Route: Northeast Face Team: Ted, Christy, Jill Midthun From the summit of Quandary Peak yesterday, Grays and Torreys looked pretty good. I sought some acclimatization before my South America trip, and Christy and friend Jill Midthun were looking to get out and do something. I pitched the idea and they decided it sounded good. We drove to the Peru Creek Road snow closure, skinned in, and set up camp in...
Route: South Face to Chihuahua Gulch Team: Ted, Christy After skiing the northeast side of Grays Peak, Christy and I made our way back up to the Grays/Torreys saddle, and then to the summit of Torreys. It was pretty nice up there, Christy was especially pleased to be there as this was our first double-summit ski day. Christy tele’s down the broad southern face of Torreys Peak. After some creative...
The line down the south facing Cristo Couloir. I didn’t come home with any other photos from the day. Route: Cristo Couloir Team: Ted, Jared Ettlinger Late April— snow is everywhere but the lifts are closed. It doesn’t always make sense to me, for example, why Aspen Highlands’ maximum base depth is often reached on or near the mountains closing day. There’s still so much skiing to be had when...
Route: East Couloir Team: Ted, Chris Carmichael After a full down day in camp due to weather, the next morning was just perfect. Since our day on Sunlight and Windom, about six inches of snow had fallen. Chris and I headed up towards South Eolus, Dave would sit this one out. It was easy skinning to the base of the East Couloir, the type of snow skins just love. We...
Route: Widowmaker (NW) Couloir Team: ted, Chris Carmichael, Dave Rhodes If you just came off Sunlight, then Windom naturally follows. Less than 1000 vertical feet and about a half mile away, to get one and not try for the other after getting this far away from home is crazy. For skiers it’s even more sensible, Sunlight’s ski line faces south and Windom’s northwest so it’s a perfect one-two from high...
Route: South Face (Red Couloir) Team: Ted, Chris Carmichael, Dave Rhodes After a great day on Sneffels, it was time to ratchet up the preparation for next months climb/ski attempt on Denali. We decided to head in to Chicago Basin for five days. We drove to Durango on Cinco De Mayo and proceeded to start off the trip with a full on pub crawl. The next morning we crawled onto...
Route: South Face to Lavendar Col Team: Ted, Jann Stoeckl In June, Jann Stoeckl and I were headed to Denali with Aspen friends Sean Shean and Brad Smith. The four of us had the month of May to prep for what would be my biggest trip to date. This seemed to fit as preparation. We drove to Ouray and then up the Camp Bird Mine Road until snow stopped us,...
Route: East Ridge Team: Ted, Christy Christy and I had just started hanging out and I figured why ease into it? Let’s cut to the chase. Let’s do something fun and see if she’s into it. Closing day on Aspen Mountain brought a big spring storm. We had already made plans to try to ski Quandary Peak the following day, and some new snow made it sound more interesting. We made...
Route: West Ridge Team: Ted (solo) Some of the hardest days were the ones I expected to be the easiest. I thought Evans from Guanella Pass would be a gimme. It had snowed a few inches the night before, which made the approach/ski line, when viewed from the car, to look good and snowy. I skinned from the truck up the gradual slope west of Evans and Mt. Spaldings summit....
Route: West Side via American Basin Team: Ted (solo) Handies was more fun that Redcloud and Sunshine the day before. This would be the last 14er I skied this spring, bringing his grand total to eight peaks. American Basin is pretty high, even with a lowered snow closure. The route up is mostly easy skinning, with a few steep switchbacks. Adding five inches or so of new snow from yesterdays...
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
