Ranked the 11th highest summit in Colorado, Torreys Peak stands at 14,272 feet along with his nearby brother, Grays Peak (14,279). Being some of the most eastern of the fourteeners, these two peaks are easily noticeable from a distance. Torreys Peak has many ski lines on it. Perhaps the most known is the east-facing Dead Dog Couloir, which is one of the shortest lines. But the Tuning Forks and Emperor Couloir, which drop into Grizzly Gulch, offer 3000 vertical feet of fantastic skiing.

Torreys was the second fourteener that I skied during my fourteener skiing project. I skied it back in 2006 and was lucky to have descended the luscious Emperor Couloir. You can catch a glimpse of this iconic line for just a couple of seconds as you travel down I-70. This line is respectably steep, aesthetic, long, and fun. It has all the makings that a classic ski route should have. Yet, Dead Dog seems to get more love. But I love the Emperor much better.

My partner for the day was Natalie. We parked our Subaru at the intersection of Stevens Gulch Road with Grizzly Gulch Road as we intended to ascend the summer route via Stevens Gulch but return via Grizzly. Additionally, we knew that Stevens Gulch Road was blocked by avalanche debris just a half mile ahead, from the historic avalanche season we had earlier in the winter. We walked on the road to the summer trailhead and snow was not far from the start.

We found snow levels in the valley to be almost identical to what we’d encountered while skiing nearby Mount Edwards at the end of May just last year… Such a difference in seasons. Speaking of Edwards, it was stacked… Much better coverage that when we skied it last May!

Up Stevens Gulch we went….

Grays Peak and the Lost Rat Couloir.

At the start, we met a solo skier who had intended to ski Dead Dog. He was behind us on the approach and we watched him standing at the base of the route, seeming to contemplate whether to actually climb it or not. Some significant rock fall in Dead Dog was a sign and the guy turned around and high tailed it back to the trailhead. If you ski Dead Dog, I recommend reaching the summit via the summer route to avoid rock fall like this. Torreys Peak and the Dead Dog Couloir on just right of the summit.

Mount Edwards again.

The ridge west of Mount Edwards.

Eventually we made our way to the saddle between Grays and Torreys and followed the ridge to the top.

Natalie and I at the summit.

Clouds had kept temperatures relatively cool so when we reached the summit, we knew we weren’t in a rush. After some time up there, we descended The Emperor Couloir. Snow the previous weekend had left a nice fresh surface for us at higher elevations. Natalie.

Me.

The lower half of the line was not as in good of shape as the top. Winds had blasted dust from nearby rocks onto the line. Still, it actually skied pretty well despite the local dusting. Natalie.

Me.

And then the end of the line…

As you can see, the end of The Emperor was indeed a giant slide path from earlier in the season. We took our skis off to cross the rocks on the right side and then skied the rest of the way down on dirty snow and through mangled trees until the crossing of Grizzly Creek. Then it looked like this. Do you see me making my way through the debris? Yeah, it’s a “Where’s Waldo?” sort of thing….

The Emperor slide path blocked the Grizzly Gulch road from any further travel up the valley. A trip to Grizzly Gulch means admiring the fabulous Grizzly Couloir.

We followed the Grizzly Gulch Road back to our car. One last shot of The Emperor on Torreys Peak.

So, if you’re looking for a late season line to ski, The Emperor is one. But Tuning Forks, Grays Peak, and Mount Edwards are also going to hold for a bit. So, get on it and keep skiing!

The post TR: Late Season Lines – The Emperor Couloir on Torreys (26 June 2019) appeared first on 14erskiers.com.

Skinning within minutes of leaving the car, with Cameron behind (also still holding snow):

With such a high trailhead, we made quick work of the climb and were on top of Democrat in just a couple of hours, taking our summit shots:

We chatted with a couple of other skiers that were headed back towards Kite Lake via the Emma Lake chutes, which also looked like they were in good shape. We downclimbed 15′ (no summit descent), and started down the familiar North face. Frank:

The freezes have been very light lately. Thankfully, the snow seems to have transitioned to a full summer snowpack, without a lot of free water within the snow. Still, the top couple of inches easily peeled off and slowly slid down the mountain. If you picture a “people mover” walkway at the airport and double its width, that’s about what the slide looked like. It was so slow and methodical that I actually skied in it, as if I was whitewater kayaking down a stream. It was really fun, truth be told. Larry:

Brittany:

Near the bottom of the line, the route narrows and doglegs. From most vantage points, it doesn’t even look like it goes. But it skis great- no downclimbing or sidestepping required:

With so much snow this year, we were still able to ski quite a ways down the valley, avoiding most of the willow bashing that might occur with less snow cover. North face of Democrat behind us (we skied the middle line, the tight exit is hard to see):

Once we hit the Wheeler Lake road, we switched to approach shoes. I recently got a pair of La Sportiva Tempesta GTX shoes with GoreTex. My feet stayed dry, with a lot of rock hopping effort on my part. These are great shoes- I’ll do a review sometime soon.

