| Peak: | La Plata Peak |
| Route: | NW Ridge, winter variation |
| Range: | Sawatch |
| Posted By: | DanielL |
| Date of Info: | 1/10/2015 |
| Date Posted: | 1/11/2015 |
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Had a long day on La Plata's standard winter route yesterday. First off, don't blindly trust existing trenches! We followed the existing trench and snowshoe tracks from the trailhead until we realized we were going up the wrong ridge. After a lot of traversing around and a hair-raising ravine/stream crossing, we got to the location of the standard summer trail, but had lost quite a bit of time. There was no trench or broken trail from the standard trail in the valley up to the winter ridge crest. We broke a steep line up deep, unconsolidated snow from 10,700' or so up to the ridge crest at 11,800' (photo #1). This was physically the hardest part of the day, as I was often past my knees in the snow, even with snowshoes. A little past halfway up, we were joined by another hiker (BlenderHead) who took over trailbreaking for a while. Avy danger was definitely a factor on this slope. Finally, we hit treeline, 4.5 hours in, with the worst physical difficulties behind (photo #2). The talus slope was a mix of loose rock and snow, but quite short (photo #3), and soon we were cruising up the standard Northwest Ridge. (#4 and 5). We stayed on rock and trail segments most of the time. Reaching the summit was amazing! (photo #6) The descent went quickly (#7 and 8). Great route, but it can be a long day if trailbreaking is required. Weather was great too! |
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