Montezuma Basin Archives | Stuck in the Rockies

Conundrum Peak – East Face

May 21, 2020

The East Face of Conundrum Peak, a great option for skiing this Aspen area 14er.

Castle Peak – South Face

May 25, 2016

A late spring ski descent of the South Face of Castle Peak with Pete Gaston and Max Taam.

Mount Raoul

Apr 17, 2015

A 20 mile ski outing to Mount Raoul, 13,803 ft, near Castle Peak, with a return trip over Conundrum Peak and down the Conundrum Couloir

Breaking trail to the high point in the upper basin. Castle Peak's 14,000 foot summit is up above. Conundrum Peak doesn't make the cut as an official 14er according to the Colorado Mountain Club and the 300' rule. But the Conundrum Couloir that splits its east face is such a classic climb and ski that it deserves a spot on every Colorado ski mountaineers checklist. A friend told me that...

Castle Peak

Nov 15, 2013

We skied Castle Peak’s North Couloir last weekend, an early season favorite of mine. 14er ski descents are usually reserved for the spring months, but there are exceptions. Wet weather in Aspen during the autumn months falls as snow in Castle’s Montezuma Basin, and reasonably good skiing can be had up there as early as late September. The North Couloir is a bit more finicky in the early season (more…)

Off to a good start

Oct 30, 2011

Our season has begun. Not wanting to wait another month for the lifts start running here, Christy, Kathy, Joey, and I headed up to Montezuma Basin yesterday. It's a haul to get up there, but when the snow is good, it's definitely worth the effort. For anyone considering heading up that way, the road isn't too slick or snowy for driving, yet. There's weather in the forecast next week though,...

The First Turns

Oct 28, 2010

There’s something about making your first turns of the season that’s always special.

Conundrum Couloir & a “mini” Ellingwood Ridge

Jul 8, 2008

Skiing the Conundrum Couloir on the 4th!

14er Ski Descents – Castle Peak – October 15, 2006

Oct 15, 2006

Route: North Face Couloir Team: Christy, Ted A few days after skiing both Castle and Conundrum peaks with Adrian, Christy and I headed up. Today was a weekend day though, and it was crowded. Nowadays, with all the near "real-time" trip reports you can find online, everyone and their mothers were up looking for some early season glory. It was a real junk show, complete with stuck cars, snowshoers with...

14er Ski Descents – Castle Peak – October 11, 2006

Oct 11, 2006

Route: North Face Couloir Team: Ted, Adrian Ballinger 2006 saw another snowy fall up in Montezuma Basin. I made several trips up into the basin for some fall skiing and before long, after enough snow fell, the North Couloir on Castle Peak was ready to go. As the guide/owner of Alpenglow Expeditions, Adrian invited Christy and I on an expedition to climb Ama Dablam in October 2008 so I figured...