The weekend forecast was for clear skies and light winds, so I was off bound once again for the old ghost town of Vicksburg. I left Boulder at 2 am hoping to get ana early start and be up well into the alpine zone before sunrise. I arrived at the trailhead at 5, and was geared up and on the trail by 530. Sunrise came quickly before I had the chance to crest treeline:
It was still cloudy by the time I reached 11,500 ft and I spotted who would later become my ski partners for the day on the same path that I was:
Missouri Mountain in the distance under clearing skies:
This sign is poorly oriented and caused me to summit the wrong mountain at first:
Up I go, a lonely skin track in a vast field of powder:
This is where the climb started to get interesting:
Bootpacking up this face was one of the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. The snow was anywhere from waist to chest deep, and I was forced to use my knees and shins as if they were snowshoes and practically crawl, ice axe in hand up the entire 1500 ft face.
It became necessary to utilize steep rock ribs to get out of the snow, save some energy, and save valuable time before the sun warmed up the slope too much for me to be on.
This is a lot steeper than it looks. Making rock climbing moves in ski boots with a 60 pound pack on is fun:
Damn! On the summit of a high 13er with Missouri Mountain's summit a little over a mile down the ridge:
They beat me to the summit, oh well:
A happy guy on the summit, Huron peak behind my left shoulder:
This is all the people that have made it to the summit of this mountain since October. I am number 13:
Summit scenics, still a lot of snow out there:
OK, now time for the skiing:
Where'd I go? Lost in the white room:
And of course, our tracks down the north face:
All in all, I couldn't be happier about today. While a lot of people have hung up there skis for the year with the closing of some of the resorts this past weekend, those of us willing to work for it are still milking some of the best powder turns of the season. Next up is either Huron Peak or Snowmass Mountain.
