Mt. Democrat Trip Report 04/16/2015

Peak(s):	Mt. Democrat - 14,154 feet
Date Posted:	04/16/2015
Date Climbed:	04/14/2015
Author:	mojah

Democrat - North Ridge Climb & North Face Ski
2015.04.14 Route: North ridge climb, north face ski descent Elevation gain: ~3,200' Mileage: ~10 mi (probably less) Time: ~10 hrs (half an hour on summit) Just going off of Roach's numbers here; mileage may vary So it's been a while since I've written one of these, but it's been one of my best days in the mountains in a while. The stars just aligned to result in an outing much more exhilarating than I could have imagined. A little background. My goal this year is to finish all the 14ers. Having done 29 of them last summer between July and November, I figured it would be cool to complete the list of 58 within a calendar year of my first on July 13. Since most of the ones I have left are fairly easy ones, I decided I'd ski as many of them as possible. So here I am. I hadn't done the Decalibron yet, so my objective was to summit them all from Montgomery Reservoir and ski down Democrat's north face. The plan was to boot up the Democrat/Cameron saddle, tag Cameron, Lincoln and Bross before returning to Democrat for the ski descent. Going into it, this was just one of those "get them out of the way" days for me. Sure, the ski would probably be sweet, but there was really nothing to be stoked about for this group. When I finally got a good preview of the Democrat, I was pretty happy to see coverage was solid on the face. I spent a good half hour or so studying it to determine the best and safest line down. In the end, I chose a line that dropped a short ways south (looker's left) of the summit proper, fairly certain it was the line I had read about on a previous trip report, where it would funnel into a vary narrow choke just above the apron. I also saw the slope leading to the Cameron/Democrat saddle where I had planned to boot up. The upper half or so was completely free of snow and looked like a scree nightmare. So there went that plan. I briefly thought about booting up the line I picked, but saw the ridge and quickly made the decision to climb it. I didn't even care that I might not have time to complete the group, but it didn't matter. I was gonna climb the ridge. So I started angling up the drainage to the upper basin. First looks. You can see the "fierce-looking notches" Roach describes in the guidebook. Pt 13460 on the right Dropped in from the ridge south (looker's left) of the summit Peeking over the ridge from the upper basin As I skinned up to the supper basin, I got a good look at Cameron and Lincoln's northwest slopes. There looked to be some good lines on them if they were filled in. Right now, the summit ridge looked to be completely bare. Bummer. Lincoln and Cameron. When I finally gained the ridge just below Point 13,460, the full scope of my task was laid before me. This was going to be a bigger undertaking than I had initially thought. I probably wouldn't have time to complete the group. Not if I wanted to drop in at a decent time. Well, nothing to do now but continue on and try to make good time. The North Couloir looked nice and fat, but it was quite a ways below the ridge and wound't go from the summit. Would be a good bail point if I was running late though. I got to the notches fairly quickly. I'd done plenty of more exposed 4th and low 5th class climbing last summer, but scrambling around with that kind of exposure with skis on my pack and ski boots on my feet was a new experience. It didn't take much time to adjust to the extra weight on my back and the stiff, insensitive boots, but by the time I crossed the notches, I had scared myself a little. Call it what you will, but I loved feeling that again. First good look at the ridge and North Couloir from below Point 13460 First notch and start of the crux Looking up from the first notch Looking back at the downclimb Second notch Downclimb of second notch I think (might be the climb back up to the ridge) Past the notches, the difficulty relents. The remainder of the route is a good mix of rock and snow if you were to stay on the ridge proper. The exposure was a refreshing reminder of why I love climbing ridges. It took about 2 hours to reach the summit after negotiating the notches. A look at the remainder of the route Looking back at the notches Looking SW toward La Plata, Elbert and Massive Looking W at Arkansas La Plata Elbert Massive About 50' from the summit, I saw one other soul up on the summit along with his dog. We wave at each other, but he was gone by the time I reached it. It was about 1:30 and the snow was getting good. I realized I might still have time to tag the other 3 (and South Bross), but would the snow still be good by the time I got back? Looking S from the summit. La Plata and Elbert to the right Lonely summit On the north face, a few feet below the summit Looking NE toward Quandary and the ski out Cameron and Bross Looking N After quite a few pictures, I sat on the summit for about half an hour before deciding I'd just skip them. As cool as it would have been to tag them all AND get the ski, I could get a good run now. I clicked into my skis and made my way down the ridge to the top of my line. The first hundred feet or so involved a bit of rock dodging, but opened up into sweet sweet cream cheese. The width of choke at the bottom was just about the length of my skis. Quite narrow indeed! Some sidestepping to bypass rocks and a couple jump turns later, I was able to just straight-line it an open it up for a couple turns before the apron flattened out. At this point, I was absolutely ecstatic. I whooped, hollered and howled at the mountain, to myself, and no one in particular. Timed summit shot Dav shot Choke near the bottom Looking back up at the north face Further. Can you see my tracks? Perfect day! I was able to keep my skis on for a majority of the exit, with quite a bit of pushing and a little bit of stepping over short bare patches. As I got closer to the car, the easiest way was to cross the creek several times over some snow bridges. Right before the last crossing, the snow bridge completely collapsed under my weight, almost dumping me in the creek. Even if I had fallen in, it would have just been a minor flaw in an otherwise perfect day Almost a bad day The ice falls still looking good I have to admit that I had very low expectations for this day. My "just get it done" mindset had in a way dulled my enthusiasm for climbing 14ers. When I first really got into 14ers, I told myself that I'd want to climb them all in the most interesting way possible; choosing more technical routes, big link-ups and whatever creative way to summit. While I still want to complete the 58 before July 13, I've rediscovered what really drove me to climb. It's not about quantity, it's about quality (but why not both?). Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Democrat - North Ridge Climb & North Face Ski

