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Peak(s):  Horseshoe Mountain  -  13,918 feet
Date Posted:  05/19/2012
Date Climbed:   05/03/2012
Author:  KansasBoarder
 Snowboarding Horseshoe - East Slopes   

Happy Saturday 14erites!

The mountains are cloaked by thick banks of clouds today - meaning I have time to catch you up on our last few weeks of adventures. Hope you enjoy the reports, this May has treated us well!


Take it easy,
Brennan





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Eric Zerowin gazes out at the "Horseshoe Cirque" of Horseshoe Mountain


On Thursday, May 3rd, Eric Zerowin and myself gained the summit of Colorado's 72nd tallest peak - Horseshoe Mountain. Located at the Southern end of the Mosquito Range, Horseshoe Mountain is easily identified from the East by it's signature namesake feature.


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Close and counting it! Yup, thar be a Horseshoe!


Our original intention was to climb and descend the popular Boudoir Couloir. However, we had to switch routes upon discovering the Boudoir was Bone Dry. Yikes. What started as Eric's first backcountry splitboard outing quickly turned into Eric's first hike with a touch of snowboarding effort. We made the most of the beautiful day.


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Hey Eric, did you remember your skins?

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More "splitboard mountaineering" at 13,000 feet near the Horseshoe-Peerless saddle.



Sometime around 11:30, we reached the broad, snowlined summit of Horseshoe. The wind kept our engines from boiling over, as did the incredible distracting views of the much snowier Sawatch Range to our West.


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Sherman and Sheridan show surprisingly snow-shedded slopes. Sheesh.

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Ahgh, the Uranium. It hurts. We have got to get outta here!

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Failing carpentry tells a powerful story at 13,800 feet.



With no other descent option available, we strapped into our boards and slid over and past the Summit Mining Cabin along the Southern ridge. Below us lay 1700 vertical feet of playful terrain, softened oh-so-nicely by the sun. Eric showed his shredding style, making quick and fluid work of the slope


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Eric's first backcountry descent! Bam!

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Steeps? No problem, I'm from the East Coast!



Following some entertaining and haphazard shrubbery shredding, we put the boards on our packs and made the cross-tundra trek back to the car. Certainly, neither Eric nor myself thought that we would be hiking seven miles and snowboarding two. However, we had a nice time exploring the terrain on and around Horseshoe Mountain, and were rewarded with a playful descent.



Sharing mountain adventures with this community is a real privilege, so thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this report, and desire to enable our community to help change the lives of Children with Burn Injuries, please visit the Peaks for Peace Website and consider making a donation to a powerful cause!



Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
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