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Peak(s):  White Rock Mountain  -  13,523 feet
Date Posted:  06/18/2011
Modified:  06/20/2011
Date Climbed:   06/17/2011
Author:  pioletski
 Scenes from a Life   


Now That's a Wedding Party!



Climb and ski descent of White Rock Mountain
Crew: Brittany (mtnbikerskierchick), Frank (gb), Kim (kimberski), Matt (pioletski), John, Jen, Jonathan, Jeremy. (Invitations were extended only to 14ers members and people whose names start with "J"...)

Edit: Sorry, Kim's name is "skiberly," not "kimberski." She also goes by "Kim-Burly" among others.

As I sit down to write this TR, it is June 18th - my parents' wedding anniversary and, coincidentally, Brittany and Frank's wedding day. Brittany and Frank have become really good friends in a short time - I've only known them for a little over a year, having met them on a ski trip to Little Bear last spring. I learned pretty quickly to take up any invitation to get outside with Brittany and Frank; good things seem to happen with them, and my wedding day wish for them is that this continues to be the case.

Brittany and Frank have a motley collection of friends, most of whom have in common a passion for ski mountaineering. What better way to introduce them all to one another than a ski trip. They chose White Rock, near their home in Crested Butte. This was the summit where Frank proposed to Brittany, as described in her blog, a year ago.

A happy, excited and slightly goofy crew met up at 5:00 am and packed into 2 cars for the ride to the Copper Creek trailhead. After negotiating a mud bog that would swallow a truck - ok, a Geo Metro - we saddled up. L to R: Frank, John, Brittany, Jen, Jonathan, Jeremy, Kim.

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After about a mile and a half, we encountered the first (and silliest) obstacle of the day. Here the bride-to-be negotiates the crossing of Copper Creek:

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Frank had thought to bring his Tevas along. He shared, by flinging them across the river:

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Note the flying sandal in the upper left of this photo:

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To put this in perspective: the subject in this photo (yours truly) is 6 feet tall and proportionally long-legged...

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... and is NOT kneeling on the creekbed in this photo!

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The subject of this photo (Jen) is a little over 5 feet tall, but disproportionately brave...

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The other creek crossing was shallower, but slicker:

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With all the water crossings, Kim elected to keep her shorts and sneakers on...

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... until we reached the base of the climb. Here we got serious - well, ok, not really. The group's chosen stimulants were consumed, those who hadn't already donned their boots did so, and we started skinning up into the basin:

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Altitude was rapidly put behind us:

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When the slope became too steep for efficient skinning, we swapped skins for crampons:

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Frank gave us his considered opinion of the Craisins he had brought along: tasteless, but free!

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John, looking burly, had led the climb to this point:

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He handed the lead over to Frank just in time for some deep postholing. Well Frank, it is your wedding weekend after all.

Frank was trying out a new method of carrying skis up a mountain. He was actually pretty pleased with the results:

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Climbing over a roll in the terrain brought the summit and our descent route into view:

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The weather was pretty unsettled over the Maroon Bells to the north:

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We reached the summit under grey clouds, but remained dry:

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Springtime in the town of Crested Butte, about 4500 feet below:

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Views from the summit included Cathedral, Conundrum and Castle:

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and the glorious Bells:

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The happy couple keeping each other warm at the summit:

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Time to ski! Here's Jen...

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... and Kim...

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... and Brittany.

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This is an awesome, playful descent route, with a good 2900 vertical feet of skiing before returning to the Copper Creek trail. We had a good time on this little wind-sculpted roller:

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I followed Frank into a narrow slot through a cliff band:

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All too soon, we were back at the creek crossing:

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Kim took a farewell photo: White Rock is on the right, White Widow (another spectacular run) on the left:

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And we all dried out our socks for the hike out:

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Thanks for reading, thanks to the crew for coming out to play, and thanks to Frank and Brittany for putting this together!

Most important of all: Please join me in wishing Brittany and Frank a long, happy and adventurous marriage.



Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30


Comments or Questions
Floyd
User
Only in CO
6/18/2011 9:19pm
Is that a wedding party. Congrats to the couple and thanks for the TR. This one (hopefully - if plans fall into place) will come in handy for me next Spring.


14ologyst
User
fantastic report!
6/19/2011 1:08pm
wow! now that is how we do things in Colorado.
determination in full color. very impressive photography.


skiberly
User
So much fun!
6/20/2011 4:18pm
You guys made quick work outta that climb. Always a pleasure to follow you up the mountain, thanks for a great day!


mtnbikerskierchick
User
Thanks for joining us!
6/21/2011 10:18pm
Thanks Matt, for joining us on this wonderful day out Great photos! It was a great time for all, even with the stream crossing



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