Thoughts on Skywalker Couloir
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joelsteidl
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Thoughts on Skywalker Couloir
I've done Cristo Couloir on Quandary and Dead Dog on Torreys and felt very comfortable on them. Skywalker couloir on South Arapaho looks amazing, but I wanted to see how it compares to a route like Dead Dog. It sounds steeper in sections but wanted to hear from some of you. Also, if you've been on Skywalker recently, conditions updates would be great!
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Johnson
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Re: Thoughts on Skywalker Couloir
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In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. - Psalm 95:4
"I would be doing myself a disservice and every member of this band if I didn't perform the hell out of this." - Gene
"I would be doing myself a disservice and every member of this band if I didn't perform the hell out of this." - Gene
Re: Thoughts on Skywalker Couloir
The "Leia finish" of Skywalker gets very steep. But if you were VERY comfortable in Dead Dog, it seems like it should be in your range. I would bring a second tool, though, just in case (I didn't have one, but wished i did). Conditions vary, but when I did this, there was a 2-3 feet 70 degree step to get into the Leia finish, the rest appeared to be around 50-55 degrees.
From the previous post, it sounds like the finish is in great shape right now. But next weekend, this could already be very different... I'd also check if there was still a good freeze cylce going on during the days/nights before your climb.
From the previous post, it sounds like the finish is in great shape right now. But next weekend, this could already be very different... I'd also check if there was still a good freeze cylce going on during the days/nights before your climb.
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westandy
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Re: Thoughts on Skywalker Couloir
I agree. I used a second tool for the Leia finish, and I really enjoyed it. Skywalker is known for holding it's snow well into summer, and is protected by the sun despite being south facing. I did it the last weekend of June '13, and I believe we climbed between 6am and 8am.mtnkub wrote:The "Leia finish" of Skywalker gets very steep. But if you were VERY comfortable in Dead Dog, it seems like it should be in your range. I would bring a second tool, though, just in case (I didn't have one, but wished i did). Conditions vary, but when I did this, there was a 2-3 feet 70 degree step to get into the Leia finish, the rest appeared to be around 50-55 degrees.
From the previous post, it sounds like the finish is in great shape right now. But next weekend, this could already be very different... I'd also check if there was still a good freeze cylce going on during the days/nights before your climb.
Just my $0.02. Hope you get to enjoy it as much as (or more than) I did!
Re: Thoughts on Skywalker Couloir
We didn't do Skywalker today, but conditions (as Hoot reported in the other thread, linked above) are pretty good right now. The snow cover around 4th of July mine (near the approach for Skywalker) were still very supportable at 11am. Climbers we talked to today reported soft snow near the start of the climb but became progressively firmer the higher they went. Leia finish looks good. Apron is thinning.
Snowshoes are probably not needed on the approach. We carried ours and never put them on. The summertime trail is a lost and found process from the TH up to the mine.
The year I climbed it, I measured it to be 57* but I'm sure it can vary a few degrees in a given year depending on how much it gets loaded on top.
Tons of snow all around up there!
Snowshoes are probably not needed on the approach. We carried ours and never put them on. The summertime trail is a lost and found process from the TH up to the mine.
The year I climbed it, I measured it to be 57* but I'm sure it can vary a few degrees in a given year depending on how much it gets loaded on top.
Tons of snow all around up there!
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SchralpTheGnar
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Re: Thoughts on Skywalker Couloir
The dead dog ski was just fun, skiing the upper section of sky walker and Leai was nerve racking. On the climb I didn't notice much of a difference as a boot pack was in which goes a long well towards quelling the gnar factor
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Tatra
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Re: Thoughts on Skywalker Couloir
We climbed Skywalker today and the conditions could not be more perfect. The snow was hard and safe all the way up to the top. Leia was awesome and did not disappoint again. We had a second tool for the last part of the climb- highly recommend it. You should really do it soon! And no need for snowshoes on the approach.
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ETA
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Re: Thoughts on Skywalker Couloir
Climbed today, started the couloir at 5:45am and topped out at 7:35. Good freeze last night so the snow was solid. The upper half was very hard to kick steps, I found some softer spots outside of climber tracks that I could kick into. The exit to the ridge is fine, from below it looked worse to me, but no real problems. I agree that snow shoes aren't needed for the trail, two tools might be nice in a couple spots on the climb. I went over S. Arapaho and down the hiking trail, pretty easy to follow. The picture is from the hike down about 9:00am, the folks just reaching the sun (upper portion) were still on route, maybe they can add to the snow report.
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3 or 4 miles, can't be much further than that.
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falcon568
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Re: Thoughts on Skywalker Couloir
Awesome, thanks for the info. The Leia exit looks good from the picture, how'd it look up closer? Any beta on the N Arapahoe traverse conditions? Probably going to attempt tomorrow, we'll see how it goes.
"Of course, inside each one of us is the ambition to reach the summit, to realize that you are stronger than obstacles, that it is within your power to do something uncommon and indeed impossible for most people. But one must be prepared to face those obstacles..."-Ed Viesturs
"When I was a child, I felt there was something I had to find before I died. I imagined it as some lost, golden country, glittering on the other side of the mist across our neighbor's fields, hidden within the shadows behind our stone wall—some place beyond the fixed patterns of society, the grey chronology that led inexorably to death. In my twenties, on my first free solo, the light seemed to shatter through me, and the sky pour down the rock. Like so many climbers, immersed in that sudden, radiant awareness of now, I've had that brief and total conviction that each moment is both fleeting and eternal"-Katie Ives
"When I was a child, I felt there was something I had to find before I died. I imagined it as some lost, golden country, glittering on the other side of the mist across our neighbor's fields, hidden within the shadows behind our stone wall—some place beyond the fixed patterns of society, the grey chronology that led inexorably to death. In my twenties, on my first free solo, the light seemed to shatter through me, and the sky pour down the rock. Like so many climbers, immersed in that sudden, radiant awareness of now, I've had that brief and total conviction that each moment is both fleeting and eternal"-Katie Ives
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ETA
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Re: Thoughts on Skywalker Couloir
No information on the Princess, well above my league. Here's a shot of the ridge to N. Arapaho from just below S.A. Good luck and have fun.
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3 or 4 miles, can't be much further than that.
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Jack
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Re: Thoughts on Skywalker Couloir
A buddy of mine was just up in the Indian Peaks area and he said "there didn't look like much snow at all above treeline..." Has the snow melted off substantially since that last picture was posted a couple weeks ago? If the current snow conditions still look anything like that maybe I'll hold off a little while longer. Thanks for any info and for posting the pic.
Jack
Jack
