February 9, 2006, Dry Gulch, Colorado
2/9/06
US elsewhere
3091
0
Day 35
2-9-06
Dry Gulch, Colorado
Ski Descent: 11,800 11,000= 800vf; + 12,000 10,600 = 1,400; total => 2,200vf
Sean skiing into Dry Gulch, The Citadel's SE face in background
After Sunday's carnival of deep snow and deadly wind up on Loveland Pass, our group was looking for a tour to enjoy some new terrain and high alpine powder. If we could find any. Powder, that is, wind we had no doubt about finding. High winds were again forecast for the day, and the new snow had all but ended Sunday, three days prior. Avy danger was moderate with pockets of considerable, lee slopes, of course, the biggest issue. So where could we find powder?
Our first choice was a descent of Sniktau, but the approach to this 13'er was an exposed walk along a high ridgeline where gale force winds were expected again today. Our second choice, well, Berthoud maybe? Always a little more sheltered than the Loveland area. A third choice was discussed earlier in the week, and still remains an adventure to bag, so name is withheld. We dropped one vehicle off at the Bakerville exit, in the hopes that the Sniktau tour would go as planned, and we four, Sean, Alex, Andrei and I, drove the rest of the way to the Divide in Alex's sedan. We all had our fingers crossed that the wind wouldnt be as bad as predicted and we could still make a run at the peak. As we neared the Divide, the jet stream seemed to be directly aimed at the summit of Sniktau, huge plumes of snow carved off the rocky ridge and looked like a vision of the Himalayas in storm. Travel on the exposed ridge did not look pleasant at all.
Have you ever enjoyed a Colorado wind? When we lived in Boulder we used to laugh at people who would say Chicago was the "windy city" ha! Boulder had Chicago beat hands down. Anytime the jet stream was overhead or near, which was often in winter, fierce winds would roar over the Divide and down onto the foothills. Listening to your house groan ahead of the freight train of wind was a common problem that kept Boulderites awake at night. Wind - one of the annoying things about Colorado I was glad to be rid of.
Scratch idea #1, Sniktau, no way we were going to consciously submit to that torture. Where to go? After a 10 minute discussion of options, we decided on a tour of The Citadel and environs. The Citadel was a beautiful 13'er which Sean and I had skied the SW face years earlier. The SE face of the mountain was still on the hit parade, and the slope might be protected from the harsh NW winds. Off to The Citadel!
Five minutes later, we parked at the pull out off Exit 216 (10,600') and toured immediately from the parking lot. The sun was out in full force, along with the wind, and the south facing aspects had a bit of a crust forming. At least below 11,000'. As we left the harder crust of the forest, Alex ran into some serious trouble.
Andrei, Sean and I were all skiing, and poor Alex was left to snowshoe alone. The snow was a bottomless mess under the upper crust, and his work was very slow. Soon enough it was apparent that Alex was in for a bad time. His snowshoes were the smallest type and almost worthless in the high altitude dry powder. Maybe if he had a posse to share the workload, but alone, shame, tiring business.
We plodded on up to 11,800' along the NE shoulder of Mt Trelease and luckily the wind buffeted ridge provided Alex an easier walk along the wind board. We could see the beautiful Hagar and Citadel group across the Dry Gulch canyon, and its SW aspect looked well protected and inviting. We strapped on the boards and skied off directly N toward Dry Creek.
The first couple hundred vertical were a wind board mess, with pockets of soft along the edges of the snow finger left in the ridgeline. As the slope rolled away into the protected Canyon, the snow improved. The four of us skied one at a time and found boot deep powder in the protected areas, the snow a great victim of the winds from the week. It was hard to believe we had waist deep powder only three days earlier.
An amazing sight happened as I skied up next to Sean, who was standing above a tuft of krummultz. A flock of 10 or so white ptarmigans erupted from the shrubs and took flight, to the cheers of Sean and I. It was quite a spectacle.
At the bottom of the Canyon (11,000'), we regrouped and ate lunch, and prepared for the ascent up to the Citadel. We could see another party had put in a skin track so our work should have been easy. But alas, Alex's snowshoe issue was too much and after a couple hundred vertical he decided he'd had enough. He pulled out his jacket and enjoyed the sunshine, waiting for us graciously. Sean, Andrei and I continued to the bench at 12,000' under the SE face of the Citadel and soon called it as we neared our 2 pm turn-around. The upper slope would have to wait for another day.
We skied back down in wind affected boot deep powder along the upper ramp, then fought through the crusty south facing aspects among the trees back down to Alex and the valley floor. Along the floor of the Canyon we followed a 4X4 road and cruised the 1.5 miles or so back down to the car at the highway.
