OTHER Trip Report 05/05/2015

Peak(s):	Clark Peak - 12951
Date Posted:	05/05/2015
Date Climbed:	05/02/2015
Author:	milehighfive

Clark Peak - West Side
The only other skiing trip reports I've seen for Clark Peak have approached from the east and skied the east face back down the Fall Creek Drainage, or approached from the west midwinter and did not continue above Jewell Lake. We approached from the west and reached the summit, so I thought I would post some photos and details here for future reference. Distance: 10.5 miles RT from the winter closure at CR 41, 6.5 miles RT from the two yurts. Elevation: 3900' from the TH, 3300' from the yurts Check Never Summer Nordic for yurt info. We arrived at the TH at 10 pm on Friday night, coming up from Denver after work. We tried to skin up the road but found that the patches of snow didn't connect and much of the road was exposed mud up to about 9500'. The area along the road from CR41 to 9500' has been recently logged and the road receives full sun light all day, so unless you go midwinter or immediately after a big spring storm, you will likely have to endure some dry booting along this road below 9500'. It took us about 1:15 to travel the 1.8 miles and 600' vertical to reach the yurt. Saturday morning we were up and out the door at sunrise. The path up to Jewell Lake follows a 4WD road until just below tree line, at which point the route to the lake is obvious, so route finding below tree line is extremely easy. River crossing on the 4WD trail Once at tree line approaching Jewell Lake you can see the great ski potential in this bowl. The west face of Pt 12,433 offers a thousand feet of steep open bowl skiing, the southwest face of Clark Peak offers 1300' vertical of technical mountaineering ascents and ski descents through tight walled rock chutes, and the east face of the rib on the west side of Jewell Lake offers short but steep lines. First view of the southwest face of Clark, showing three nice possible lines- wide left gully, center skinny gully, and right Close up of the right rock chute. It looks like it goes, but the route finding to reach it looks convoluted at best. Looking back down valley at the northwest face of PT 12433 We continued north along the east side of Jewell Lake until we spotted a short gully that offered access through the cliffs at the bottom of the west face to the open snow fields above the cliffs. We continued up the face staying climber's right (south) of the saddle and turning back toward the summit. We were able to climb continuous snow from the lake to within 20 vertical feet of the summit, with an average slope angle of around 30 degrees and maximum slope angles of just over 40 degrees. Going up the access gully near the north end of Jewell Lake. Grabbing lunch before we enter the wind hammer above the saddle. The south face of Pt 12640(ish) is in the background. From the saddle to the summit we had been climbing in continuous winds of around 40 mph with occasional gusts to 60 mph or more that would push us flat to the surface. The summit was even windier, so we snapped a few quick recon shots of the surrounding peaks and immediately dropped back down to the top of our boot pack to transition. A quick summit photo with full 800-fill down parkas in May. Looking north off the summit toward the Rawah Peaks Looking south toward Nokhu Crags and RMNP. We found perfect wind buff conditions down to about 200 feet below the saddle, where the snow transitioned to perfect corn for the rest of the descent to the lake. For the most part the exit from the lake back to the yurt was skiable, with only brief stretches of flat poling or skating required. We had one split boarder in our crew that eventually just decided he would rather down-skin than try to pole through some of the flats, but the skiers had no real issues getting out. Davis finds some nice conditions above the saddle. John drops back down the access gully toward Jewell Lake Looking back up the face on descent. Our path followed the snow field up to the left behind the skier, then to the right alon We spent the rest of Saturday afternoon recovering in the yurt and dodging passing thunderstorms. Sunday morning we woke up to blue bird skies and perfectly warm temps for our exit back to the car. We had to skate down the road back to about 9500' to avoid post holing, then had to boot pack it back to the car. I wish we we could have skied, but with the logging activity this road is going to continue to melt out way earlier than the slopes above, so spring mountaineering in this area is going to include some dry booting for years to come. Looking back up the road on Sunday morning as we exit from the yurt. Looking south from about 9500' into Nokhu Crags. I'd like to note that although we didn't ski from the true summit, it likely was possible to do so. There was snow on the summit and it appeared to continue down the northwest face, where we likely could have found a traverse back to skier's left (west) to regain our path of ascent. If you attempt to ski from the summit you would have to be weary of the true north couloir dropping down to Timber Lake. The difference between the northwest face and north couloirs is very subtle when you first leave the summit, so it would be easy to find yourself down in the couloir in a bad position if visibility is poor. It was so windy that our primary concern was getting back down ASAP, so we didn't recon the north couloir or attempt to complete a summit ski. I haven't seen any pictures of Clark Peak from the north, but judging by the topo map alone, the north couloir has some definite potential. I'd also like to point out that the south ridge and southwest face just below the summit were extremely boney, so while the most aesthetic descents are on the southwest face through the rock chutes, it may require some down climbing, or at best some very convoluted route finding, to reach continuous snow. Earlier in the year, or in a fatter snow year, it may be possible to reach those chutes without any down climbing. Clark Peak is the tallest mountain north of Cameron Pass and always gets hammered by winds though, so even in a good year the route finding into those chutes may be extremely tricky. I would suggest climbing those chutes and putting in a boot pack to guide you off the summit if you're going to attempt to ski anything on the southwest face, as the slope rolls over continuously from the summit to limit your visibility and there's quite a bit of exposure on the face if you end up in the wrong place. We also saw some evidence of rock fall and a bit of wet slab activity on this face on the way out, so objective hazards are present as well. Overall this was a fantastic area with a rare opportunity to get weekend solitude. We saw one other group of three crossing the saddle while we were on approach to the summit, and they continued down to Jewell Lake and we never saw them again. The area north of Clark Peak has a lot of other skiing potential and few access points in the winter, so if you're willing to do some winter camping or some epic days, there's a lot of opportunity to be alone out there. And while Clark Peak doesn't even break 13,000', the southwest face has 1700' vertical that is above 30 degrees, so steep and sustained technical faces can be found here. Along with the Gores, this is one of a few areas in the state that offers the rare combination of fairly big lines and extremely small crowds. My GPS Tracks on Google Maps (made from a .GPX file upload): Login required to view this map... Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Clark Peak - West Side

