TR: Torreys Peak/Dead dog cooler

My first 14'er, well worth the slog...


Met up with Shera early and started hiking with the sun...
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic40750.jpg

trying to ski this face...
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic40751.jpg

finally at the top, great views in every direction...
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic40748.jpg

why not point?
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic40749.jpg

we decided to ski off the summit, and then drop into dead dog about halfway down, Shera ripping..
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic40746.jpg

Z, gapeing...
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic40745.jpg

Shera then decides to ski the rest switch....or something...
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic40747.jpg

Couldn't ask for a nicer day...

DROP IT SWITCH!


OWWWWWWWOOOOOO!!!

Oh hell yes! Now that's a sick photohttp://pages.videotron.com/bluefire/Images/ninja.gif

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http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic40749.jpg

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^^Helmet-cam footy of ripping that line: Sickter.

looks like you guys had a blast! Only hiked that sucker once, pretty view up there.

You prolly learned what a hiking machine SheRa is today, she gets after it.

Looks like you two had fun! :yourock:

What time did you start and summit? Is that due north facing or ne? Thanks

That is a direct east facing slope. On a hot and cloudless day like today you would want to be skiing that face by 9 AM the latest. Judging from the photos there's quite a bit of evidence of recent wet slide activity and lot's of rollerballs coming away from the rocks. What time did you all summit and start heading down? Looks like some considerable differences between the snow at the top and snow below the dogleg. Any concerns about the stability of the pack?

Congrats on getting your first 14er Z! Way to get it done.

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Originally Posted by iskibc

That is a direct east facing slope. On a hot and cloudless day like today you would want to be skiing that face by 9 AM the latest.

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14,200 was the coolest spot I could figure out to ski yesterday. :cool:

We left all our options open on what we were going to ski until we actually summited. We were shooting for Dead Dog if the conditions were ok but there was also the possibility of skiing north facing stuff is it was too wet. By the time we actually got up there (late afternoon) it was already cooling off and setting back up. There was about boot top sluff coming down with us, the kind of stuff you and I have skied many times in the past. Underneath that was set up nicely.

The day before I skied Chihuahua (east) and Marjory (north) in the afternoon, so I was pretty familiar with the snow conditions above treeline. And I already knew that the snow was total garbage below treeline, because I've been checking that out too the last couple of days.

Dead Dog is such a big coulie that it has three aspects inside it - east in the gut and north and south on the sides. Interesting how the snow was different on each one. Another interesting difference about the east face is that you come out onto the flats pretty high up, unlike the tuning forks or north chutes side. Have to look at a topo map to see, but I'd guess we skied maybe down to 12xxx of steeps and then we were cruising out, all the way to the car. Well, a little bit of dirt skiing.

Tres fun! And excellent job there, Z. Way to git er done! :D

With another warm day ahead today, I'm going to try to get a couple of thousand vert above treeline before noon...

Nice work and point.

Nice! I'd like to give Dead Dog a go sometime.

Nice Lines!!! I am planning on boarding that couloir at the beginning of June. Did you two ascend the Dead Dog as well?

What kind of ski poles are those, gots to get some of those classic looking poles.

PMGear, jong

Way to go guys.Afternoon is kind of a suprise.How long was the hike?

I love the Chi-Marjorie combo.

:yourock: :yourock: :yourock:

Very nice!

:FIREdevil

NICE WORK
Did you guys drop along my green line?

And I simply couldn't stop myself from drawing the red line. So many possibilities up there. I do wish it was N. facing though... Oh well.

Did you drive to the trailhead or did you get blocked lower?

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Originally Posted by iskibc

That is a direct east facing slope. On a hot and cloudless day like today you would want to be skiing that face by 9 AM the latest. Judging from the photos there's quite a bit of evidence of recent wet slide activity and lot's of rollerballs coming away from the rocks. What time did you all summit and start heading down? Looks like some considerable differences between the snow at the top and snow below the dogleg. Any concerns about the stability of the pack?

Congrats on getting your first 14er Z! Way to get it done.

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We were a little concerned about skiing down the gut, did not want to get swept over those rocks, but we skied it very carefully and all went well...The snow in the chute was bomber in my opinion...It seems like that chute gets blocked from the sun by the rocks on skiers right...Northeast I would say, and it was set up when we went in...


lemon-red line is possible for sure, but we were there a little too late to be screwing around in those cliffs....Green line was ours, except we dropped into the chute a little bit higher i think... We were able to drive about 500 feet to the trailhead, not too bad...

That exact same run was my first fourteener on the 4th of July, 1998. That has been one of the best since.

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Originally Posted by Z

We were a little concerned about skiing down the gut, did not want to get swept over those rocks, but we skied it very carefully and all went well...The snow in the chute was bomber in my opinion...It seems like that chute gets blocked from the sun by the rocks on skiers right...Northeast I would say, and it was set up when we went in...


lemon-red line is possible for sure, but we were there a little too late to be screwing around in those cliffs....Green line was ours, except we dropped into the chute a little bit higher i think... We were able to drive about 500 feet to the trailhead, not too bad...

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so what time did you start your descent?

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Originally Posted by skideeppow

so what time did you start your descent?

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Around 4:00 pm - would you agree, Z?

somewhere around there, the sun was behind us....starting to set back up in the shade

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Originally Posted by SheRa

Around 4:00 pm - would you agree, Z?

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Are you guys fuckin with me? 4 pm on a east facing slope?

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Originally Posted by SheRa

Around 4:00 pm - would you agree, Z?

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WTF?!! I hope you are kidding. Lou Dawson must be full of shit then :rolleyes: ...."For mid-continental trips on easterly exposures, try to reach your high point just after sunrise."

"The picture changes with mid-continental snow. Thinner, layered snowpacks of Colorado and elsewhere can be 100% avalanche safe in the morning after a cool spring night, then turn into a death trap as the snow heats later in the day. "

" In terms of avalanche danger and quality of skiing, sun heat usually influences the spring snowpack more than any other factor. "

yeah, i realize it might not sound great but you had to be up there.....The aspect we skied for the most part was in the shade at the time, and no higher than bootop at the most...Thinking back after seeing this basin slide it doesn't sound/look so good, but you had to be up there. That morning, temps were low enough to freeze for sure, at 6AM beginning of the hike, it was no warmer that 40 degrees, about 4,000 feet lower than Torreys...

Personally, I truly did not think we were going to be able to ski this by the time we got up there, this was definitly not the only option. If you were actually up there, seeing it, checking out the snow yourself, I believe most would have been confident skiing it....The snow in the chute was bomber, without a doubt....Yesterday, it seems there was not a sufficient drop in temp, skiing today may have been a different story.

Only sloughs to deal with, no scares whatsoever...Im pretty confident in our decision to ski....but im no expert by any means

Hey girl we talked about doing that shoot or another aspect just Saterday. What day did you bust the move?
You can see the lost rat coulier, the small cornice in the pics. That was what I climbed up in the middle of the night solo. The last 50' to 75' is vertical, I have some pictures I took hanging out on that cornice you'll have to see them.
Did you guys climb the shoot or take the arete?