The weather forecast worsened each day as the weekend approached and we weren’t sure what to do. Christy, Lissa, Dirk, and I hoped to ski Mount Yale on Saturday and then try for Kit Carson on Sunday.

If the forecast was right, the huge spring storm could shut us out, and we might be sent home with nothing. But if the forecast was wrong, as we all know it can be, we could pull it off and might even get some good snow while trying.

We all agreed on one thing: we wouldn’t get anything done sitting at home. We decided to take a gamble and make the trip to Mount Yale.

Some photos from Mount Yale-

We were psyched that our bet paid off, and with the afternoon weather in Buena Vista sunny and clear, we were ready to place another wager. We headed to the eccentric town of Crestone, where we spent the night. Sunday’s weather was supposed to be much nicer than Saturday’s, which was good, but the storm that had just exited the collegiate area hit the Sangres particularly hard.

Upon arriving in Crestone, Dirk and I did some recon up the road to the Willow Lake trailhead that afternoon and discovered it was buried deep in the snow a mile and a half from its usual terminus, at just over 8,000 feet. We were all feeling good and ready to go, so we decided to set the alarm a little earlier, skin the added distance up the snow-covered road, and give it our best.

A foot of new powder at the trailhead was about two feet deep when we were higher up– and it got even deeper as we reached Willow Lake. We had spent five hours breaking trail just to get there, at ~11,500 or so, and by then, we had all individually reached the conclusion we wouldn’t pull this one off today. Arrival at the lake marked lunch and the end of our uphill effort. Because the day before went so well, and because we each gave it our all trail-breaking, it was an easy decision. We ate lunch at the beautiful spot and then headed back down.

It took us eight hours to get to the lake and back. It was a good effort by a group of friends on a beautiful day. So, while there may not have been a proper summit today, we still won.

You only lose when you don’t try.