Route: Southeast Couloir

Team: Ted, Max Taam

My last trip to ski a 14er was in December when I went to Kit Carson with Chris Davenport. With the recent spring-like temperatures and a good-looking forecast, I thought it might be a good opportunity to try for another peak. Online trip reports showed favorable conditions in the Sangres, so I thought it was time to go for the Crestone Needle.

Max Taam, an Aspen Mountain ski patroller, local bike racing star, and exceptional trail breaker, was interested, so we loaded up the truck and headed to the South Colony Lakes Trailhead. We camped at the start of the snow. To aid in our approach, we had a snowmobile with us. We got going early the following morning, and apart from some downtime with an overheated sled, we were at the summer 4-wd parking in good time.

We skinned to the lower lake and then up to Broken Hand Pass. From there, we traversed, much like the summer route, to the couloir base. Wow, it looked fun— very steep and very narrow. The couloir faced southeast, and we were early enough to still be ahead of the sun’s warming, so we cramponed up hard snow, thinking that this would soften up well and make for fun skiing.

It was cool to be here. There’s nothing introductory about this mountain, with technical climbing routes on nearly all sides, the Southeast Couloir is the only feasible ski line, and in its best condition can still be harrowing. If we could catch it in corn snow conditions, it would be sweet.

Unfortunately, the snow never softened. There was just enough cloud cover and light wind to keep the snow frozen. As I clicked into my skis at the summit, I longed for my stiff alpine boots that I use for everyday skiing. The sideslipping and jump turns on “slide-for-life” frozen snow in this very narrow couloir required a bit more precision than my wimpy AT boots provided.

As we made our way down, we adjusted to the conditions and level of focus required. I reminded myself that these challenges make this project hard and contribute to a memorable day.

Upon exiting the couloir, we found ourselves testing our rock climbing comfort levels, making 5th-class moves in ski boots with big packs, which is always good for some late-day adrenaline. Eventually, we were back at Broken Hand Pass, dropping into wintry, north-facing snow that took us all the way down to the lake, back to the sled, and ultimately home to a friend’s party that night. It was a very fun day.

The next 14er I would ski this spring would be Shavano.