2-9-06
Dry Gulch, Colorado
Ski Descent: 11,800 11,000= 800vf; + 12,000 10,600 = 1,400; total => 2,200vf
Sean skiing into Dry Gulch, The Citadel's SE face in background
After Sunday's carnival of deep snow and deadly wind up on Loveland Pass, our group was looking for a tour to enjoy some new terrain and high alpine powder. If we could find any. Powder, that is, wind we had no doubt about finding. High winds were again forecast for the day, and the new snow had all but ended Sunday, three days prior. Avy danger was moderate with pockets of considerable, lee slopes, of course, the biggest issue. So where could we find powder?
Our first choice was a descent of Sniktau, but the approach to this 13'er was an exposed walk along a high ridgeline where gale force winds were expected again today. Our second choice, well, Berthoud maybe? Always a little more sheltered than the Loveland area. A third choice was discussed earlier in the week, and still remains an adventure to bag, so name is withheld. We dropped one vehicle off at the Bakerville exit, in the hopes that the Sniktau tour would go as planned, and we four, Sean, Alex, Andrei and I, drove the rest of the way to the Divide in Alex's sedan. We all had our fingers crossed that the wind wouldnt be as bad as predicted and we could still make a run at the peak. As we neared the Divide, the jet stream seemed to be directly aimed at the summit of Sniktau, huge plumes of snow carved off the rocky ridge and looked like a vision of the Himalayas in storm. Travel on the exposed ridge did not look pleasant at all.
Have you ever enjoyed a Colorado wind? When we lived in Boulder we used to laugh at people who would say Chicago was the "windy city" ha! Boulder had Chicago beat hands down. Anytime the jet stream was overhead or near, which was often in winter, fierce winds would roar over the Divide and down onto the foothills. Listening to your house groan ahead of the freight train of wind was a common problem that kept Boulderites awake at night. Wind - one of the annoying things about Colorado I was glad to be rid of.
Scratch idea #1, Sniktau, no way we were going to consciously submit to that torture. Where to go? After a 10 minute discussion of options, we decided on a tour of The Citadel and environs. The Citadel was a beautiful 13'er which Sean and I had skied the SW face years earlier. The SE face of the mountain was still on the hit parade, and the slope might be protected from the harsh NW winds. Off to The Citadel!
Five minutes later, we parked at the pull out off Exit 216 (10,600') and toured immediately from the parking lot. The sun was out in full force, along with the wind, and the south facing aspects had a bit of a crust forming. At least below 11,000'. As we left the harder crust of the forest, Alex ran into some serious trouble.
Andrei, Sean and I were all skiing, and poor Alex was left to snowshoe alone. The snow was a bottomless mess under the upper crust, and his work was very slow. Soon enough it was apparent that Alex was in for a bad time. His snowshoes were the smallest type and almost worthless in the high altitude dry powder. Maybe if he had a posse to share the workload, but alone, shame, tiring business.
We plodded on up to 11,800' along the NE shoulder of Mt Trelease and luckily the wind buffeted ridge provided Alex an easier walk along the wind board. We could see the beautiful Hagar and Citadel group across the Dry Gulch canyon, and its SW aspect looked well protected and inviting. We strapped on the boards and skied off directly N toward Dry Creek.
The first couple hundred vertical were a wind board mess, with pockets of soft along the edges of the snow finger left in the ridgeline. As the slope rolled away into the protected Canyon, the snow improved. The four of us skied one at a time and found boot deep powder in the protected areas, the snow a great victim of the winds from the week. It was hard to believe we had waist deep powder only three days earlier.
An amazing sight happened as I skied up next to Sean, who was standing above a tuft of krummultz. A flock of 10 or so white ptarmigans erupted from the shrubs and took flight, to the cheers of Sean and I. It was quite a spectacle.
At the bottom of the Canyon (11,000'), we regrouped and ate lunch, and prepared for the ascent up to the Citadel. We could see another party had put in a skin track so our work should have been easy. But alas, Alex's snowshoe issue was too much and after a couple hundred vertical he decided he'd had enough. He pulled out his jacket and enjoyed the sunshine, waiting for us graciously. Sean, Andrei and I continued to the bench at 12,000' under the SE face of the Citadel and soon called it as we neared our 2 pm turn-around. The upper slope would have to wait for another day.
We skied back down in wind affected boot deep powder along the upper ramp, then fought through the crusty south facing aspects among the trees back down to Alex and the valley floor. Along the floor of the Canyon we followed a 4X4 road and cruised the 1.5 miles or so back down to the car at the highway.
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