Download Agreement, Release, and Acknowledgement of Risk:
You (the person requesting this file download) fully understand mountain climbing ("Activity") involves risks and dangers of serious bodily injury, including permanent disability, paralysis, and death ("Risks") and you fully accept and assume all such risks and all responsibility for losses, costs, and damages you incur as a result of your participation in this Activity.
You acknowledge that information in the file you have chosen to download may not be accurate and may contain errors. You agree to assume all risks when using this information and agree to release and discharge 14ers.com, 14ers Inc. and the author(s) of such information (collectively, the "Released Parties").
You hereby discharge the Released Parties from all damages, actions, claims and liabilities of any nature, specifically including, but not limited to, damages, actions, claims and liabilities arising from or related to the negligence of the Released Parties. You further agree to indemnify, hold harmless and defend 14ers.com, 14ers Inc. and each of the other Released Parties from and against any loss, damage, liability and expense, including costs and attorney fees, incurred by 14ers.com, 14ers Inc. or any of the other Released Parties as a result of you using information provided on the 14ers.com or 14ers Inc. websites.
You have read this agreement, fully understand its terms and intend it to be a complete and unconditional release of all liability to the greatest extent allowed by law and agree that if any portion of this agreement is held to be invalid the balance, notwithstanding, shall continue in full force and effect.
By clicking "OK" you agree to these terms. If you DO NOT agree, click "Cancel"...
After a superb season of mogul skiing, on March 9 I hung up the mogul skis for the season. It was time to get out the backcountry skis and hit the 14ers.
Sunday morning, March 16, I packed up the car and headed down to the southern Sangres for a ski descent of Blanca Peak. I had no first hand beta on snow conditions, I just hoped for the best. I left my house in Manitou a little after 4 a.m. and made it to Fort Garland in just under three hours. By this time, the sun was rising and I was able to get a good view of the snowy conditions on the Blanca group peaks.
Mt. Lindsey
Blanca from the SE
I drove up the Lake Como road to about 9,000' elevation and parked in a small pull off. I could have driven at least a thousand feet higher up, but I was unfamiliar with this road and did not want to push it. I hiked the road until almost 11,000' before switching to skis. It was a fairly easy skin from this point to the base of Blanca. Breaking trail through the snow was a little bit taxing, but on the other hand, the trail/road was wide open and really couldn't have been easier.
Little Bear comes into view
Some blowing snow
Ellingwood comes into view
Ellingwood left, Blanca right
Heading up Blanca's NW face towards the N ridge
When it became more efficient to put the skis on the back and boot up, I made a direct course for the north ridge. I then followed the ridge to the summit. The snow was deep and difficult to boot through at times, but eventually I made the summit (around 5 p.m.).
Ellingwood from Blanca's N ridge
Blanca's NW face from the N ridge
N ridge
A maze of skiable snow on the NW face
Looking down the face from the ridge
The face, just below the summit
Summit
You know you're high when you can look down on a 14er like this
Looking south
Culebra to the south
Me on summit
North ridge from summit
Just as the sun was casting a beautiful warm light on the NW face, I clicked into my skis and prepared to descend. There was plenty of snow on the face (relative for Blanca), the trick was to see if I could connect the skiable snow for a continuous summit ski descent. In the previous photo, you can see a snowy little ramp that lead onto the NW face (to the left). I entered the face there and then skied the upper portions seen in image 14. I knew there were large continuous lines on looker's left of the face (see image 7), and so I made a descending traverse accross narrow snowy ledges to skier's right.
After a short descending traverse, the skiing turned to tight parallel jump turns (often revealing shallowly burried rocks).
It wasn't long, though, before I could start opening up my turns. In fact, I was still above 14k'!
There was just one more narrow section, requiring a couple parallel jump turns, one over a rock...
...and then it was really time to open it up! The rest of the descent was on top of a bullet proof crust with a layer of fresh pow on top...up to 10'' in places. Very sloughy too!
And then a casual ski out.
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
22-27 bring back memories... of when I was too gripped to take the camera out! Lot more powder than I saw. Nice job, we took almost the exact same line!
Thanks for the comments, everyone. 5/1/2014 9:55pm
Bergsteigen: It does look like we skied the same line. Great minds think alike.
Caution: The information contained in this report may not be accurate and should not be the only resource used in preparation for your climb. Failure to have the necessary experience, physical conditioning, supplies or equipment can result in injury or death. 14ers.com and the author(s) of this report provide no warranties, either express or implied, that the information provided is accurate or reliable. By using the information provided, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless 14ers.com and the report author(s) with respect to any claims and demands against them, including any attorney fees and expenses. Please read the 14ers.com Safety and Disclaimer pages for more information.
Please respect private property: 14ers.com supports the rights of private landowners to determine how and by whom their land will be used. In Colorado, it is your responsibility to determine if land is private and to obtain the appropriate permission before entering the property.
