Challenger Point Trip Report 03/17/2015

Peak(s):	Challenger Point - 14,086 feet
Date Posted:	03/17/2015
Modified:	03/18/2015
Date Climbed:	03/15/2015
Author:	globreal

Challenging day on Challenger Point
Title credit: a quote from Shawn Keil's Facebook page after this trip. "I'll give you guys my 2 cents on Challenger. It indeed is a tough nut to crack." ~Kevin Baker (in giving advice on climbing Challenger Point in winter.) Date: March 14-15, 2015 (calendar winter climb) Team: Dwight Sunwall (dsunwall), Shawn Keil (sdkeil), Britt Jones (globreal) Route: standard approach to Willow Lake, standard approach to north face, rock rib east (left) of standard gully, standard ridge to summit Stats: 14 miles (adding breaking trail on approach day), 6,000 feet approximate (adding 400 ft. extra break trail on approach day) Challenger Point as seen from the alternate trailhead (photo courtesy Shawn Keil) Looking up at Challenger Point from down in the San Luis valley, it doesn't look to wintery. But this mountain can be deceptive from afar. Challenger Point came into my sights in January after a planned winter attempt on Capitol, with climbing friend Ryan Kushner fell through. Since I had the weekend set aside for climbing with, I was hoping to still get out. Someone mentioned I should contact Dwight Sunwall. Soon there was a threesome with Jamie Princo joining us. The weekend trip was taking us to Challenger Point. But first a note about this trailhead that may be helpful to those winter peak baggers. The standard trail head (Galena Avenue out of Crestone and then turns into South Crestone Road 949) is where the difficulties can begin. In winter, this road isn't plowed all the way to the end since it enter forest land. Therefore, a snowy road may add extra hiking to your winter excursion. When I linked up with Dwight Sunwall in January to make an unsuccessful attempt at this peak, I PM'd the only person I knew of, who lived in Crestone...jdorje. After inquiring about TH conditions, he turned me onto a little known alternative...Pine Cone Way. If you are unable to make it all the way to the summer TH, then this could be your backup plan as this neighborhood is plowed in winter. (But please let's not abuse this option and only use if necessary!) top arrow forest service TH, bottom arrow neighborhood access As you can see from the map, this alternate route hooks you up with the Willow Lake trail in about 300 yards or about a 5 minute walk. Come this March the same thing happened. Ryan's Capitol plans were thwarted due to large recent snows which brought high avalanche danger. So I found myself with another free weekend. A call to Dwight and sure enough, he was planning this trip with Shawn Keil. I was graciously allowed to be a part of the team. On the way up to Willow Lake, the first mile and a half is on a north-ish facing slope where the snow is most assuredly guaranteed in this deeply forested terrain. However, this trail is packed down often by the locals. the first 1.5 miles is on a shaded/treed slope Then once you top out on the ridge at 9,840, you drop over to a south facing slope, and wallah, no snow! These two facts may be an encouragement to begin this winter adventure with the snowshoes on the pack. south facing slope after 1.5 miles at 9,820 In only a short time you come upon this sign...so you will need to display your best backcountry/wilderness etiquette. Please, no more large groups and open poo piles! the Willow Lake area is a designated wilderness During both our January trip and this March trip, we were able to hike 3.5 to 4 miles on a boot pack to approximately 11,000 ft before donning the snow shoes. This is the just below the cliffy headwall that creates the Willow Lake shelf. As the trail turns south we passed under the waterfalls, crossed the creeked, and entered the trees where we definitely needed some floatation and then traction to get up the steep passage to the upper basin. skirting the headwall/waterfalls up to the Willow Lake shelf Be forewarned, this upper shelf between the headwall and Willow Lake snow loads in winter. If you are the ones to break the trail, you will have your work cut out for you...especially if you are a mule with a heavy camping load. In January, Dwight had aspirations to camp all the way up at the lake. However, we wallowed around in deep snow, searched for the trail and where to go, and spent about an hour not getting more than a � mile. In fact, at one point I tried crossing over a downed tree, and