Christy in the couloir. Route: Southeast Couloir Team: Ted, Christy, Kim Havell, Karen Kingsley Taking advantage of the huge upslope storm that blanketed the Sangres with snow a few weeks earlier, we went to the Crestone Needle. We skinned up the South Colony Lakes Road and set up camp for the night. The next morning, as we made our way up Broken Hand Pass, we came up on two other...
Route: Southeast Face Team: Christy, Ted, Kim Havell, Karen Kingsley The four of us had just skied the Crestone Needle and from Broken Hand Pass were looking over to Humboldt. We could see the straightforward route down, across Upper South Colony Lakes, and up the mountain’s standard summer route. The ski down would be thin at the top, as it always is, but to get two Sangre summits checked off...
Only during a special season does the North Couloir on Crestone Peak have enough snow to ski. 2008 was one of those years….
A spring descent of Kit Carson’s Outward Bound Couloir, a Sangre classic!
You Win Some, You Lose Some 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 us if the forecast missed,...
Pondering the monster cairn. Route: Northwest Ridge Team: Christy, Ted, Jordan White, Frank Konsella, Brittany Walker There are some things that all players in the 14er game must eventually confront. Sooner or later, anyone serious about finishing them, in any season or style, must pay a visit to Culebra Peak (pun)— the peak that resides entirely on a private ranch. Often left until the end, the long drive, required reservation...
Perfect snow for kicking steps. Route: South Couloir Team: Christy, Ted One of the things I learned from Chris Davenport’s amazing one year push was that you can ski these peaks all season long. For years I always waited for the stable spring cycle to arrive, thinking that descents made any earlier would be either dangerous or lacking enough snow. Considering spring typically arrives early to the Sangre de Cristos,...
Skiing the Hourglass Couloir on the 14er Little Bear Peak in 2007.
Crestone Needle in the morning light. Route: Southeast Face Team: Ted (solo) After Lindsey I headed to the South Colony Lakes 2wd trailhead and set up camp out of the truck. I was asleep by nine. In the dark I pushed up the road on the ATV, taking it until snow finally stopped me. I would ski down Humboldt’s long Southeast gully to near there so it was actually the...
On the summit, looking towards Blanca. Route: North Face Couloir Team: Ted (solo) Having parted with Dirk and Christy after Tabeguache, I made my way down to the southern Sangres. Little Bear needed a visit before the snow melted, I had the ATV in tow and figured I would give it a shot, solo. Down here though, the afternoon showers we just fled on Tab were full on storms. I...
We met in Aspen in 2000 and have been happily stuck in the rockies ever since, getting out in the mountains every day we can, in every season and by all means possible. Read More
