June 30, 2013, - Eldorado Peak

Eldorado Creek basin.

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I skied the normal route on Eldorado Peak on Sunday. Several climbing parties were up there but only one other slider (a splitboarder).

Once you pass the evergreen band above the boulder field in Eldorado Creek basin, you hit continuous snow. Below about 6200ft (the elevation of the Roush-Eldorado divide) the snow is sun-cupped. Above that elevation it is mostly smooth summer snow. A little sticky but pretty good skiing.

Wanting to beat the heat, I drove to the parking area Saturday night and bivied at my car. I started hiking at 5:30 a.m. I tried a different method to carry my boots (see photo below) which worked very well in the woods. This arrangement (which requires a long strap for each boot) reduces the boot wingspan to shoulder width. No more snagging on narrow passages. By strapping the boot cuff against the Dynafit pincers, the boot didn't seem to pivot too much.



Forbidden Cirque from east ridge of Eldorado.

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I reached the summit around 10 a.m. The cornice on the south side of the summit crest is the largest I can remember. Ten to fifteen feet down on the north side, there are some incipient cracks which make me wonder if the whole thing could fall off. Unfortunately, the slope gets quite steep on the "safe" (north) side of the cracks, so all the climbers were stopping and hanging out between the cracks and the cornice. That seemed like a bad idea to me. Be cautious up there. I'll be curious to know how the ridge crest evolves as the summer goes on.

Nice easy skiing on the way down. Not so much fun in the suncup zone. The descent of the boulder field was very warm, but not nearly so warm as Marblemount when I stopped for a burger and fries. It's a cooker out there.



"The Eldorado carry."

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