Florida Man Planning on Capitol Peak Winter Ascent

[climbingshotgun]

Sounds like you are set on a winter attempt of Cap but with very limited experience. Having done Capitol in Sep afew years back it is not trivial in several ways. I don't have the experience to do it in winter and would not try it without more. Recommendation: get more experience with winter conditions hiking/climbing before trying Cap, and consider doing Cap in summer or fall weather, preferably bluebird days. I think the experience of doing Cap in good weather may go a long way toward building confidence while you also gain winter experience on easier peaks. Some on this forum will tell you that Cap is overrated and no big deal. I guarantee there are others, like me, who will have a more cautious stance. My 2 cents. Good luck and be safe! Recommendation 2: not a political statement given a climbing context here, but leave the shotgun at home.

I appreciate the reply. Yeah, I read the other thread about choosing easy winter 14ers and I figured i would do those first. I wasn't even planning on doing a peak hike when I first get there, probably just a backpacking loop to get my legs going. I've got so much time off so it'll be easy to wait for perfect weather and avalanche forecasts when I feel like I want to go for something hard, whichever peak that is.

Haha, my username is supposed to be a pun on 'riding shotgun.' So instead of someone lead climbing and the other following, you would say your partner lead the route and you climbed it shotgun. I don't even bring my glock hiking, forget about my shotgun.

[cottonmountaineering]

[climbingshotgun]

Shotgun,

I applaud your vision. It's good to aim high for your goals!

But...while it's not the same thing, your goal is akin to someone saying his first real foray into mountain climbing will be Mount Everest. Capitol ain't Everest, but Capitol in winter solo as your first peak in calendar winter...yikes! That's way, way out there. Full disclosure: I've done lots of winter peaks, but haven't done Capitol in winter, more a lack of interest than anything else. But I'm familiar with the endeavor and have had friends that have done it. Unless you are supremely fit and experienced, it'll almost certainly be an overnight trip; winter camping is a skillset unto itself (rigging a tent in deep snow, stoves, water, etc etc.) You also won't have anyone else to break trail for you as you carry a heavier pack, and doing so in a deep snowpack can be an exhausting, humbling experience. January is cold (duh), and the snowpack can be problematic. Not impossible by a long shot, but a January snowpack is different than the same in mid-March. And in January you have shorter daylight hours, you'd need to have your winter night navigation skills up to at least a rudimentary level. Personally I'd recommend snowshoes for you; anyone can use those, but jumping right onto skis with no experience? I suspect you'd spend more time learning to ski than making much forward progress.

Here's an alternate plan: Come out and do an easier winter peak or two. If successful, do an overnighter. Elbert is an easy one, good camping spot around 11K. If that goes well maybe then consider Capitol (and I know others will howl that's too soon). Hard to say if you have your layers dialed in if you haven't come off a peak at night in the winter at 13K. Get a bit of real world experience, then shoot for your goal! Just my .02.

-Tom

PS: Most of your boot picks are dated. Plastics are dead (fwiw I used to use the Asolos you mentioned). Double boots are OK, esp for overnighters, but there are better/lighter choices on the market.

Thanks for the insights Tom. The plan you're suggesting is basically what I was thinking. Get used to the elevation, to the cold, to winter camping, to navigating, to scrambling, and then do it. Something like Quandary, then Elbert, Yale, Massive, Holy Cross, and so forth. I'm looking forward to turning summer day hikes into overnighters. Should be an epic trip.

Yeah I agree the boots are dated, but they still do their job well right? What'd you switch to after the Asolos? Those in particular are lightweight for a double boot. I just figured for a novice, having the inner boot in my bag at night would make for a much more enjoyable morning. Do people try to squeeze inner boots into single layer boots or does that defeat the purpose?

[climbingshotgun]

The “Florida Man” title is making me somewhat suspicious.

It was meant to convey my inexperience in cold temperatures and with Colorado winter conditions, given that I've lived in Florida for 26/29 of my years. I'm guessing most trolls don't bother to put their picture up.

I should've picked a more boring title.

