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The last couple of weeks have been very generous for us skiers/boarders. Seemingly every day, there are afternoon snow showers and there have a been a couple decent storms to beef up the snowpack. The amazing part is that there hasn't been crazy wind accompanying the snow, which has left the mountains all around summit county absolutely caked with snow. When I say caked, I mean CAKED. This past week, I managed to get Sherman, Cameron and Quandary...all 3 were skinnable from the car to the top, and then skiable from the summit back to car. Definitely one of the most fun weeks of skiing I've ever had. Also, since I take forever to finish these reports, I got another line in and included it at the bottom haha.
Peak : Mt Sherman
Route: South Slopes
Date: 5/7/15
Trailhead: 4 mile Creek, approximately a mile below the Leavick Site
Distance: ~8.5 miles
Gain: ~3100'
Partners: Bill M + Craig L
Mt Sherman makes me think of Sherman Klump from the Nutty Professor, one of my all time favorite movies. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it! All of you bow down before mighty Sherman!
Sherman seems to be one of the more maligned 14ers. People don't really seem to have many positive things to say about it. Its windy, its too easy, short, its ugly etc etc . Personally, I enjoyed hiking Mt Sherman a couple summers ago, but I'm easily entertained. With all the recent snowfall and having observed how caked the Mosquito range was from the previous weeks travels, I was eager to get out and do some riding! When Bill suggested Sherman, it sounded like a great idea. Craig would be joining us as well...I've been getting out and touring a lot with these guys and its been a blast! The weather forecast for the day was not ideal, but it seemed like there would be a window, so we decided to go for it. My biggest concern was the warm temps...a couple days before I had attempted a line off of Black Mountain above Abasin and had to bail when the snow was absolutely soaking wet and unsupportive, even above 12000'.
On the road
We met up at 5am and made the short trip over to Fairplay and the 4 mile creek road. We were able to drive to within a mile of the Leavick site...it seemed like it would be a while before the road would be passable beyond that. The good news was that the road was skinnable all the way to the turnoff for the South Slopes route, just before the gate on the road at approximately 12000' . The snow was nice and frozen, which made for some very easy and quick skinning. I know I've said it several times already, but the amount of snow up there was just mind boggling. Made for some nice views while cruising up the road.
Looking up at Sherman (Photo by Bill) Photo by Bill
We hit the turnoff for the south slopes route, and began working our way up. We stayed well away from the gullies on White Ridge, as they looked loaded...there wasn't any recent avalanche activity but its always good to practice safe snow travel. There are a couple of steepish sections on the South Slopes, but for the most part its easy skinning. For some reason, my skins weren't sticking very well to the upper layer of the snow...annoying but manageable.
Bill headed up Me (photo by Bill) Bill Craig White Ridge
We stopped at about 13400' and dug a pit to see what was happening in the snowpack...The new snow from the previous 2 storms was bonding well to the old snow, and there was not much water in the snowpack, which was a good thing to see after my failed attempt at SFB a couple days beforehand. The top layer fractured on a compression test, but it was only the top 4 inches or so and the rest of the snow stayed put, so it was game on!
The "crux" of the ascent Bill on the final approach to the summit
We finished off the uphill in short order and soon topped out on the summit.
Craig topping out Bill on the summit
It was pretty surreal seeing all of the snow on the surrounding peaks...I don't know how I'm going to be able to get any work done...so many lines on the wish list! The weather was looking ugly towards the front range, and somewhat threatening to the west, but it was still sunny over Mt Sherman...lucky us! We transitioned, took a few photos and then it was time for the fun part...we were able to drop directly off the summit onto the south slopes and the snow was pretty good! It was a little wind affected for the first ~500 feet, and then after that it was pure spring goodness...soft turns all the way down to the road! I'll let the pictures do the talking for the ride down. Based on other trip reports for Sherman, I feel like that the conditions were about as good as they get!
Craig skiing off the summit Yes! Bill Shredding Me (photo by Bill) Bill Me (photo by Bill) so good (photo by bill) Craig (photo by Bill) Me enjoying the gully (photo by Bill)
I was able to ride about a mile down the road before I ran out of steam, then switched over to split skiing to skate out the remaining mile or so to the car. The snow was getting a little sticky from the heat of the sun...I left my helmet on which proved to be a dumb thing to do...the sun was roasting the black helmet and boiling my brain inside my head! Still, it was an easy enough skate out and soon enough we were back at the car. The weather held out for us all day long. What an amazing day!
