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Maroon Peak 14,156'
April 12, 2015
Route: Bell Cord to East Face
Mileage: 20ish miles RT?
Elevation Gain: 5200ish?
11 Hours RT
I've dreamed about skiing Maroon Peak ever since I climbed it for my 14er finisher, four years ago. After talking to some friends about the conditions and looking at the Aspen Highlands webcam of the Bells and Pyramid, I knew it was in. Unfortunately all of my regular ski partners were too busy and or uninterested to come, so I ended up going solo. I left my trip plan with a few of them and a time that they should expect to hear back from me. Driving up from the Springs to the T-Lazy Ranch winter closure at 10:30pm, I settled for two hours of snooze before I started at 1am. Riding on a bike, the Maroon Bells road felt like it went by pretty quickly. The road is pretty much dry all the way up to 1/4 of a mile to the trailhead where I locked up the bike and started skinning. Albeit for a couple dry sections, I easily skinned to the base of the Bell Cord by 4am. The snow was mostly firm albeit a little punchy in some sections of the bell cord. Being so focused on the task at hand, I really didn't take any pictures on the ascent. The traverse from the bell cord to the east face was mostly unconsolidated, winter like snow with powder on top. The upper east face was mostly firm supportable snow with a bit of breakable crust in some places. Climbing a small rock band just beneath the summit was the crux of the climb and required a few 4th class moves, this section would definitely prove to be tricky on the descent. Tired and excited, I finally made it to the summit by 8am.
I sat around on the summit for an hour and a half waiting for the snow to soften up a little bit more before dropping in at 9:30am. The very top of the ski route was still frozen and firm as jump turns commenced. The first couple turns are always the most awkward and terrifying, then you kind of get in this rhythm and start having some fun . I got some pretty good pow turns skier's right of the bell cord proper too.
"That definitely didn't suck," I thought to myself as a hoot and hollered skiing back down to crater lake. The stoke factor was high.
Looking Back Up The Cord
Classic Shot
Once back at my bike, it was a fun and quick ride back to the car which I got to at noon. Overall, it was a great day and I had a lot of time to myself which is always good to have from time to time. Hope some of the pictures and video are useful if you plan on going up there soon!
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. I got some pretty good pow turns skier's right of the bell cord proper too. 