[Eli Boardman]

Yeah I agree the boots are dated, but they still do their job well right? What'd you switch to after the Asolos? Those in particular are lightweight for a double boot. I just figured for a novice, having the inner boot in my bag at night would make for a much more enjoyable morning. Do people try to squeeze inner boots into single layer boots or does that defeat the purpose?

On the off-chance that you're actually not a troll, yes double plastic boots still work fine, they're just not "in" anymore. I have a pair of Scarpa Invernos which I used for Aconcagua--worked great, felt like ski boots, overkill for Colorado anyway. For the cheaper price they're fine, but for winter 14ers the common choice is a warm single boot. I use La Sportiva Nepals--but there's plenty of similar options; pick your favorite gear-review site and go from there.

Winter camping is more complicated than you might think, and not something you can learn very well on a forum. For instance, do you know why you're supposed to carry your water bottles upside down? There's just too many intricacies to explain--the only way to go is to either 1) trial-and-error figure it out (possibly having some awful experiences along the way) or 2) find someone willing to go with you and show you what's up. Good luck.

[crowdsurf]

The “Florida Man” title is making me somewhat suspicious.

It was meant to convey my inexperience in cold temperatures and with Colorado winter conditions, given that I've lived in Florida for 26/29 of my years...I should've picked a more boring title.

I think your title is right in line with other people from Florida. Your antics are legendary.

FloridaMan.PNG

[TomPierce]

Shotgun,

I used the Asolos on Denali (mid 90's) and 2 winter ascents of Mt Washington in New Hampshire (earlier 2000's...2005?) Plenty of winter Colorado ascents as well. They were fine for their time, and plastic mountain boots are probably the best ski boot except for full AT boots. But skiing on AT skis without AT boots is a dying, almost lost, art. IMO better to stick with snowshoes for your project. They're rugged, versatile and easy to learn. I ski as well, but I'd suggest you start on.snowshoes.

I digress. About 10 years ago [Edit: Eeks! Time flies; more like 20 years ago, whenever the first LS zip-up winter boot went on the market] I switched to modern winter boots, what I call fabric (vs plastic) boots. The best double boots I have are the older model Boreal G1 Lites. So incredibly comfortable I call them my bedroom slippers. Super warm too. But those are for extreme (for me) conditions or for winter overnighters. And yes, the inner boot goes in the bag at night. However, 95% of my current winter stuff is daytripping, but that might include predawn starts or coming back at night. For those outings I use a single boot (fwiw, Millet Davai's). Great boots but no longer made. I"m a climber by background, I like full mountain boots in the winter vs the more flexible boots favored more by hikers. Just my preference, try both.

Lots of great boots out there. The LS Spantik is popular with the winter overnight/expedition crowd. Anyway, those are my opinions.

-Tom

[SchralpTheGnar]

Are you a troll? If not, let me know and I can help you.

[spiderman]

Are you a troll? If not, let me know and I can help you.

You got me really interested, Schralpar. I have always wanted to become a level 9000+ troll. Do you have a 10-step procedure or can I learn it overnight? Let me know where I should male my troll course tuition check.

P.S. can I get the same discount that you offer to Florida Man? I am quite famous for skiing and power washing the rooftops in that state.

[SchralpTheGnar]

Are you a troll? If not, let me know and I can help you.

You got me really interested, Schralpar. I have always wanted to become a level 9000+ troll. Do you have a 10-step procedure or can I learn it overnight? Let me know where I should male my troll course tuition check.

P.S. can I get the same discount that you offer to Florida Man? I am quite famous for skiing and power washing the rooftops in that state.

It’s Schralp the gnar, spider...man

[Eli Boardman]

Are you a troll? If not, let me know and I can help you.

You got me really interested, Schralpar. I have always wanted to become a level 9000+ troll. Do you have a 10-step procedure or can I learn it overnight? Let me know where I should male my troll course tuition check.

P.S. can I get the same discount that you offer to Florida Man? I am quite famous for skiing and power washing the rooftops in that state.

It’s Schralp the gnar, spider...man

Now you've got to give him credit, that was funny.

[peter303]

Erased due to wrong thread.