Eventually you hit the Magnolia mine, which is the 2wd trailhead:

And that’s about it- over 2K’ of great skiing on the last day of June. Get an early start and enjoy some 4th of July weekend turns. You’ll be glad you did, these is not your average summer skiing conditions. It’s still good out there, much more like May than July.

The post TR: Mount Democrat North Face 6.30.19 appeared first on 14erskiers.com.

“Guyot” is actually a geologic term that refers to “an isolated underwater volcanic mountain (seamount) with a flat top more than 200 m (660 ft) below the surface of the sea.” Though Mount Guyot does have a flat topped ridge line at the summit, it clearly is not below sea level. The peak, and the geologic term itself, are actually named after a 19th-century geographer from Switzerland, Arnold Henry Guyot.

There are a few ways to approach this mountain. But, one of the easiest ways to access Mount Guyot is from French Gulch Trailhead, and Little French Gulch drainage. Luoking at Mount Guyot as we ascended Little French Gulch.

Looking back down Little French.

Nearby Bald Mountain was still looking quite good.

We were able to skin most of the vertical, which means conditions were great for mid-June. But, eventually, we started bootpacking.

The ridge finished with a bit of scree.

Frank making his way across the flat-topped ridge to the summit.

Boys on the ridge, though they blend in.

After a short time on the summit, it was time to drop in. Larry.

The snow was very much summer-conditions, meaning it was dappled with the beginnings of runnels and suncups, but with smooth sections on the sides. Frank.

Me.

Near the end of the line.

A look back at Mount Guyot’s north face.

Though partially hidden, the Swan Dive juts from the summit toward the left side of the photo.

We went up and over an saddle to make our way back to Little French Gulch. There are two obvious saddles on Guyot’s north ridge. The first one, closest to Mount Guyot, was too sloppy and wet, with a hanging cornice. So we opted for the safer saddle, a little further north on the ridge. Skiing back into Little French from the saddle.

We spotted this cozy cabin on the way out.

As we made our way back to the road, thunderstorms swarmed around us. A look back and the northwest face of Mount Guyot.

All in all, the Swan Dive is a fun moderate backcountry ski with relatively easy access from French Gulch all year. However, I’d say the snow conditions on this line are a little further ahead than the surrounding areas – meaning we found summer snow whereas nearby peaks still hold late spring corn. Now, we just need to go back and hit up that south face when it’s prime!

The post Mount Guyot Ski – Swan Dive (14 June 2019) appeared first on 14erskiers.com.

Last year, latter half of late April and early May I was on a self-designated bootcamp mission to climb and ski as much as I could in preparation to hopefully ski Mount Rainier in mid-May. Frank and I headed a little north where snowpack was decent for the year, where in Crested Butte and south, it was far sub-par. We made our home in summit county with hopes of tackling some things in the Gore and other ranges. We started out with a ski of West Partner Peak, then of Shit for Brains and Marjories. We had plans to hit up the Gore for Day 3, and our friend Larry was to join us.

We met at our rendezvous point near Frisco with the intentions of heading over Vail Pass. But I-70 chaos struck. the pass was closed, despite the fact that it was a perfectly weekday, and no bad weather had hit the area in days. Thwarted, we came up with a plan B, head up Fremont Pass and do some touring out of Mayflower Gulch. Drift Peak was on my list. But, as soon as we exited the highway, we found traffic backed up on the pass again. Another accident most likely. Now it was getting late and we had to quickly decide on a Plan C. Citadel. The letters matched, so it seemed fitting, and none of us had actually ever skied it. Even better, eastbound I-70 traffic was smooth sailing.

Standing at 13,294 feet, Citadel is often lovingly called “Snoopy”. Name comes from a particular view of it from the south. This photo of Citadel was taken while skiing nearby Hagar Mountain. To the upper right is the summit of Citadel, and the profile of the rocks looks like Snoopy laying down on his back, with a white collar around his neck.

We approached Citadel from Dry Gulch, gaining the southeast slopes pretty early on.

Once on the eastern ridge, we had some decisions to make about how to summit. We wondered if the south facing “Snoopy’s Collar” (on the left in the photo below) would be too warm to ascend, given our late start. But, after we saw a group of skiers descend it, we decided it was still fair game.

We dropped in on the northeast chute, toward Herman Gulch. Larry.

Frank.

Me.

A look back at our descent route.

We had a second car stashed at the Herman Gulch trailhead. But, I’ve taken that trail once, and it was one too many. It’s tedious, and the bottom portions would involve a mile or more of hiking on dry trail. We knew the exit out Dry Gulch would be much easier. So, we opted to hike up and over Citadel’s eastern ridge and descend into Dry Gulch instead. Larry.

Another fun day in the backcountry, even in a less-than-stellar snow year. And, yet another peak checked off the list!

The post TBT: The Citadel Ski (27 April 2018) appeared first on 14erskiers.com.

