Route: Southeast Face to Outward Bound Couloir

Team: Ted, Chris Davenport

We weren’t going to get anything done sitting at home—I agreed with Dav’s thought. It was December, and he had a short list of peaks left to ski. When he mentioned the Sangres, well, I needed most of them, too, so I was in. Which peaks would have snow? It was so early in winter, and we had no beta. We would just have to go and see.

The long drive to Westcliffe ended with a bummer of a view of Humboldt Peak, through the binoculars we could see there wasn’t enough snow. The Crestone Needle looked pretty bad as well. Southward, we drove where we noticed Little Bear looking pretty rough, maybe filled in just enough to put a ski descent together, but maybe not. Then we saw Blanca looking really desperate. The day so far was really disappointing, and now it was getting dark, and we weren’t yet with a plan. The only remaining peak we both needed to ski was Kit Carson, but we couldn’t catch a view. Since the others were out, we decided to go up to Kit Carson and keep our fingers crossed.

Earlier in the week, I saw some recent pictures from Willow Lake, and it looked snowy, which was reassuring. We wouldn’t know about the conditions higher up the mountain in the Outward Bound(O.B.) Couloir or the southeast-facing summit section. It would be a gamble.

After spending the cold December night on the ground of the Willow Lake trailhead parking area, we were up well before dawn, making the three-hour hike up to the lake. Soon enough, from high in the basin, the O.B. couloir came into view, and it was all filled with snow, which was great to see.

We made our way up, knowing it wouldn’t be until the top of the couloir that the Southeast Face and summit would finally show itself. Only then would we know if our efforts would be rewarded with a ski from the summit. We’d also finally catch some sun. It was cold.

As I reached the top of the couloir and saw the snow-loaded summit, I looked back to Chris, and he knew what I knew—we would get this one today. I recalled reading somewhere that Lou Dawson needed six or so trips to complete this one as his final peak, and here we were, taking a chance and nailing it on our first try, in mid-December, no less. It was still fall according to the calendar. I felt pretty fortunate.

On the summit, we were cold but excited, and the turns off the top were some of the best I’ve found high on a 14er—light new snow. We were back down at the col pretty quickly and then skied down the O.B. Couooir, which was really fun. It was getting late, and the winds had picked up. Before long, we were back down at the lake and then cruising back to the truck, arriving just before dark.

We drove home that night, happy with our decision to go for it despite uncertain conditions—even a speeding ticket on Hwy 285 didn’t phase Chris. Sometimes, you have to take a chance and go. You might get lucky, and you’re not going to get anything done sitting at home.