How good of a backcountry skier are you and you're partner?Wuldier wrote:Going to Colorado in march!
what shall the 2 of us climb? we dont want a bland hike like elbert! that was easy even in winter..
we want to have to use our axe and crampons but avoid ropes, also have excellent scenery and just alround fun.. even if it means doing 2 mountains in 1 trip!
i have been thinking about Maroon Peak or Crestone Peak and or El Diente+Wilson.
any suggestions welcome, Thank you in advance.
Please help us decide!
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Re: Please help us decide!
"True love is much easier to find with a helicopter."
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Re: Please help us decide!
every year? i dont think so! the only reason we didnt try it before is because my best friend and climbing partner decided to move to australia for a year and that put a dent in any climbing plans for a long time..madeinus wrote:Not to sound rude, but you've come on here every year asking questions about climbing capital in winter and the like.. Did you ever end up attempting? Why not go with that one since you were provided with a ton of information with? What's the purpose of these posts then? Attention? There's a search function and a ton of info on this site to find everything you need without creating new posts. In fact there's so much information to be had on these routes really there's no need to post.
9 months ago you said, "I have never struggled nor had to turn back on a mountain". Now you say, " I know when to turn around".. ???
I apologize if I'm wrong and I look forward to seeing pictures of your attempt. If not I'll look forward to seeing your posts next winter .
i also dont recall even coming close to mentioning capitol peak this time around as maybe the "Ton" of info i got last time made me think twice about it! so cut out the idiot remarks!
and i have never "struggled" struggling and coming across non safe climbing and turning around instead of trying something im not sure of are completley different! (Again, cut out the idiot smart arse comments.)
P.s also, if it wasnt for avy risks, really... this "Difficulty" rating you lot use is pretty damn broken. have all the 188 people from this forum who helped create the table ( http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/usrpeaksrall.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ) actually climbed every single 14er, in more than one season to actually give an accurate score on these?
and for your yet AGAIN! smart arse idiot comment! you shall see our attempts of all peaks we try for this coming march to early april.. hrmm as thats actually next year! does that count as next winter!? We are going 100% as he has been back from down under for some time now.
Thank you Co native and Scott P,infact Scott P, we are going to shoot for the ones you spoke of, they look seriously fun. (We will do em on the way in to colorado) see how we feel after that.
Last edited by Wuldier on Fri Dec 31, 2010 8:11 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Please help us decide!
we dont do Skiing, Snow shoes but not skiing, we like to actually have to work haha.Hacksaw wrote: How good of a backcountry skier are you and you're partner?
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Re: Please help us decide!
Ok...Wuldier wrote:we dont do Skiing, Snow shoes but not skiing, we like to actually have to work haha.Hacksaw wrote: How good of a backcountry skier are you and you're partner?
Good luck.
What I was going to suggest isn't suitable for snowshoes...
"True love is much easier to find with a helicopter."
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Re: Please help us decide!
Realy? why does everyone use elbert as my only mountain i have ever been on!? how about cairngorms in scotland or Snowdons very own knifes edge! and other scrambler ridges and such?greenhorn1 wrote:Is this a joke? Honestly I can't imagine jumping from Elbert to the peaks you mentioned that time of year.
why do you rate these class 3's harder than them? why is it that in the UK, they count you class 3 as thier EASY!.. or wait a minute.... is it just because these are 14ers, and are much higher than UK mountains!? well yes the peaks are higher but a slip in caringorms or on snowdon will kill you too, or is there another level of being dead i dont know of!? you just assume because its higher, its more dangerous..
is Everest more dangerous than K2? hrmmm
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Re: Please help us decide!
thats cool man, thank you tho.. we might give it a crack at some point, but not yet.Hacksaw wrote:Ok...Wuldier wrote:we dont do Skiing, Snow shoes but not skiing, we like to actually have to work haha.Hacksaw wrote: How good of a backcountry skier are you and you're partner?
Good luck.
What I was going to suggest isn't suitable for snowshoes...
Re: Please help us decide!
Any couloir climb in Colorado would probably meet your crampon and axe with no rope criteria.
But in March, there can be a lot of objective hazards in the coulours, more than in May and June. If a snowstorm comes in, which happens a lot in March, there might not be anything I would be willing to try.
Are you willing to hike in and camp in the snow?
Are you willing to climb well before sunrise and descend a different route?
Is an alternative route acceptable if the snow and temp is not right for a coulior climb?
Just off hand, without knowing more, I think you could have a good time with Wilson Peak, El Diente and Mt Wilson. If the coulours are too dangerous, there are some nice ridges to crawl along.
There are also some nice climbs on Longs Peak.
But in March, there can be a lot of objective hazards in the coulours, more than in May and June. If a snowstorm comes in, which happens a lot in March, there might not be anything I would be willing to try.
Are you willing to hike in and camp in the snow?
Are you willing to climb well before sunrise and descend a different route?
Is an alternative route acceptable if the snow and temp is not right for a coulior climb?