fell in...up to my neck. Dwight had to come remove my pack to allow me to extricate myself from a snow tomb. So on that trip we gave up on the heavy pack torture and decided to camp in a clearing at 11,300. On this March trip, I had a similar misfortune. Shawn crossed this snow covered tree bridge with no issues. However, I wasn't so lucky and fell straight in. nasty trap door! Thankfully, in a short time, we found our January camp spot again and decided to lay down roots in the same location. home sweet home This turned out to be a great spot to camp...probably better than up at Willow Lake. That is because it was a short hike back to the creek crossing where we had running water (less stove melting of snow) and in the evening the sun shines right into camp until sunset. Camping up by Willow Lake would most likely be in the trees and so you would lose the sun much sooner. Having that warm sun can make a huge difference in winter. Shawn was on the tail end of a cold and wasn't feeling to good on this trip. He found some horizontal time in the warm sun after the hike in. it's rest time! After setting up camp, enjoying a little time on the ground pad, and filling up water bottles from the creek, we decided to break trail up to Willow Lake. Any previous trench was totally filled in from the big snows in early March. So, we knew it would be wise to break a new trail to up above the lake. This would make it much easier to find our way by headlamp in the predawn hours the following morning. ready for o' dark thirty Willow Lake and her glorious ice falls In January, during a hike above camp, I took this picture. Anyone ever seen such a thing? a giant Anaconda snow snake! Also in January, we hiked all the way down to the frozen lake and crossed it. This was not a good idea even though it seemed like it at the time and the lake was plenty frozen. However, this put us well below the summer trail and not where we wanted to be. our January path across the lake On the other side of the lake, we had to cross a ugly snow covered willow field, and then cross under this big rock outcropping, and up a steep snow slope to gain the route above the lake and it's northern cliff wall. not the best choice of routes As our January trip turned out, we did not get the climb day forecast NOAA promised. In fact, it was nothing like we were anticipating. Instead of sunny skies and low winds, we received overcast skies, high winds, snow, and verglass on the rocks. Argh! loose sugar & ice on rock=bad! During this March trip, mother nature was very kind. We were greeted with clear skies and no wind. Perfect weather! delightful morning We cached our snowshoes at 12,400. Steve Gladbach taught me a useful trick. To make it easier to find your shoeshoes, stand them up. It's amazing how far away you can now see them. Also, add a piece of surveyors tape or flaging. if your snowshoes are going to be backlight when you return, they will be in shadow and look just like the rocks and blend in. However the blowing tape makes them stand out. (Of course as a backup, we marked a waypoint on the GPS.) Shawn, were you not buying my snowshoe marking ideas? As the sun was making it's way down the mountain, it was time for us to make our way up. Off with the snow shoes and on with the crampons. rock time! To avoid the avalanche danger, we went just to the left of the standard route gully. Our route was up the rock rib. rock rib route (just left of north slope/standard route) Mt. Adams looks nice this morning (photo courtesy Shawn Keil) While the preceding week had warmed up with a bit of feeze/thaw cycle happening, the top layers of snow were unconsolidated sugar the big snows we had about a week and a half prior. There was evidence of recent slides on Unnamed 13,546 just west of Mt. Adams. In fact, below our route on each side were huge piles of avy debris. I am guessing there was 10-20 feet up accumulated snow mass. (You can barely see a massive pile behind Shawn in the photo with the snowshoes.) avalanche crowns Shawn and Dwight make their way up with Mt. Adams (left) and Unnamed 13,580 A across the valley. Hiking in crampons on soft sugar snow with hidden rocks underneath sucks! It would be so easy to roll an ankle in this. climbing up to the rib Dwight taking a break before heading up the steep stuff. Dwight relaxin' Now is where we have to pay attention. Shawn and Britt heading on up (photo courtesy Dwight Sunwall) Dwight is approaching the steeper rock. The north slope standard