The only other skiing trip reports I've seen for Clark Peak have approached from the east and skied the east face back down the Fall Creek Drainage, or approached from the west midwinter and did not continue above Jewell Lake. We approached from the west and reached the summit, so I thought I would post some photos and details here for future reference.

Distance: 10.5 miles RT from the winter closure at CR 41, 6.5 miles RT from the two yurts.
Elevation: 3900' from the TH, 3300' from the yurts
Check Never Summer Nordic for yurt info.

We arrived at the TH at 10 pm on Friday night, coming up from Denver after work. We tried to skin up the road but found that the patches of snow didn't connect and much of the road was exposed mud up to about 9500'. The area along the road from CR41 to 9500' has been recently logged and the road receives full sun light all day, so unless you go midwinter or immediately after a big spring storm, you will likely have to endure some dry booting along this road below 9500'. It took us about 1:15 to travel the 1.8 miles and 600' vertical to reach the yurt.

Saturday morning we were up and out the door at sunrise. The path up to Jewell Lake follows a 4WD road until just below tree line, at which point the route to the lake is obvious, so route finding below tree line is extremely easy.

Once at tree line approaching Jewell Lake you can see the great ski potential in this bowl. The west face of Pt 12,433 offers a thousand feet of steep open bowl skiing, the southwest face of Clark Peak offers 1300' vertical of technical mountaineering ascents and ski descents through tight walled rock chutes, and the east face of the rib on the west side of Jewell Lake offers short but steep lines.

First view of the southwest face of Clark, showing three nice possible lines- wide left gully, center skinny gully, and right

Close up of the right rock chute. It looks like it goes, but the route finding to reach it looks convoluted at best.

Looking back down valley at the northwest face of PT 12433

We continued north along the east side of Jewell Lake until we spotted a short gully that offered access through the cliffs at the bottom of the west face to the open snow fields above the cliffs. We continued up the face staying climber's right (south) of the saddle and turning back toward the summit. We were able to climb continuous snow from the lake to within 20 vertical feet of the summit, with an average slope angle of around 30 degrees and maximum slope angles of just over 40 degrees.

Going up the access gully near the north end of Jewell Lake.

Grabbing lunch before we enter the wind hammer above the saddle. The south face of Pt 12640(ish) is in the background.

From the saddle to the summit we had been climbing in continuous winds of around 40 mph with occasional gusts to 60 mph or more that would push us flat to the surface. The summit was even windier, so we snapped a few quick recon shots of the surrounding peaks and immediately dropped back down to the top of our boot pack to transition.

A quick summit photo with full 800-fill down parkas in May.

