Mount Democrat, 14,148 ft., is one of the more easily accessed 14ers you can ski each spring. In late April and May, the road is often clear of snow from Alma to 11,400 feet. At that point, you only have a short stretch of snow-covered road to reach the normal summer trailhead at Kite Lake.

That makes skiing this south and east side of Mount Democrat one of the more straightforward routes.

For our trip here in 2018, Christy wanted to ski a 14er with her friend Elsie Weiss. Their relationship began years earlier as part of a mentorship program (read about it here), and they have been trying to ski a different 14er each spring.

They extended an invite to me, and along with Rebecca Weiss (Elsie’s mom), the four of us set out to ski Mount Democrat.

After a quick walk up to the Kite Lake Trailhead, we began skinning. We stuck close to the summer trail that ascended the East Slopes route. The snow was continuous but patchy, and we soon found the headwall of the East Slopes to be too steep for skinning switchbacks. So we put our skis on our backs and booted to the summit plateau.

At that point, the angle mellowed considerably, and it was just a short stroll to the summit.

We enjoyed the sunny summit and retraced our route to the Kite Lake Trailhead.

It was a fun, straightforward and safe route. Years earlier I had skied Democrat’s west side down to near Fremont Pass. That was an interesting route, but the snow cover was more sparse, and the route felt a bit more exposed to avalanches. I prefer this route after revisiting this mountain and skiing it from this side.