6-10-07, Mt Bancroft (13, 250'), CO, Bancroft Bowl
6/10/07
US elsewhere
4157
6
Day 50
6-10-07
Mt Bancroft (13,250'), Bancroft Bowl
Total Ski: 2,100 VF
I arrived at the signed 4WD road at 4 am, alone. I was pleased that the ride up from my temporary pad in Loveland, CO only took 1 hr and 35 minutes. It's not 20 minutes anymore to skiing, like living in North Bend, WA, but neither was it a NYC to ADK commute.
Sean and I talked about meeting at the trailhead, but as I idled looking up at the sign for Loch Lemond (still .36 miles to go), with boulders and baby's heads littering the nasty 4WD road ahead, I realized that my Subaru and his Toyota had different definitions of "Trailhead". If he had beat me to this point, he could already be all the way to snowline...if not, then he'd be behind me...and did he mean the Loch Lemond TH to Mt Bancroft or the Fall River road TH some 5 miles back? Hmmm, what to do. I eased the subie up the road and stumbled ¼ mile or so before it was obvious lunacy. I did a K-turn and parked. In the dark I gathered my pack and equipment, determined to walk the rest of the way at double speed in case I was second man to arrive.
Minutes later, with my pack all ready to go, headlights appeared down the dark road and a rambling truck ground its way toward me, stopping next to my car. The window rolled down.
"Is this the way to the Hoboken Train Station?"
***
Mt Bancroft rises from the rarely visited Fall River Range, an area that abuts two very busy destinations, James Peak to the north and Berthoud Pass to the south as bookends. The skiing potential is fabulous in this range, with long descents, high peaks and abundant snowfall as it was directly on the divide. But, like all Front Range peaks, conditions can be marred by Colorado's true evil spirit- the wind. While it may snow prodigiously along this section of the Divide, the wind also has a tendency to blow the snow to Kansas.
Snowline this time of the year is very near Loch Lemond and we were able to drive Sean's 4X4 almost the whole way to 11,300', parking at a huge snowdrift along with a half dozen other 4X4s abandoned at random along the road.
"Did you ever notice how the guide always has to wait for his clients?" I ask Sean. Thus begun a rambling banter of one upmanship, the giddy feeliing of sleep hypoxia and drugs taking effect in the thin air.
After four years apart, it was good to be back with a trusted partner.
We left the car in the twilight of dawn, needing no headlamps in the half light.
It was a short stroll through a small pine island, and we reached a wind blown clearing below the dam at Loch Lemond. We skirted the left side of the lake and aimed for one of the snow gulleys coming down from the tarn below Bancroft Bowl. The summit loomed over the tarn and bowl, bookended by cliffs and a central bowl cascading off the summit ridge. The route was obvious.
We had to bushwack through a short section along the quickly melting snow tongue, and once again when we reached the wind blasted flat outlet to Lake Catherine (11,800'), jumping exposed talus and crossing pleasant grassy meadows in a cold wind. It looked like the snow had melted quickly this year even though they had good snowfall. Then again, it will all depend on the fickle nature of the wind. Regardless, it appeared we were just one week past continuous skiing from the summit down to Loch Lemond.
Once on the far side of Lake Catherine, the business of the climb began and we settled on some rocks and put on the crampons for the snowbowl above.
There were the remnants of a party of three or so skiers from days before, and we were able to follow their shallow bootpack every so often. In the early hours of morning, even with the slope facing driectly into the sun, the snow was slow in warming due to a fierce cold wind. Welcome back to the Front Range of Colorado I guess!
It was a simple, straighforward climb and we summited at 8:00 am. I had climbed the mountain during a long enchainment of peaks back in the 90's, but had never skied from the summit. In fact, this was the first time I had skied in the Fall River Range and was excited by the potential. The views all around in the blue bird morning air were astounding. James Peak loomed directly to the North (we could see parties on the East Ridge route) and Longs dominated the far horizen. To the south Parry, Eva and Witter showed many fine lines, and further to the south, the horizen was littered with 14er's: Evans, Pikes, Bierstad, Grays, and Torreys beckoned.
We didn't stay long, and were off the top at 8:30 am.
The sun hadn't enough time to soften the upper ridge and the ski down to the top of Bancroft Bowl was hardpack corn. Smooth, though, and as the slope canted to face the sun lower down, hinted at supurb corn below.
The ski down into Bancroft Bowl is exhilerating, with a nice steep pitch for a 1,000' feet down to the shore of Lake Caroline. I deboot and stroll the 100 yards to the top of the next snow section.
"Short and steep, that's the Indian Peaks," Sean says.
We drop down 500 VF of snow then I portage over a 20 foot section of brush - Sean just side steps - arriving at the top of another nice snowfinger down to the shores of Loch Lemond. Continuing, we scramble our way down discontinuos snow almost all the way to the car.
Back at the car at 10 am and on to home before noon. Even though I'm not in Washington anymore, maybe some things won't change.
6-10-07
Mt Bancroft (13,250'), Bancroft Bowl
Total Ski: 2,100 VF
I arrived at the signed 4WD road at 4 am, alone. I was pleased that the ride up from my temporary pad in Loveland, CO only took 1 hr and 35 minutes. It's not 20 minutes anymore to skiing, like living in North Bend, WA, but neither was it a NYC to ADK commute.