Just off hand, without knowing more, I think you could have a good time with Wilson Peak, El Diente and Mt Wilson. If the coulours are too dangerous, there are some nice ridges to crawl along.
There are also some nice climbs on Longs Peak.
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Re: Please help us decide!
thanks for your input man.cheeseburglar wrote:Any couloir climb in Colorado would probably meet your crampon and axe with no rope criteria.
But in March, there can be a lot of objective hazards in the coulours, more than in May and June. If a snowstorm comes in, which happens a lot in March, there might not be anything I would be willing to try.
Are you willing to hike in and camp in the snow?
Are you willing to climb well before sunrise and descend a different route?
Is an alternative route acceptable if the snow and temp is not right for a coulior climb?
Just off hand, without knowing more, I think you could have a good time with Wilson Peak, El Diente and Mt Wilson. If the coulours are too dangerous, there are some nice ridges to crawl along.
There are also some nice climbs on Longs Peak.
the answer to all your questions is Yes.
i love doing this in terrible conditions lol.. the worse the weather, the better, its just more fun

i will check out Longs too.
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Re: Please help us decide!
why do you rate these class 3's harder than them? why is it that in the UK, they count you class 3 as thier EASY!.. or wait a minute.... is it just because these are 14ers, and are much higher than UK mountains!? well yes the peaks are higher but a slip in caringorms or on snowdon will kill you too, or is there another level of being dead i dont know of!? you just assume because its higher, its more dangerous..
That's correct, you hit the nail on the head. The Cairngorms are the hardest mountains in the British Isles,at about 1300 meters or 4260 feet.
This puts you in the Appalachian Mountains range . May I suggest Mt Mitchel at 6,684 ft (2,037 m), and for some more winter excitement a combination with Mount Craig at 6,647 feet (2,026 m) about a mile to the north of Mount Mitchell.
The Colorado big mountains are over 14,000 feet, and doing one is a great accomplishment , but you do not even have to slip and fall to die at altitude in the winter. Everest and K2 are in another class, which is simple because of their altitude. This makes them more dangerous than the Colorado 14ers. You would not jump from Bierstadt to Everest.
For my next trip, I would do Torries and Grey's combination, but I'm not up for the Colorado winter yet. I have to do Mt Mitchel (Appalachian Mountains) in winter still, and that's a tough one.
Best of luck
bif
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Re: Please help us decide!
why are you going back to the altitude thing again? you think a fall in the "thicker" air at lower altitude cant kill you?? i think you will find that it will end up as the same result as falling and dying on everest or pikes peak... altitude has NOTHING! to do with this at all, UNLESS! your body does not do well at over 14k.. which mine does fine! been twice, never had an issue.. not once, i dont even acclimatize, i just drive from KS and head to colorado.. get to twin lakes and get out the car and head to the roof of colorado.. and both times was in winter.bif wrote:why do you rate these class 3's harder than them? why is it that in the UK, they count you class 3 as thier EASY!.. or wait a minute.... is it just because these are 14ers, and are much higher than UK mountains!? well yes the peaks are higher but a slip in caringorms or on snowdon will kill you too, or is there another level of being dead i dont know of!? you just assume because its higher, its more dangerous..
That's correct, you hit the nail on the head. The Cairngorms are the hardest mountains in the British Isles,at about 1300 meters or 4260 feet.
This puts you in the Appalachian Mountains range . May I suggest Mt Mitchel at 6,684 ft (2,037 m), and for some more winter excitement a combination with Mount Craig at 6,647 feet (2,026 m) about a mile to the north of Mount Mitchell.
The Colorado big mountains are over 14,000 feet, and doing one is a great accomplishment , but you do not even have to slip and fall to die at altitude in the winter. Everest and K2 are in another class, which is simple because of their altitude. This makes them more dangerous than the Colorado 14ers. You would not jump from Bierstadt to Everest.
For my next trip, I would do Torries and Grey's combination, but I'm not up for the Colorado winter yet. I have to do Mt Mitchel (Appalachian Mountains) in winter still, and that's a tough one.
Best of luck
bif
so your point is??
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Re: Please help us decide!
I would be cautious in saying that you won't have trouble at 14,000 feet after only 2 trips to that altitude. If I understand you correctly, both of these were up and down trips on Elbert. Altitude related illness can be a fickle beast, and you never know when it will strike, even given past experience. I would be more assured if you said you had spent multiple days at high altitude (above 10,000 feet at least) without problems. Acute mountain sickness and its more serious counterparts (HACE and HAPE) are more likely to be brought on with more time and exertion at altitude (it seems that you have never spent this much time or done anything this physically demanding at such a high altitude). So to say the altitude won't be an issue seems both cavalier and foolish. You may want to educate yourself a little more on altitude related illness.
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Re: Please help us decide!
On the second trip we spent the night just on the upper part of tree line.. its was fun times.
And we did chill out in rifle for a few days after the climb.
Our trips consist of being there for a week or so.
And we did chill out in rifle for a few days after the climb.
Our trips consist of being there for a week or so.