2015.04.14
Route: North ridge climb, north face ski descent
Elevation gain: ~3,200'
Mileage: ~10 mi (probably less)
Time: ~10 hrs (half an hour on summit)

Just going off of Roach's numbers here; mileage may vary

So it's been a while since I've written one of these, but it's been one of my best days in the mountains in a while. The stars just aligned to result in an outing much more exhilarating than I could have imagined.

A little background. My goal this year is to finish all the 14ers. Having done 29 of them last summer between July and November, I figured it would be cool to complete the list of 58 within a calendar year of my first on July 13. Since most of the ones I have left are fairly easy ones, I decided I'd ski as many of them as possible.

So here I am. I hadn't done the Decalibron yet, so my objective was to summit them all from Montgomery Reservoir and ski down Democrat's north face. The plan was to boot up the Democrat/Cameron saddle, tag Cameron, Lincoln and Bross before returning to Democrat for the ski descent. Going into it, this was just one of those "get them out of the way" days for me. Sure, the ski would probably be sweet, but there was really nothing to be stoked about for this group.

When I finally got a good preview of the Democrat, I was pretty happy to see coverage was solid on the face. I spent a good half hour or so studying it to determine the best and safest line down. In the end, I chose a line that dropped a short ways south (looker's left) of the summit proper, fairly certain it was the line I had read about on a previous trip report, where it would funnel into a vary narrow choke just above the apron.

I also saw the slope leading to the Cameron/Democrat saddle where I had planned to boot up. The upper half or so was completely free of snow and looked like a scree nightmare. So there went that plan. I briefly thought about booting up the line I picked, but saw the ridge and quickly made the decision to climb it. I didn't even care that I might not have time to complete the group, but it didn't matter. I was gonna climb the ridge. So I started angling up the drainage to the upper basin.