Sean and I talked about meeting at the trailhead, but as I idled looking up at the sign for Loch Lemond (still .36 miles to go), with boulders and baby's heads littering the nasty 4WD road ahead, I realized that my Subaru and his Toyota had different definitions of "Trailhead". If he had beat me to this point, he could already be all the way to snowline...if not, then he'd be behind me...and did he mean the Loch Lemond TH to Mt Bancroft or the Fall River road TH some 5 miles back? Hmmm, what to do. I eased the subie up the road and stumbled ¼ mile or so before it was obvious lunacy. I did a K-turn and parked. In the dark I gathered my pack and equipment, determined to walk the rest of the way at double speed in case I was second man to arrive.
Minutes later, with my pack all ready to go, headlights appeared down the dark road and a rambling truck ground its way toward me, stopping next to my car. The window rolled down.
"Is this the way to the Hoboken Train Station?"
***
Mt Bancroft rises from the rarely visited Fall River Range, an area that abuts two very busy destinations, James Peak to the north and Berthoud Pass to the south as bookends. The skiing potential is fabulous in this range, with long descents, high peaks and abundant snowfall as it was directly on the divide. But, like all Front Range peaks, conditions can be marred by Colorado's true evil spirit- the wind. While it may snow prodigiously along this section of the Divide, the wind also has a tendency to blow the snow to Kansas.
Snowline this time of the year is very near Loch Lemond and we were able to drive Sean's 4X4 almost the whole way to 11,300', parking at a huge snowdrift along with a half dozen other 4X4s abandoned at random along the road.
"Did you ever notice how the guide always has to wait for his clients?" I ask Sean. Thus begun a rambling banter of one upmanship, the giddy feeliing of sleep hypoxia and drugs taking effect in the thin air.
After four years apart, it was good to be back with a trusted partner.
We left the car in the twilight of dawn, needing no headlamps in the half light.
It was a short stroll through a small pine island, and we reached a wind blown clearing below the dam at Loch Lemond. We skirted the left side of the lake and aimed for one of the snow gulleys coming down from the tarn below Bancroft Bowl. The summit loomed over the tarn and bowl, bookended by cliffs and a central bowl cascading off the summit ridge. The route was obvious.
We had to bushwack through a short section along the quickly melting snow tongue, and once again when we reached the wind blasted flat outlet to Lake Catherine (11,800'), jumping exposed talus and crossing pleasant grassy meadows in a cold wind. It looked like the snow had melted quickly this year even though they had good snowfall. Then again, it will all depend on the fickle nature of the wind. Regardless, it appeared we were just one week past continuous skiing from the summit down to Loch Lemond.
Once on the far side of Lake Catherine, the business of the climb began and we settled on some rocks and put on the crampons for the snowbowl above.
There were the remnants of a party of three or so skiers from days before, and we were able to follow their shallow bootpack every so often. In the early hours of morning, even with the slope facing driectly into the sun, the snow was slow in warming due to a fierce cold wind. Welcome back to the Front Range of Colorado I guess!
It was a simple, straighforward climb and we summited at 8:00 am. I had climbed the mountain during a long enchainment of peaks back in the 90's, but had never skied from the summit. In fact, this was the first time I had skied in the Fall River Range and was excited by the potential. The views all around in the blue bird morning air were astounding. James Peak loomed directly to the North (we could see parties on the East Ridge route) and Longs dominated the far horizen. To the south Parry, Eva and Witter showed many fine lines, and further to the south, the horizen was littered with 14er's: Evans, Pikes, Bierstad, Grays, and Torreys beckoned.
We didn't stay long, and were off the top at 8:30 am.
The sun hadn't enough time to soften the upper ridge and the ski down to the top of Bancroft Bowl was hardpack corn. Smooth, though, and as the slope canted to face the sun lower down, hinted at supurb corn below.
The ski down into Bancroft Bowl is exhilerating, with a nice steep pitch for a 1,000' feet down to the shore of Lake Caroline. I deboot and stroll the 100 yards to the top of the next snow section.
"Short and steep, that's the Indian Peaks," Sean says.
We drop down 500 VF of snow then I portage over a 20 foot section of brush - Sean just side steps - arriving at the top of another nice snowfinger down to the shores of Loch Lemond. Continuing, we scramble our way down discontinuos snow almost all the way to the car.
Back at the car at 10 am and on to home before noon. Even though I'm not in Washington anymore, maybe some things won't change.
Don't they let you carry cameras down there in the South?
Oh yes. But, my new camera takes very large photos, and the software to manipulate them won't allow me to shrink below the TAY limit of 100k w/out making them illegible. Until 1) I somehow find my other photoshop CD in storage or 2) Charles loosens the 100k limit on photos, then no photos will accomany TRs into the future. Such is life.
Oh allright, I'll cut you some slack this time. Smarter people than us two have been discussing that issue up in random tracks lately. It's good to have a Colorado Correspondant on the scene.
looks like i missed you by about a week,, sundance off of trail ridge was in awsome shape last week, and is about 2k with supper easy access, are you down in colorado foor good?
Marcus - I'll check it out - thanks!
dan - Yup, here for ever and ever, amen - I thought of you when I arrived and wondered if we'd hook up. Looks like we're trading places. So far been in CO a month and have skied Crooked Couloir on Audubon, Sundance bowl (down to the river!), Tombstone bowl (ahem on location), and Bancroft. Torrey's North Face this week...
dan - Yup, here for ever and ever, amen - I thought of you when I arrived and wondered if we'd hook up. Looks like we're trading places. So far been in CO a month and have skied Crooked Couloir on Audubon, Sundance bowl (down to the river!), Tombstone bowl (ahem on location), and Bancroft. Torrey's North Face this week...
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