Quandary from the north
Yesterday Dave Gardner and I set out to ski the east ridge of Quandary Peak. Still a little skiddish from last week’s incident, I was looking for an easy but fun tour while Dave was itching to bag his first 14er descent. Continue reading
I feel pretty lucky to be sitting here typing this trip report today. Yesterday, Jon Jay and I had a pretty scary experience on our tour of Mt. Yale.
Yale is a haul at 14,196 it begs an early start. I left Denver at 3am to meet up with Jon at the Silver Creek trailhead outside of Buena Vista. Jon had done some touring the day before and camped out that night with a few others while I opted to sleep in my warm bed and meet him in the morning.
We set off for the 10 mile round trip a little after 7am. Our start was a little later than planned, but we weren’t too worried since the Silver Creek bowl on Mt. Yale faces north, and we figured the snow would remain cool most of the day. The plan was to summit by noon, ski the bowl and be back to the trailhead by 3pm. Needless to say, things did not go as planned. Continue reading
About a year ago I set out to ski the crooked couloir on Mount Audubon solo. This trip was definitely a learning experience and I learned a few things I wanted to share.
Audubon from the East
On May 16, 2009 I set out with John Quigley to ski the north side of James Peak. John brought his pooch along for the trip. Our target was the “Bailout” run just below the summit of James. James Peak lies just west of the Saint Mary’s glacier, a short drive from I-70 outside of Idaho Springs. Continue reading
Backcountry Skiing in Colorado 