route is down in that gully to the left. Dwight approaching the rib Now it gets steep! I was reminded on this trip that climbing on steep rock in crampons is difficult! Crampons want to slide off the rock. Stepping up with an extra 2 inches on your foot is that much harder. Points catch on things! It was slow going. Shawn rockin' the rib It took quite a bit of time but before too long, there was the window to the San Luis valley! I remembered how awe struck I was the first time I popped my head up over this crest back in May of 2009. Wow! window to the world Under a gorgeous moon, Shawn gains the ridge and gets the view we have all been waiting for. under the moon! Since this was Dwight's fourth attempt at getting Challenger Point in winter, he received the honor to go first. Dwight heading for the goal Britt and Shawn follow the leader on this remarkable ridge to the summit. Britt & Shawn follow suit. (photo courtesy Dwight Sunwall) Dwight is just about to top out with Kit Carson to the far left, then Crestone Peak left, the Blanca Massive to the right, and the sand dunes below that. Dwight almost there And he makes it. The fourth time was a charm! Dwight Sunwall now has only two more 14ers left to complete them all in calendar winter. Not to many have been awarded that honor. Dwight is a happy man! The obligatory summit selfie was taken. And for Shawn, this was a new winter summit for him and his 23rd. Congrats Shawn! We spent a good half hour on top under bluebird skies with not a puff of wind to speak off. This doesn't happen to often on a 14er in winter. While up there, Shawn asked me what number winter 14er this is for me. I said I wasn't chasing the winter list, so it doesn't matter really. But I mentioned to him that the reason I was there was because of what happened to me after my best climbing friend, Steve Gladbach, died. Steve's death helped me to see how selfless he really was in wanting to help others reach their goals. I came to see how selfish I had been, in only serving myself to reach my own goals. Today, I am striving to help others reach their goals. And I said, that is the reason I am on this summit today to help you and Dwight. And then I remembered, that it was on this very peak was where I first climbed with Steve Gladbach over Memorial Day weekend in 2009. It was at that point that I completely lost it. (I don't think Dwight and Shawn knew I was crying my eyes out since I turned my head away.) Steve, you were my best climbing friend and mountain mentor. I miss you deeply. Britt left, Shawn center, Dwight right The time came for us to head down. The views all around are spectacular in the Sangres. taking the west ridge back down The downclimb along this rib is a slow process. Diligence and care had to be taken on every step and with every hand hold. I was surprised how slow we had to take it. Shawn working hard on the downclimb But what really surprised me was the heat. Wowser! The high today was suppose to get up to 45 on the summit. However, this basin turned into a solar sauna! At one point, Shawn climbed down to me and exclaimed, "Holy inferno Batman!" It felt over 90 as we made our way down off of the north face. sweltering as we came down off of the north slope As you can see here, we were all down to our base layers as we passed above Willow Lake. Toasty! A big difference from our 10 start time temperature. And as I mentioned earlier in the TR, this photo points out the summer trail high above the lake. above Willow Lake, arrows showing high summer trail We made it down to camp from above Willow in about 45 minutes. We cooked up some Top Ramen for lunch, laid down in the tent for a brief rest, and then packed up camp and headed out. Surprisingly our hike to the car took only 2 hours and 15 minutes. We were all quite whipped after hauling those 50 pound packs after our climb to the summit, but it was all totally worth it. We were all so stoked to have made a successful summit bid for Challenger Point in calendar winter. But the title still holds...it was a CHALLENGING DAY ON CHALLENGER POINT. Shawn, you are a strong climber. In spite of you not being 100% healthy, you persevered and made it. Dwight, way to go, you also persevered until you succeeded on this mountain! Only two more. I hope I can join you next year on your finisher. I prayed that morning before we started and asked God for safety and success. He gave us both. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Challenging day on Challenger Point