First looks. You can see the "fierce-looking notches" Roach describes in the guidebook. Pt 13460 on the right

Dropped in from the ridge south (looker's left) of the summit

Peeking over the ridge from the upper basin

As I skinned up to the supper basin, I got a good look at Cameron and Lincoln's northwest slopes. There looked to be some good lines on them if they were filled in. Right now, the summit ridge looked to be completely bare. Bummer.

When I finally gained the ridge just below Point 13,460, the full scope of my task was laid before me. This was going to be a bigger undertaking than I had initially thought. I probably wouldn't have time to complete the group. Not if I wanted to drop in at a decent time. Well, nothing to do now but continue on and try to make good time.

The North Couloir looked nice and fat, but it was quite a ways below the ridge and wound't go from the summit. Would be a good bail point if I was running late though.

I got to the notches fairly quickly. I'd done plenty of more exposed 4th and low 5th class climbing last summer, but scrambling around with that kind of exposure with skis on my pack and ski boots on my feet was a new experience. It didn't take much time to adjust to the extra weight on my back and the stiff, insensitive boots, but by the time I crossed the notches, I had scared myself a little. Call it what you will, but I loved feeling that again.

First good look at the ridge and North Couloir from below Point 13460

Downclimb of second notch I think (might be the climb back up to the ridge)

Past the notches, the difficulty relents. The remainder of the route is a good mix of rock and snow if you were to stay on the ridge proper. The exposure was a refreshing reminder of why I love climbing ridges. It took about 2 hours to reach the summit after negotiating the notches.

Looking SW toward La Plata, Elbert and Massive

About 50' from the summit, I saw one other soul up on the summit along with his dog. We wave at each other, but he was gone by the time I reached it. It was about 1:30 and the snow was getting good. I realized I might still have time to tag the other 3 (and South Bross), but would the snow still be good by the time I got back?

Looking S from the summit. La Plata and Elbert to the right

On the north face, a few feet below the summit

Looking NE toward Quandary and the ski out

After quite a few pictures, I sat on the summit for about half an hour before deciding I'd just skip them. As cool as it would have been to tag them all AND get the ski, I could get a good run now. I clicked into my skis and made my way down the ridge to the top of my line. The first hundred feet or so involved a bit of rock dodging, but opened up into sweet sweet cream cheese.

The width of choke at the bottom was just about the length of my skis. Quite narrow indeed! Some sidestepping to bypass rocks and a couple jump turns later, I was able to just straight-line it an open it up for a couple turns before the apron flattened out. At this point, I was absolutely ecstatic. I whooped, hollered and howled at the mountain, to myself, and no one in particular.

I was able to keep my skis on for a majority of the exit, with quite a bit of pushing and a little bit of stepping over short bare patches. As I got closer to the car, the easiest way was to cross the creek several times over some snow bridges. Right before the last crossing, the snow bridge completely collapsed under my weight, almost dumping me in the creek. Even if I had fallen in, it would have just been a minor flaw in an otherwise perfect day

I have to admit that I had very low expectations for this day. My "just get it done" mindset had in a way dulled my enthusiasm for climbing 14ers. When I first really got into 14ers, I told myself that I'd want to climb them all in the most interesting way possible; choosing more technical routes, big link-ups and whatever creative way to summit. While I still want to complete the 58 before July 13, I've rediscovered what really drove me to climb. It's not about quantity, it's about quality (but why not both?).

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

Mrwaffles989	Like 4/17/2015 11:49am the creek crossing photo. That would have sucked. Nice job. Enjoyed the photos and the read.
SurfNTurf	Impressive 4/17/2015 2:33pm Scramble AND a ski descent –– sounds like a fun combo. Thanks for the photos of Lincoln Falls, I thought it would look much worse than that!
TakeMeToYourSummit	Nice Work! 4/17/2015 3:31pm It always amazes me what people can do with ski boots on! Good luck on completing your list! Safe travels!
mojah	Thanks guys! 4/18/2015 2:51am And Jeff, I was surprised too. Looks like hero ice to me!

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