ARTICLES

May 6, 2013

Summiting Mt. Elbert: Colorado’s Highest Peak

Peak View

After a very sketchy spring, the snowpack has finally settled enough to get on top of Colorado’s highest peaks.  So Alex Stevenson, Patrick Sullivan, Haley Tamberi, and Zach Vaughter made their way to Mt. Elbert, which at 14,440 feet is Colorado’s highest peak, and the second highest in the continental United States.  They found conditions that were as good as they get for summiting and skiing peaks. Look for more from this crew as spring conditions continue to get nicer.

Words by Alex Stevenson.  Photos by Alex Stevenson and Patrick Sullivan

almostthere

The crew nears the top with ideal conditions.

A very welcome, very snowy April brought our mountains back to a near average spring snowpack.  Additional storms slowed down the melt/freeze process, but most slopes have now turned to corn.  As most of our town migrated in search of summer, several of us left to seek out great spring skiing.

The first weekend of May, we drove to Mt. Elbert’s south trailhead. The road was melted out within a few hundred feet of the upper parking lot.  We setup camp, built a fire and shared a great meal of dumpster meats.  Air temps in the lower teens helped refreeze the snowpack and rush us into sleeping bags early.

Awake again by 5:00 in the morning, a quick caffeine bump and repacking of bags put us on the trail around sunrise.  Mile one was a mix of dirt and snow patches.  Within a half hour, the route was continuous snow.  A solid refreeze allowed us to continue boot-packing.  We reached Elbert’s southeast ridge by 8:00 and had the option to either continue up wind-scoured shallow snow, or drop into Box Creek and snow climb the couloirs.  Our pace was so efficient on the ridge, we decided to not switch over to skins or crampons.

Peak Party

Celebration on the peak of Colorado’s highest mountain.

We reached Colorado’s highest summit by 10:30, feeling very rewarded atop our 4,700 ft climb.  To our surprise, the winds had completely subsided at the peak.  We were treated to great weather and enjoyed a long lunch.  The morning winds kept the east face plenty cold and we were able to wait an hour for the snow to warm up.  Views of surrounding alpine confirmed that this month will offer many more days of great skiing.

By noon, we began out descent toward Box Creek.  500 vertical feet of mellow alpine, wind-buffed snow led us to the roll over.  A quick assessment of the snow showed a great isothermal base with a few inches of wind-affected powder on top.  Great stability gave us confidence to ski some of the steeper lines.  We split into two pairs with Zach Cledis Vaughter and Patrick Sullivan choosing a skiers’ right couloir and Haley Tamberi staying left with me.

Alex Ski

Alex Stevenson ripping some tele turns after negotiating his sluff.

Patrick, with the better camera, was elected to drop first.  He laid a couple ski cuts in the upper section with only small sluff results.  He then proceeded to shred through 1000 vertical of a tight, steep couloir.  Patrick hollered to assure us, the skiing would be great. I dropped next into my line.  I was able to ski cut and kicked a very small soft slab.  The crown was four inches and propagated the length of the couloir, about twenty feet wide. I watched it entrain minimal additional snow and knew the remaining slope would be stable.  After a few turns, I cooked up a pretty good corn sluff but knew I could manage it.  The snow quality improved in the lower half of the line and everyone was able to slay out some hero turns.  Haley gracefully displayed her racer upbringing.  The snow quality was better than everyone had expected, with two of us claiming that it was the “coolest run of my life”.

We were able to keep our speed out of Box Creek and easily regain the ridge without hiking.  Two miles of warmer snow allowed for pretty fun skiing back to tree-line.  We got greedy for the north aspects’ snow and ended up skiing away from the trailhead.  Fairly exhausted, we threw skis back on our packs and bush-wacked through willows to find the trail.  We made it back to our camp in less than eight hours.  Beers quickly led to naps. We woke up feeling strangely inspired to jump into the half frozen Twin Lakes.  It was an awesome way to wrap up a great day in the mountains.



About the Author

1. Ed Dujardin
After moving out west for college, Ed took summer school so he could spend winters in Crested Butte. These days, he coaches the Western State Colorado University Freeride Team, and spends as much time as he can fishing the incredible rivers of the area.




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