Peak: Mt Cameron
Route: East side via Cameron Ampitheater
Date: 5/9/15
Trailhead: Moose Creek
Distance: ~ 6 miles
Gain: ~3000'
Partners: Otina, Bill M, Craig L
After our great day out on Sherman, I was eager for another one. We decided to go for mighty Mt. Cameron and all of its unranked glory. Again, the weather forecast was crap, but we decided to give it a try and see what happened with the weather. Waking up in the morning at 4, I saw that it was snowing pretty heavily, which was not good. While letting my dog outside, a big flash of lightening went off, also not good. My poor dog who is terrified of thunder and lightening was mid poop and about had a stroke. Still, the weather changes rapidly in the spring, so maybe it wouldn't be that bad. I collected all my gear and hopped in my truck to meet Bill + Craig. It was absolutely nuking and lightning was flashing frequently. Pretty surreal. I was not feeling optimistic about our chances of success, but you never know.
As we drove over Hoosier Pass, the weather rapidly improved. It seemed that we would at least have a chance to try Cameron. We met Otina in Alma and drove over to the trailhead. We were careful to avoid all of the private property as we started up through the trees towards the amphitheater. If you are going to hike/ski in this area, its definitely a good idea to bring a map so you know where the private property is. Its imperative to respect the landowners in the area so they don't close access to the roads in the area. The skinning for the first ~500 feet was a mess of tree stumps and logs and very thin snow cover. As we got a little higher, the coverage improved dramatically. We traversed over into the Ampitheater and began working our way up the gully.
Heading into the Ampitheater Crazy Spots of Blue Grinding uphill incredible scenery The Russian looking tasty
The weather was halfway between stormy and sunny, and made for some amazing scenery. The view over towards Silverheels was mind-blowing. The view of Cameron was pretty amazing too...so much snow!! It was good to have some motivation, because I was really feeling like crap. Some days you just aren't 100%, and that day was definitely one of them. Still, I sucked it up and we made our way up to the saddle between Bross and Cameron...Right as Craig and I got to it, the clouds/fog started rolling in...I was a little concerned about being up there in a total whiteout, but I just decided to hope that the weather would clear. The clouds did make for some great photos though.
Craig Bill and Otina in the fog Finishing off the summit ridge Summit Wind Lip
From the saddle, we headed up the summit ridge, and topped out to clearing weather...very lucky! With blue skies all around, we ducked below a wind lip on the other side of the summit and enjoyed the day. Photos, food, transition and then it was time to shred!
Glorious summit views!
The snow off of the summit was extremely soft, and I knew we were about to have a great ride down...although what we found far exceeded my expectations. One by one, we dropped in and ripped down in perfect soft powder, probably about boot deep. Bill went first, making fast turns and long rooster tails as he flew down the face. Craig went next and ripped it as well. Then it was my turn...All I can say is that was one of the highlights of my season. Long, arcing, high speed turns in powder is about as good as it gets! It was over before I knew it, and I rode over to Bill and Craig to watch Otina shred down the face.
Craig
Me
Otina
Otina
Bill
Bill
Me
Otina
Otina
I think all 4 of us were pretty blown away by the conditions. I know I was...not often you get to blast down a powder covered face at full speed on a 14er. We gang skied the rest of the basin down to the Quartzville road, where we carefully picked our way down the (in spots) thinly covered road, before finally running out of snow about 1/2 mile from the car. I probably should have gotten off the board a little sooner, as I managed to put a couple pretty nasty gouges in my board. Oh well, cost of admission I suppose. Still, what an unbelievable day!
When I left the house that morning, I was 95% sure we wouldn't summit Cameron...hell, I was 95% we wouldn't even get out of the car at the trailhead. Still, you never know until you go, and sometimes it works out!
Peak: Quandary Peak
Route: East Ridge/Bowl
Date: 5/11/15
Trailhead: Quandary Winter Trailhead
Distance: 6.75
Gain: 3400'
Partners: Matt C and Joe D
After the Cameron outing, we had another good storm up here, which dropped a bunch of new snow. May 11th is my birthday, and for the last couple of years, I've been trying to get out and ride a peak to celebrate...Last year, it didn't work out because I partied too much the night before, and the year before that I couldn't find a partner and didn't have the experience/comfort level to go solo. Given the uncertainty in the snowpack, and a desire to ride a stress free, fun line, Quandary was an easy choice. Its close, short and straight forward. This would be my 5th time riding the peak, and looked to deliver some pretty awesome conditions.