Title credit: a quote from Shawn Keil's Facebook page after this trip.

"I'll give you guys my 2 cents on Challenger. It indeed is a tough nut to crack." ~Kevin Baker (in giving advice on climbing Challenger Point in winter.)

Date: March 14-15, 2015 (calendar winter climb)
Team: Dwight Sunwall (dsunwall), Shawn Keil (sdkeil), Britt Jones (globreal)
Route: standard approach to Willow Lake, standard approach to north face, rock rib east (left) of standard gully, standard ridge to summit
Stats: 14 miles (adding breaking trail on approach day), 6,000 feet approximate (adding 400 ft. extra break trail on approach day)

Challenger Point as seen from the alternate trailhead (photo courtesy Shawn Keil)

Looking up at Challenger Point from down in the San Luis valley, it doesn't look to wintery. But this mountain can be deceptive from afar.

Challenger Point came into my sights in January after a planned winter attempt on Capitol, with climbing friend Ryan Kushner fell through. Since I had the weekend set aside for climbing with, I was hoping to still get out. Someone mentioned I should contact Dwight Sunwall. Soon there was a threesome with Jamie Princo joining us. The weekend trip was taking us to Challenger Point. But first a note about this trailhead that may be helpful to those winter peak baggers.

The standard trail head (Galena Avenue out of Crestone and then turns into South Crestone Road 949) is where the difficulties can begin. In winter, this road isn't plowed all the way to the end since it enter forest land. Therefore, a snowy road may add extra hiking to your winter excursion.

When I linked up with Dwight Sunwall in January to make an unsuccessful attempt at this peak, I PM'd the only person I knew of, who lived in Crestone...jdorje. After inquiring about TH conditions, he turned me onto a little known alternative...Pine Cone Way. If you are unable to make it all the way to the summer TH, then this could be your backup plan as this neighborhood is plowed in winter. (But please let's not abuse this option and only use if necessary!)

top arrow forest service TH, bottom arrow neighborhood access

As you can see from the map, this alternate route hooks you up with the Willow Lake trail in about 300 yards or about a 5 minute walk.

Come this March the same thing happened. Ryan's Capitol plans were thwarted due to large recent snows which brought high avalanche danger. So I found myself with another free weekend. A call to Dwight and sure enough, he was planning this trip with Shawn Keil. I was graciously allowed to be a part of the team.

On the way up to Willow Lake, the first mile and a half is on a north-ish facing slope where the snow is most assuredly guaranteed in this deeply forested terrain. However, this trail is packed down often by the locals.

the first 1.5 miles is on a shaded/treed slope

Then once you top out on the ridge at 9,840, you drop over to a south facing slope, and wallah, no snow! These two facts may be an encouragement to begin this winter adventure with the snowshoes on the pack.

south facing slope after 1.5 miles at 9,820

In only a short time you come upon this sign...so you will need to display your best backcountry/wilderness etiquette. Please, no more large groups and open poo piles!

the Willow Lake area is a designated wilderness

During both our January trip and this March trip, we were able to hike 3.5 to 4 miles on a boot pack to approximately 11,000 ft before donning the snow shoes. This is the just below the cliffy headwall that creates the Willow Lake shelf. As the trail turns south we passed under the waterfalls, crossed the creeked, and entered the trees where we definitely needed some floatation and then traction to get up the steep passage to the upper basin.

skirting the headwall/waterfalls up to the Willow Lake shelf

Be forewarned, this upper shelf between the headwall and Willow Lake snow loads in winter. If you are the ones to break the trail, you will have your work cut out for you...especially if you are a mule with a heavy camping load. In January, Dwight had aspirations to camp all the way up at the lake. However, we wallowed around in deep snow, searched for the trail and where to go, and spent about an hour not getting more than a � mile. In fact, at one point I tried crossing over a downed tree, and fell in...up to my neck. Dwight had to come remove my pack to allow me to extricate myself from a snow tomb. So on that trip we gave up on the heavy pack torture and decided to camp in a clearing at 11,300.

On this March trip, I had a similar misfortune. Shawn crossed this snow covered tree bridge with no issues. However, I wasn't so lucky and fell straight in.

Thankfully, in a short time, we found our January camp spot again and decided to lay down roots in the same location.

