Route: North Face

Team: Christy, Ted, Dirk Bockelmann

The North Face of La Plata Peak is a good late-spring 14er ski descent for two reasons. Its north face couloirs keep snow late in the spring, and if you’re coming from Aspen, it’s less driving if you wait until Independence Pass opens. So Dirk, Christy, and I loaded up the Suburban and headed over the pass for my third 14er of the extended Memorial Day weekend. The quick one-hour drive was a refreshing change to the usual drawn-out approach so common with this stuff.

The trail was dry for a while, and we had our skis and boots on our backs. Upon reaching the NW ridge, we put on our ski boots and continued up with crampons. We could see the couloir-riddled North Face, with plenty of snow still– this would be fun. From that point, we made it to the summit quickly, which was good as some spring weather appeared to be moving in.

Upon reaching the summit, I could see that the north side of Missouri Mountain still looked to be filled in. Like La Plata, that’s another good late-season ski line. Maybe next week?

The snow in the couloir below us looked good. The heavy cloud cover had warmed the air that morning. The couloirs were ready to be skied.

The three of us had a blast. There are several ways to ski the north face, and you can take your pick from various couloirs. From wide ones to narrow chutes, natural wind features, and abundant rock outcroppings, it has a playground feel as opposed to a long, feature-less line with a single fall line. I would love to ski this again someday.

At the base of the big North Face, tree line and snow line met, and we were faced with a decision. Option one: climb and contour around to the west to meet up with the dry summer trail we ascended. Or option two: follow the thinning snow down into the forest, take it as far as it went, and walk back to the trailhead.

FYI, it’s almost always better to get back on the summer trail when faced with this type of decision.

We thought we might be able to ski the remaining snow (what we call “ribbons of love”) far down into the shady forest and that we might find a ski line to Highway 82. It was alright for a bit, but the “love” ended soon after we started, and we went to battle with the forest. With skis mounted in an A-frame on our backs and ski boots in their bindings, it was exhausting to try to forge a route through deadfall and dark timber.

As miserable as it was, like many things given the benefit of time, the drawn-out exit only added to the day’s positive experience in our memories. The three of us once again had an awesome day.