PAGING the Colorado Hard(wo)man Crew

I've got a tasty treat for you.

A mission as it were, should you choose to accept it.

So, as I was driving around the entire central part of our state looking for snow within reach of Vail (where I was playing in a soccer tournament this weekend), attempting to extend my streak of having skied something at least once per month for the last three years or so, I spotted something rather unlikely, and very juicy. I don't think it's been skied by any of us yet, at least not recently, and it was the only thing I saw in the entire central high country that would be worth the effort, save for possibly the NE bowl of N. Massive.

I'm gone for the next week and a half, or I'd jump on this right away. I think it'll take an overnight, but I gotta look it up first, pull out the maps, etc, figure out what and where it really is. Anyway, if you can't hit it before I get back, then I'd invite you to join me when I head up around the 21st/22nd, praying that it's still in.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. First, my pathetic albeit interesting ski of yesterday!

The Highway to Heaven
http://www.tetongravity.com/usergall...20Ramp%201.JPG

Neat terrain feature, eh? The remains of the corniced lee side of a bowl have turned here into a gently curving snow ramp, much longer than it looks on film. It actually made a pretty fun ski!

The Act of a Desperate Man
http://www.tetongravity.com/usergall...0Turns%201.JPG

(Hey, it's skiing at the end of July. I'll take it.)
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Better yet, however, will be Mission Difficult, which I referred to above. Here she is, the line that someone needs to take down next, if I'm correct in thinking that it hasn't been done yet this summer! I can't believe how good it looks with everything else in the area so bone dry.

In The Distance
http://www.tetongravity.com/usergall...nknown%202.JPG

I'll post more on its location, as soon as I figure out what peak it's sitting on. Off to the map room for me!

that is really cool looking.

[eric cartman] SWEEEEET [/eric cartman]

Geez, I'n almost hesitant to post this, wishing that I could somehow save it for myself...

But the truth is, I probably can't pull off a trip up this until after I get back, so it'd just be plain selfish to not post what I know about that line. Although, if I got up REEALLY early tomorrow, skipped work, stole my pop's Jeep...hmm...prolly not...

Well anyway, here's the skinny.

That peak is Grizzly Peak, and the couloir is usually called the Grizzy Couloir (not suprisingly). Grizzly is the highest 13er in the state, at 13,988ft. It was orginally ranked as the lowest 14er, but was later downgraded when measurement accuracy increased. It sits due south of Independence Pass, and due west of La Plata.

Grizzly is described in Roach's 13ers book, and the standard climbing/hiking route starts E of Indy Pass up S. Lake Creek Road to McNasser Gulch. The unmaintained road is apparently passable until the turn off for McNasser at 10,470, after which point it becomes a 4WD Jeep trail, which leads another 1.75 miles to the Wilderness boundary at 11,400 or thereabouts. The East Ridge route follows McNasser Gulch creek to the base of the mountain at the head of the cirque (avoiding the tempting long upward traverse on the N side of the valley), and then turns N to climb to an obvious saddle on the East Ridge at 13,300. From there, you follow the ridge W until it gains the summit ridge. The true summit lies just to the south. Scramlbing is required, and all reports I read maintained that it was more difficult than expected, but still a day trip.

HOWEVER, my thought is that the couloir sits on the N face of Grizzly, and taking the standard E Ridge Route means that you will a) be dropping the couloir without having climbed it and will therefore have a poor sense of conditions, and b) will end up in a totally different drainage, from which you must hike out to one of two other different drainages, neither of which will have your car at the bottom, unless you've set up a shuttle.

The better way to do the climb from a climbing/skiing perspective, apparently, is to head W of Independence Pass to the Lincoln Creek drainage, and follow a "bumpy, high clearance (4WD preferred)" road to Grizzly Reservoir, where a trail embarks for Grizzly Lake, which sits at the base of the couloir. Provided that you can drive in this far, it becomes a relatively straightforward 3.5 mile hike in to the lake. Skirting the lake, you head for the base of the couloir, and climb directly up it.

The couloir is around ~1200 vertical feet. The upper slopes are in the 45-50 degree range, the lowe slopes are in the 30-35 degree range.

Here's a shot lifted from the most recent report of a climb/ski (from rockclimbing.com) that I could find. This was taken a couple weeks ago, in the drainage leading to Grizzly Lake. The couloir is in the background, partially obscured by the skis.

http://photos.rockclimbing.com/photos//363/36360.jpg

Here's the link to his report.

So, not as out there as I had thought, but still a nice scooby snack.

Go git sum!

Didn't iskibc and duph get that a few weeks ago?

Your rollercoaster run looks fun, yo.

Quote:

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Originally posted by jibij
Didn't iskibc and duph get that a few weeks ago?

Your rollercoaster run looks fun, yo.

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Not that one, that was a different grizzly peak. However, that line looks very nice Cletus. I have 3 days until I go back to work, so it looks like no more skiing for me on the weekdays. :( I would be interested in heading over there with you in a few weeks though. A buddy of mine skied that line about a month ago and it looks the same now as it did 30-some-odd days ago.

cool, sounds good...

If anyone else in CO goes in the meantime, let us know how it is! Looks like there might be a good-sized runnel down the gut of it.

bizump

Grizzly chute.... its a fun one.

Either take hwy 82 towards Aspen, then take Lincoln Creek Rd. Park by Grizzly Resovoir and start the boot through the evergreens to Grizzly Lake. The chute drops directly into the Lake. An alternative route takes a improbable ridge series from the top of Indenpendence Pass, though this should be done only with snow on it, which its not.

Good luck! PS raise your ski pole in the air while standing on the rock on the summit in your in 14er land... ;)

iskibc...others...

I'm still thinking of heading back to this, now that I'm back from my latest out-of-town experience.

I'll be leaving on Fri to drive up and camp up there, skiing Sat, or possible getting muy early on Sat and doing it in one shot.

Prefer the former, but not interested in fighting crowds on I-70, so I might bail early on Friday.

Anyway, I plan to steal my pop's Grand Cherokee and am more than happy to take up to two others if you can move on my schedule. I've got a soccer match on Sunday though, so it's Sat or not for me.

I'll post again later in the week, just wanted to put it back on your radar.

yo

hey cletus, what would the hike be like??

i may be in

I'm out. I've got the schedule from hell coming up these next 2 weeks. No play time for me. Have fun and take some pics.

I know Funken is jonesing to get in some turns. He should be back in CO in a couple of days.

phatstix skied it earlier this summer, but he's never around. As knockneed said, that line is a classic Aspen summer ski.