This turned out to be a great spot to camp...probably better than up at Willow Lake. That is because it was a short hike back to the creek crossing where we had running water (less stove melting of snow) and in the evening the sun shines right into camp until sunset. Camping up by Willow Lake would most likely be in the trees and so you would lose the sun much sooner. Having that warm sun can make a huge difference in winter.

Shawn was on the tail end of a cold and wasn't feeling to good on this trip. He found some horizontal time in the warm sun after the hike in.

After setting up camp, enjoying a little time on the ground pad, and filling up water bottles from the creek, we decided to break trail up to Willow Lake. Any previous trench was totally filled in from the big snows in early March. So, we knew it would be wise to break a new trail to up above the lake. This would make it much easier to find our way by headlamp in the predawn hours the following morning.

In January, during a hike above camp, I took this picture. Anyone ever seen such a thing?

Also in January, we hiked all the way down to the frozen lake and crossed it. This was not a good idea even though it seemed like it at the time and the lake was plenty frozen. However, this put us well below the summer trail and not where we wanted to be.

On the other side of the lake, we had to cross a ugly snow covered willow field, and then cross under this big rock outcropping, and up a steep snow slope to gain the route above the lake and it's northern cliff wall.

As our January trip turned out, we did not get the climb day forecast NOAA promised. In fact, it was nothing like we were anticipating. Instead of sunny skies and low winds, we received overcast skies, high winds, snow, and verglass on the rocks. Argh!

During this March trip, mother nature was very kind. We were greeted with clear skies and no wind. Perfect weather!

We cached our snowshoes at 12,400. Steve Gladbach taught me a useful trick. To make it easier to find your shoeshoes, stand them up. It's amazing how far away you can now see them. Also, add a piece of surveyors tape or flaging. if your snowshoes are going to be backlight when you return, they will be in shadow and look just like the rocks and blend in. However the blowing tape makes them stand out. (Of course as a backup, we marked a waypoint on the GPS.)

Shawn, were you not buying my snowshoe marking ideas?

As the sun was making it's way down the mountain, it was time for us to make our way up. Off with the snow shoes and on with the crampons.

To avoid the avalanche danger, we went just to the left of the standard route gully. Our route was up the rock rib.

rock rib route (just left of north slope/standard route)

Mt. Adams looks nice this morning (photo courtesy Shawn Keil)

While the preceding week had warmed up with a bit of feeze/thaw cycle happening, the top layers of snow were unconsolidated sugar the big snows we had about a week and a half prior. There was evidence of recent slides on Unnamed 13,546 just west of Mt. Adams. In fact, below our route on each side were huge piles of avy debris. I am guessing there was 10-20 feet up accumulated snow mass. (You can barely see a massive pile behind Shawn in the photo with the snowshoes.)

Shawn and Dwight make their way up with Mt. Adams (left) and Unnamed 13,580 A across the valley. Hiking in crampons on soft sugar snow with hidden rocks underneath sucks! It would be so easy to roll an ankle in this.

Dwight taking a break before heading up the steep stuff.

Now is where we have to pay attention.

Shawn and Britt heading on up (photo courtesy Dwight Sunwall)

Dwight is approaching the steeper rock. The north slope standard route is down in that gully to the left.

Now it gets steep! I was reminded on this trip that climbing on steep rock in crampons is difficult! Crampons want to slide off the rock. Stepping up with an extra 2 inches on your foot is that much harder. Points catch on things! It was slow going.

It took quite a bit of time but before too long, there was the window to the San Luis valley! I remembered how awe struck I was the first time I popped my head up over this crest back in May of 2009. Wow!

Under a gorgeous moon, Shawn gains the ridge and gets the view we have all been waiting for.

Since this was Dwight's fourth attempt at getting Challenger Point in winter, he received the honor to go first.

Britt and Shawn follow the leader on this remarkable ridge to the summit.

Britt & Shawn follow suit. (photo courtesy Dwight Sunwall)

Dwight is just about to top out with Kit Carson to the far left, then Crestone Peak left, the Blanca Massive to the right, and the sand dunes below that.

