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...
Max near South Colony Lake before heading up to Broken Hand Pass. Route: Southeast Couloir Team: Ted, Max Taam Being tied to Aspen through most of winter, my last trip to ski a 14er was in December when I went to Kit Carson with Chris Davenport. With the arrival of spring and the forecast looking good, and thanks to online trip reports showing favorable conditions in the Sangres, I thought...
Not bad for December in the Sangres. Route: Southeast Face to Outward Bound Couloir Team: Ted, Chris Davenport We weren’t going to get anything done sitting at home— I agreed with Dav’s thought. It was December and he had a short list of peaks left to ski and when he mentioned the Sangres, well, I needed most of them too, so I was in. Which peaks would have snow? It...
Eventually there was enough room for some fall line turns. Route: West Face Team: Ted, Christy Having just skied down from the summit of Ellingwood Point, most of the climbing for Blanca was already done. From near the 13,000 foot mark, we switched out of ski mode and into climb mode, and although Blanca Peak is the 4th highest peak in the state, from here it’s pretty easy. Christy and...
The sun crests the saddle between Blanca and Ellingwood and warms the chill. Route: South Face Team: Christy, Ted After coming off our big push in the Sawatch the weekend prior, we wanted to check out the Sangres. There was enough snow down there still to ski, but it was going fast. We made the drive to towards Alamosa and then up the horrendous Como Lake Road to a reasonable...
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