Looking north off the summit toward the Rawah Peaks

Looking south toward Nokhu Crags and RMNP.

We found perfect wind buff conditions down to about 200 feet below the saddle, where the snow transitioned to perfect corn for the rest of the descent to the lake. For the most part the exit from the lake back to the yurt was skiable, with only brief stretches of flat poling or skating required. We had one split boarder in our crew that eventually just decided he would rather down-skin than try to pole through some of the flats, but the skiers had no real issues getting out.

Davis finds some nice conditions above the saddle.

John drops back down the access gully toward Jewell Lake

Looking back up the face on descent. Our path followed the snow field up to the left behind the skier, then to the right alon

We spent the rest of Saturday afternoon recovering in the yurt and dodging passing thunderstorms. Sunday morning we woke up to blue bird skies and perfectly warm temps for our exit back to the car. We had to skate down the road back to about 9500' to avoid post holing, then had to boot pack it back to the car. I wish we we could have skied, but with the logging activity this road is going to continue to melt out way earlier than the slopes above, so spring mountaineering in this area is going to include some dry booting for years to come.

Looking back up the road on Sunday morning as we exit from the yurt.

Looking south from about 9500' into Nokhu Crags.

I'd like to note that although we didn't ski from the true summit, it likely was possible to do so. There was snow on the summit and it appeared to continue down the northwest face, where we likely could have found a traverse back to skier's left (west) to regain our path of ascent. If you attempt to ski from the summit you would have to be weary of the true north couloir dropping down to Timber Lake. The difference between the northwest face and north couloirs is very subtle when you first leave the summit, so it would be easy to find yourself down in the couloir in a bad position if visibility is poor. It was so windy that our primary concern was getting back down ASAP, so we didn't recon the north couloir or attempt to complete a summit ski. I haven't seen any pictures of Clark Peak from the north, but judging by the topo map alone, the north couloir has some definite potential.

I'd also like to point out that the south ridge and southwest face just below the summit were extremely boney, so while the most aesthetic descents are on the southwest face through the rock chutes, it may require some down climbing, or at best some very convoluted route finding, to reach continuous snow. Earlier in the year, or in a fatter snow year, it may be possible to reach those chutes without any down climbing. Clark Peak is the tallest mountain north of Cameron Pass and always gets hammered by winds though, so even in a good year the route finding into those chutes may be extremely tricky. I would suggest climbing those chutes and putting in a boot pack to guide you off the summit if you're going to attempt to ski anything on the southwest face, as the slope rolls over continuously from the summit to limit your visibility and there's quite a bit of exposure on the face if you end up in the wrong place. We also saw some evidence of rock fall and a bit of wet slab activity on this face on the way out, so objective hazards are present as well.

Overall this was a fantastic area with a rare opportunity to get weekend solitude. We saw one other group of three crossing the saddle while we were on approach to the summit, and they continued down to Jewell Lake and we never saw them again. The area north of Clark Peak has a lot of other skiing potential and few access points in the winter, so if you're willing to do some winter camping or some epic days, there's a lot of opportunity to be alone out there. And while Clark Peak doesn't even break 13,000', the southwest face has 1700' vertical that is above 30 degrees, so steep and sustained technical faces can be found here. Along with the Gores, this is one of a few areas in the state that offers the rare combination of fairly big lines and extremely small crowds.

My GPS Tracks on Google Maps (made from a .GPX file upload):

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

Dave B	Cool report 5/10/2015 9:22am I’d skied Clark from the east and it’s a miserable bitch of a deproach out Fall Creek. This looks like a far more intellectual way to ski the peak, way to get it done. The view south towards the Nokhu area and the park makes the trip worth it.
MatB	Good beta 5/10/2015 9:22am Thanks for sharing, looks like a neat area to explore. How long was the commute from Denver?
milehighfive	Whiskey Rations 5/10/2015 9:22am We stuck close enough to the whiskey rations, and the dry boot pack up the road from the TH sobered us up and cleared our heads from...earlier. ;) From Denver to the TH was a little over 3 hours. Driving up the canyon to Cameron Pass is beautiful, but damn is it long. We stopped for food on the way in and out at Serious Texas BBQ in Ft Collins. Highly recommend it.
mtnfiend	Nice work Pund!! 5/10/2015 9:22am Glad to see you guys had a good day in the hills! I take it the whiskey rations were strictly enforced Friday night?

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.

14ers.com

Social

Mobile App