And he makes it. The fourth time was a charm! Dwight Sunwall now has only two more 14ers left to complete them all in calendar winter. Not to many have been awarded that honor.

The obligatory summit selfie was taken. And for Shawn, this was a new winter summit for him and his 23rd. Congrats Shawn! We spent a good half hour on top under bluebird skies with not a puff of wind to speak off. This doesn't happen to often on a 14er in winter. While up there, Shawn asked me what number winter 14er this is for me. I said I wasn't chasing the winter list, so it doesn't matter really. But I mentioned to him that the reason I was there was because of what happened to me after my best climbing friend, Steve Gladbach, died. Steve's death helped me to see how selfless he really was in wanting to help others reach their goals. I came to see how selfish I had been, in only serving myself to reach my own goals. Today, I am striving to help others reach their goals. And I said, that is the reason I am on this summit today to help you and Dwight.

And then I remembered, that it was on this very peak was where I first climbed with Steve Gladbach over Memorial Day weekend in 2009. It was at that point that I completely lost it. (I don't think Dwight and Shawn knew I was crying my eyes out since I turned my head away.) Steve, you were my best climbing friend and mountain mentor. I miss you deeply.

The time came for us to head down. The views all around are spectacular in the Sangres.

The downclimb along this rib is a slow process. Diligence and care had to be taken on every step and with every hand hold. I was surprised how slow we had to take it.

But what really surprised me was the heat. Wowser! The high today was suppose to get up to 45 on the summit. However, this basin turned into a solar sauna! At one point, Shawn climbed down to me and exclaimed, "Holy inferno Batman!" It felt over 90 as we made our way down off of the north face.

sweltering as we came down off of the north slope

As you can see here, we were all down to our base layers as we passed above Willow Lake. Toasty! A big difference from our 10 start time temperature.
And as I mentioned earlier in the TR, this photo points out the summer trail high above the lake.

above Willow Lake, arrows showing high summer trail

We made it down to camp from above Willow in about 45 minutes. We cooked up some Top Ramen for lunch, laid down in the tent for a brief rest, and then packed up camp and headed out. Surprisingly our hike to the car took only 2 hours and 15 minutes. We were all quite whipped after hauling those 50 pound packs after our climb to the summit, but it was all totally worth it. We were all so stoked to have made a successful summit bid for Challenger Point in calendar winter. But the title still holds...it was a CHALLENGING DAY ON CHALLENGER POINT. Shawn, you are a strong climber. In spite of you not being 100% healthy, you persevered and made it. Dwight, way to go, you also persevered until you succeeded on this mountain! Only two more. I hope I can join you next year on your finisher. I prayed that morning before we started and asked God for safety and success. He gave us both.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

