Comments on: 14er TBT: Pikes Peak Ski (14 May 2011)

By: Brittany Walker Konsella

Brittany Walker Konsella — Fri, 20 May 2016 23:19:10 +0000

In reply to Colin M. Thanks Colin!

By: Colin M

Colin M — Fri, 20 May 2016 15:23:51 +0000

Just a great journey! Thanks for sharing them all.

By: Brittany Walker Konsella

Brittany Walker Konsella — Fri, 13 May 2016 11:48:12 +0000

In reply to Rob. Hi Rob. Thanks for following the series! I think I covered a lot of the bases regarding this topic in my response to Carl :)

By: Brittany Walker Konsella

Brittany Walker Konsella — Fri, 13 May 2016 11:45:52 +0000

In reply to Carl.

Hi Carl. The 1000 foot rule was something Frank and I along with several others tried to abide by. We thought that Dav’s ski of Oxford was poorly done – even though he set such high standards for so many other peaks, he dropped the ball on this one. We thought a higher standard should be set for this one. So, we skied it, dropping well below the saddle and finishing in the basin between the two peaks when the line ran out.

I mean just ask yourself – is a peak really skied if you only ski to the saddle or just a little below? Would you count Grays if you only skied to the saddle between it and Torreys? It’s our belief that a peak is truly skied when you make turns down a line or a face until that line basically comes to a reasonable end. Often, this ended up being around 1000 feet or more.

One of the reasons we decided on this guideline was because many of my first 14er descents were late in the season. We started questioning what it meant to ski a peak. If a peak had snow from the summit all the way to down to at least 300 vertical feet (the same vert as needed to claim a peak as ranked) was that enough? To us, that seemed lame. So we decided on roughly 1000 feet since many lines in Colorado peter out around that much vert. Descending a peak 300 feet to a saddle should be what climbers do, not skiers. It is my hope that future finishers will ski peaks for the sake of skiing them, and not take shortcut after shortcut to get a peak done.

I am not trying to pinpoint individual finishers and say what they did is wrong. I just want people to make sure to take the time and energy to maintain high standards and ethics, especially when they are accomplishing a project like skiing the fourteeners. Doing these lines in good form is part of the project.

By: Brittany Walker Konsella

Brittany Walker Konsella — Fri, 13 May 2016 11:31:39 +0000

In reply to Natalie Moran. Thanks for following along on my adventure!

By: Brittany Walker Konsella

Brittany Walker Konsella — Fri, 13 May 2016 11:30:51 +0000

In reply to Rudi. Glad you enjoyed it Rudi! Thanks for reading!

By: Rob

Rob — Fri, 13 May 2016 03:37:20 +0000

As an aspiring finisher who’s been at it a long time, I’ve tried to apply the standard in vogue as to each mountain at the time I skied it. Unlike Carl and Dav, (with Fritz) I skied Oxford down to the valley for the extra 250 ft. Like (and with) Carl, I applied the standard set by Joe to haul my setup to the top of Wetterhorn and ski for a bit from the summit. I’d say the 250 ft. extra on Oxford and the summit turns on Wetterhorn were equally silly in terms of “skiing” those peaks. But the view from Wetterhorn while I removed my skis was better than while getting ready to reclimb Belford.

Loved the TBTs. Enjoy the skiing this spring while it lasts.