Route: North Face Couloir

Team: Ted, Jared Ettlinger

Several friends had reported good skiing up in Montezuma Basin up by Castle Peak. They even said the North Couloir looked filled in and might be skiable. So I called Jared Ettlinger and made plans.

Once up there, we agreed with the assessment– there was snow to ski, but it didn’t look great. But it didn’t look terrible either; you might say it was good for October. And the weather was perfect.

Castle Peak/Montezuma Basin is a great asset to Aspen. On good years, you can find skiable snow as early as September/October, with continuous summit ski lines on both Castle and Conundrum peaks. With a 4WD, you can reach the snow in an hour, go skin and ski, and be home for lunch, driving past road bikers still hanging onto summer on Castle Creek Road.

We skinned the lower and upper basin, eventually booting up to the saddle between Castle and Conundrum. From there, it was 400 relatively easy vertical feet to the summit.

The crux of this early season outing is the initial section right off the summit. As you make your way down to the top of the couloir, you have to manage thin snow over rocky terrain to reach the couloir’s entrance. From there, the couloir leads back down to the permanent snowfields and easier terrain back to the truck. Rock skis are required in October, and this day was no exception, but Jared manages a ski shop back in town, so we figured it would be OK.

Thanks to Gorsuch for all the tunes through the years!