Two weeks ago, we were stymied by deep snow on a ski attempt at Kit Carson Peak. I don’t consider turning back at Willow Lake a true attempt on the mountain; we didn’t even make it to within sight of the peak, but that said, we didn’t get it skied and needed to return.

After allowing a week for the new snow to settle a bit, Christy and I decided to get right back on the horse. We figured since we had already done the hard work breaking the trail the week prior, we’d be foolish not to. Seven days later, we were at the trailhead again in the dark, ready to make the trip back into Willow Lake.

The snow-covered trail we traveled the week before was nearly dry, as was the road to the parking lot, and we cruised to the lake in about half the time it took us seven days earlier. There were four additional cars parked at the trailhead, one of which had a Dawson’s Guide to Colorado Fourteeners on the front seat, and we figured we might encounter others with the same goal in mind. Once past the lake, we saw a group ahead of us on foot, with one person on skis. They looked to be heading to the Outward Bound (O.B.) couloir, the same one we were planning to climb and ski.

We eventually caught up with this bigger group of climbers, and after some brief conversation, it was revealed that everyone in the group was a registered member of 14ers.com. Since Christy and I poke around there from time to time we soon realized we had a fair amount in common and even had some mutual friends. To make a long story short, we spent the next leg of the day with our new friends, Steph, Sean, Keifer, Craig, and Gabe, and reached the 14,165-foot summit together.

To Christy’s dismay, between the snow at the summit and the gullies a short way down on the Southeast Face there was a good amount of exposed rock. But since we had climbed 5000 vertical feet from the car this morning, she wouldn’t be stymied by a short stretch of patchiness. With skis on, she covered the sparsely snow-covered ground from the summit across to where Craig and I chose to begin our ski, and the three of us started down to the top of the couloir.

Because the sun hadn’t had enough time to get the snow high on the Southeast Face into the spring cycle, the skiing wasn’t that great, but once the three of us made it down into the shaded O.B. couloir, we had a great time.

Since the others in the group were on foot, it would take them a bit longer to downclimb, so we said farewell and cruised down to the lake. It was a fun couple of hours with them.

And here’s Christy throwing some alpine turns on her telemark skis, something you do a lot in variable snow, and which could be a little foreshadowing of things to come for her and her gear choices. We’ll see.

Later that day, eleven hours after starting, we were back at the car feeling like redemption was had. It was nice.

And best of luck to Gabe, Craig, and Kiefer, who are off to climb Denali soon.

And the parting shot: