed steps -- one after another -- to hold your attention.Thanks for the beta... could you please elaborate a bit more? As in pretty much all snow except for some rock - i.e. limited rock rack with no ice gear? or no gear at all? Considering the route for this weekend and am wondering if I could swing it without rope. |
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Brown Guy wrote: Thanks for the beta... could you please elaborate a bit more? As in pretty much all snow except for some rock - i.e. limited rock rack with no ice gear? or no gear at all? Considering the route for this weekend and am wondering if I could swing it without rope.I didn't climb Martha's, but based on my experience this past weekend on the notch, I would say that you're talking snow, then snow covered rock, definitely no ice pro |
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Anyone know the conditions of Dead Dog on Torreys? Thinking of hitting it tomorrow (Sunday). |
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Hit Dreamweaver on Friday 5/2 and experienced pretty good conditions. Certainly no ice but the snow was consolidated with a few sections of heroish snow. |