When we arrived below SFB, we noticed a couple of things. For one, we had had a solid freeze, so everything was frozen solid- in fact there were even a few clouds and snowflakes in the area. Two, SFB had a fair amount of debris in it- and that definitely needed to soften up if we wanted to ski it. Meanwhile, a few tracks in nearby Marjorie bowl looked really good, in recycled powder conditions, and it looked like there was room for more. Why not ski Marjorie first, we thought, then ski SFB after it had more time to warm up. So off to Marjorie we went…

Sure enough, we found some very nice late April conditions in Marjorie Bowl. Frank:

Black Mountain and SFB in the background (Frank):

(Brittany)

Loveland Pass in the distance:

Brittany:

Frank:

Marjorie’s was good. We knew that another lap or two in Marjorie Bowl would be the best skiing, but we’re suckers for a good aesthetic line. So even though Shit for Brains couloir looked a little worse for wear, we decided to head up it for our second lap of the day. We reached the top and did our best to work the margins in the virgin snow. Brittany:

Frank:

Even though Shit For Brains wasn’t in great condition, it’s one of those lines that is hard to get in perfect conditions anyway. Marjorie, on the other hand, was an unexpected surprise- and well worth a few laps or tacking on in conjunction with SFB like we did. The following day, we got to play the I-70 junkshow, ending up on plan C. More on that later…

The post Marjorie Bowl and Shit For Brains Couloir | 4.26.18 appeared first on 14erskiers.com.

It started back in the summer of 2014 when Mountaineers Books approached us to write a guidebook which featured routes throughout the state of Colorado. The result is a list of 102 routes which span from the San Juans to the Sangre de Cristos and north to the Park Range and everything in between. We even featured a couple of routes in lesser known regions of the Flat Tops and Grand Mesa. This book has the full gamut of backcountry ski explorations, from mid-winter powder runs to challenging and remote ski mountaineering lines, our guidebook should entertain skiers of all levels and abilities. Some of our included routes are “classics” while others are far more off the beaten path. Of course, those lesser known routes can also be the most fun! Some routes even feature “Extra Credit”, where we entice skiers to check out another line or another zone close by, but leave it up to the rider to figure out the details.

Backcountry Ski & Snowboard Routes: Colorado is planned to be on shelves in stores in November. When that happens, we will also be selling it on our website. For now, you can pre-order your book from Mountaineers Books (below) or Amazon.

Pre-order your Guidebook Now!

If you pre-order your guidebook in the next few weeks you’ll get 20% off! All you need to do is find our book on the Mountaineers website, and enter the code COCOPUFFS.

Thanks

We owe a lot to those who have helped us with this guidebook. We worked with about a dozen people at Mountaineers to make this happen. But, thanks goes out to those who came on explorations with us (some of them failed), those who gave us valuable information about regions we did not know, and those who provided us with other guidance as well. This guidebook has two names on it as the authors, but at least 50 people contributed to the making of this book. We could not have done this without each and every one of them. You know who you are, and most of you are even in the book!

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Pikes Peak has always been a bit of a favorite 14er of mine. I’ve hiked it multiple times, taken the cog, driven to the top, and skied off the top. It’s no coincidence that I saved Pikes Peak as my last peak when completing my 14er skiing project. So, when Frank’s sister and her kids were coming to visit from San Francisco, and Pikes Peak was brought up as something we could “do with the family”, I was in.

Of course, I had a different project in mind than the majority of the family was probably up for. While the family was taking the cog to the top, Frank and I hiked to the summit – covering 13 miles and 7400 vertical feet in just over 5 hours. We met up with the family at the top, and instead of bashing our bodies on a descent that is 1.5 vertical miles, we decided to get our family time in by joining them on the cog on the way down.

Frank and I headed to Manitou Springs fairly early. But, we still didn’t actually start hiking until 8:30 – later than we wanted, but still possible for us to meet the family’s 1:45 cog a the summit. Frank.

The hike was hot. Very hot!

Though we didn’t have a lot of extra time to spare, we still stopped to enjoy some of the nice scenes the Barr Trail had to offer.

We began in a valley just outside of Manitou Springs, without a view of our objective. After hiking for miles, we finally spotted the Pikes Peak summit. Still miles to go!

As the trail climbed higher, we admired the change in the scenery and vegetation.

Ahhh, finally above treeline! The views are vast on Pikes.

Me amidst the boulders.

A cool east facing couloir.

We could see the burned remnants of the recent Waldo Canyon fire in which many Colorado Springs residents lost their homes.

And finally, Frank and Brittany at the summit!

The valley behind us to our left is where we began our hike 5 hours earlier.

As we walked toward the summit hut, the cog arrived.

It brought the rest of our family to the top.

We were busy with family shenanigans and didn’t have much time for pictures. But I managed to capture this view to the north.

Back on the cog.

Though the scenery was better on the way up, I was still happy to have a ride down:)

Just another good day on Pikes!

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