I woke up in the morning at 530 to heavy snowfall...The forecast had called for the snow to stop the night before, so I assumed that the weather would clear out later in the morning. We left my house about 7 and were heading up the trail by 8ish. The snow was somewhat thin right beyond the start of the Quandary trail, but after the first 100 yards the coverage was excellent. We made good time through the trees and soon were nearing treeline. I noticed what I initially thought was clouds streaming off of the summit of Northstar, but quickly realized that was wind ripping snow off of the summit. Doh. Sure enough, clouds of snow were billowing off the upper part of Quandary as well.
Me
Matt
We continued on, and the wind quickly made its presence known. It was probably 20-30mph with 40mph gusts...not super strong, but with all of the snow that had fallen, there was plenty of snow to blow around. It was bitterly cold as well. To illustrate how cold it was, I had my R1 hood zipped all the way up, my ski helmet on top of that, and then my hardshell hood on top of that...I've never, ever worn so much on my head while going up hill. I run pretty warm generally and I was freezing! Joe and Matt were feeling the cold as well. On the first hill above treeline, a solo skier passed us up, and she was absolutely flying. She must have been a skimo athlete or something...we saw her skiing down the upper bowl right as we reached the bench. Her turns were looking good !
Me
Matt was kind enough to snap a summit shot for me
Once we reached the bench at 13k, the wind really picked up and was blasting us with graupel pellets...I wasn't wearing a base layer below my ski pants, and those little pellets were extremely painful! One actually flew up my nose somehow and cut the inside of my nostril...I guess that was Quandary's way of giving me a birthday beatdown. Still, we pressed onwards and after what felt like an eternity of sandblasting hell we reached the summit at about 11...On the final 300', we saw a pair of skiers make great turns down the upper bowl, which was a nice morale boost. There were few summit photos, no celebratory beers, just relentless wind and a desire to get down ! We transitioned quickly and rode off the summit to the entrance to the bowl.
I dropped first and rode down about halfway and stopped to take a few photos of Joe and Matt. We stayed skiers right side of the bowl for the most part. The snow was great, soft and just a little heavy from the wind and sun. The guys skied down 1 at a time, and rode to the exit of the bowl right before the bench flattens out. I enjoyed the rest of upper bowl, making big arcing powder turns before angling towards the ridge again. The good thing about the wind was that it was strong enough to blow us right across the bench...no walking today! We skied the lower bowl, which was a little heavier but still glorious before making our exit through the trees. After a short split ski, we were back at the trailhead about 1pm.
Joe at the top
Joe
Matt
Me
Me
Matt
Matt
Joe enjoying learning the finer points of split skiing!
Making birthday powder turns at 14000 feet with good friends was a great way to cap off one of the best weeks of riding I've had in my entire life! I can definitely appreciate how lucky I am to catch 3 peaks in perfect conditions within a week...I'd be stoked to get 3 peaks with those conditions in a season, much less in a week. Hopefully there are more great peak descents to come in the next few weeks!
Bonus Line
Gore Range Hallway
5/14/15
Not gonna really write much about this one, only that its in the Gores and one of the coolest lines Ive ever had the pleasure of riding. It was my friend Davids birthday and he has been wanting this line all winter, so Chase, David and I went and did it. Steep, narrow and inset, this is a pretty striking line. The entrance was ~50 degrees and very narrow. We lucked out and enjoyed great conditions in the upper half of the couloir. the lower half had a bunch of slide debris, which made for some interesting riding at times. On the exit, I tore the walk mode buckle off of one of my boots and broke one of my tail clips on my skins...doh! Made the exit less than enjoyable but it was still well worth it! Now just have to get another buckle for my boots and ill be back in action.
The entrance
David dropping in
Me dropping in
Sigh of relief
Chase off the top
Beautiful soft turns
Me
Chase
David getting into the debris
Chase
David
Chase
Maybe my all-time favorite shot...David in the exit choke
Chase getting into it
Me pointing it and squeezing through the exit choke
Looking forward to what the remaining spring season has in store for us...Hopefully more snow and more great turns!
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
Zach – Been great getting out with you as well...lets get out again soon, supposedly another 2–3 feet by the end of the weekend!!!
Jay – Yeah I’ve been really lucky this year to have a bunch of great partners to get out with...hopefully theres another month of riding at least !
Otina – I agree, lets just get the ice age started! Let me know when you want to get out again...I have a few objectives in mind for the week/weekend
Nice job! From your pictures, it looks like one could ski Bross down to the Bross–Cameron saddle or open up the face into the Cameron Amphitheater. How did Bross’ coverage on that side look to you? I’m thinking of skiing Bross and maybe Cameron as well (especially after seeing your pics!), and now might be the best time to do both from the Cameron Amphitheater.
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