dsunwall	finally 3/18/2015 3:05pm Thanks to you and Shawn for joining me and writing this report. This was the last peak for me this winter. Why did it take me 4 attempts? The first time was with the Miesers and Kevin Baker. We hiked up to the lake and then made a summit attempt the same day, up the NW ridge. We were stopped at the notch with no gear and a late hour. I was having issues with my big toe so decided not to go back up the next day when they went up left of the standard route as we did Sunday. The following winter I attempted the SW ridge, the same route Homie and Bill Wright used the previous winter. The Miesers and I had done this route later with snow but not winter. My solo attempt had more snow so I was forced to turn around. The 3rd attempt was in January as described in this report.
d_baker	pretty day 3/18/2015 4:10pm These pictures make me wish even more that I was in CO to enjoy days like this one! Dwight, I’m pulling for you! I think next winter it’s likely we’ll see several winter 14er finishers.
Papillon	Heck yeah!!! 3/18/2015 4:34pm This is what I’m talking about. Taking shots and delivering. Congrats to all on a safe and successful winter ascent. Great weather along with great partners is as good as it gets. sdkeil gets my vote for winter mountaineer of the year. Absolutely solid season. And take a look at photo 36 – dsunwall walkin’ tall! Congrats Dwight, glad you got this one. Your perseverance is unmatched. Britt, I am happy to see you getting out in winter. Steve would be proud.
Brian Thomas	Congratulations to all of you 3/18/2015 4:57pm Nice work and great writeup, Britt. Thanks for posting!
Zambo	Well done guys 3/18/2015 5:26pm This was fun to read about and see a successful summit. The rock rib is skinny! Glad it was there tho to let you get up. Great stuff!
wooderson	NICE! 3/18/2015 5:56pm Dwight, way to persevere and knock this stubborn beast off your list. And have it be FUN, no less! After three tries it would’ve sucked to get it in anything less than stellar conditions. Congrats. Definitely excited to see you finish next winter, I know it’ll happen. What a great crew up there! Shawn is an awesome partner. And Britt, haven’t seen a TR from you in a while (let alone seeing you in person!) Nice report and love the photos. The one with Dwight heading toward the summit is my favorite. And your comments about Steve were touching and true. Not surprised at all to see you following his example and helping others reach their goals.
Jay521	Image 31 is my fav... 3/18/2015 7:57pm Kudos to all of you. And I hear ya, Britt – it IS hard to lose a good friend, isn’t it? Peace to you.
sdkeil	Great TR! 3/18/2015 8:00pm Thanks Britt for writing up a great trip report and Dwight congrats on finally cracking this tough nut. We couldn’t have asked for better weather and personally I was thankful to have two patient partners who stuck with me this weekend. Not sure why I kept feeling like I wanted to refund what I was eating, but I know I wasn’t eating a lot nor performing at 100%. It’s probably a good thing I have plenty of stubborn German blood in me to help push me over the finish line. Kevin and Sarah thanks for the kind words. It definitely was a fun winter filled with fun climbs. It was also a great winter for reconnecting with old friends and making new friends, which is huge draw for me. I am quite humbled by the people I know that are out doing much more difficult ascents and who really put the hard in hardcore. I hope next year I see Dwight finish the winter 14ers!
Johnson	Sweet! 3/18/2015 9:47pm Great job guys. I knew you’d get it this time. Way to get it!
BillMiddlebrook	Excellent 3/19/2015 12:49am Well. Done! Damn, that is a beautiful place. Britt, I love the moon shot!
LoneStar	Wow, gentlemen ... 3/19/2015 1:56am ... just wow!
RyGuy	Great work boys! 3/19/2015 2:04am Britt, amazing photos and write up as usual! Heck of an effort and well rewarded! Congrats! –Ryan
doggler	Quite the challenge 3/19/2015 2:11am but you guys were up to it. Good job, and don’t be so hard on yourself, Britt. You have been selfless since the day I met you. You didn’t just turn that way.
Kevin Baker	the tough nut 3/19/2015 5:04am I was stoked to hear that you guys made it! Way to stick with it, Dwight. Hope to be there for your finisher next year, which I am presuming will be Bierstadt!
Steve Climber	Spectacular! 3/20/2015 8:36pm Well done, Britt and crew! Congrats to Dwight on finally reaching this summit in winter!
fepic1	Very Cool! 3/24/2015 3:23am Thank you for the report Britt. I admire those who do the extra work to bring us these reports. Always something to learn from them and refresh memories. Way to go to you all on a tough earned Winter flake. The reward is immeasurable. I’m envious. Congratulations!
Summit Lounger	Congrats 3/26/2015 2:58am Congratulations to the entire team for a great ascent. Wonderful report Britt. Only 2 more Dwight. That is awesome. Shawn, it was great climbing with you on Wilson Pk.
14erOHOLIC	Who’s the NUT? 3/29/2015 3:04pm Impressive accomplishment. Outstanding report!
SnowAlien	Thanks 2/10/2016 12:06pm for the useful winter beta, Britt. Particularly that relates to winter TH access and camping spot. Other than that, seemed like we had similar conditions on the ridge. Were you in Ouray this weekend? I wasn't sure but then saw Greg's photos on FB.

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