TR:Argentine Peak 13,738 feet NE Face 05.12.2007 (lots of pics)

RT distance: 9.5miles
Elevation gain: 3500 feet
Length of couloirs: 900 feet to upper part of apron, 1100 feet from summit to bottom of apron
Skiers: Jon Turner, 3DB

A couple weeks ago I was searching through my peak lists and topos looking for some nice lines near the front range that I hadn't seen skied lately and I came across this photo on Summitpost:

http://www.summitpost.org/images/original/132219.jpg

Taken in October, I figured these lines might fill in pretty nice, so on our outing to Squaretop last Friday, I got a nice view of the NE face of Argentine and it was looking prime to be skied with multiple lines of varying dificulties, but definitely skiable. So, we made plans to hit up the NE face soon.

Well, soon turned out to be yesterday, and a beautiful day it was. We camped out below Guanella Pass on the road Friday night, leaving one car at the base of the Leavenworth Road, in case we took the 6 mile road down from the Waldorf Mine. We awoke at 4:45, geared up, ate a bit of grub, and were on our way shortly after 5am. Light was coming in fast, and we didn't need our headlamps anymore soon after we began our skin up the road towards Naylor Lake. The clear night had frozen the snow pack well, but we knew it would be soft and wet early.

Skinning up

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...20skinning.jpg

Our goal off in the distance

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...tine%20far.jpg

On the way up we saw what I believe was either a rather large coyote or a wolf on the slopes of Wilcox. I'm pretty sure it was not a cat, but it was big for a coyote, but I didn't get a good close view. We did see some tracks which might have been this animal, but the paw prints were about 3" long which seems big for a coyote. I couldn't tell if they were cat or dog family for certain, because the pads weren't 100% discernible (If they were cat it could easily have been mountain lion prints). We did find signs of a scuffle and lots of ripped up hair on the ground at one point - we were guessing an animal (maybe the one we saw) got some critter for food - who knows. I wish the tracks would have been more clear.

A photo of the animal. This was zoomed in from across the valley, maybe a half mile.

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...5%20animal.jpg

The tracks:

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...03%20print.jpg

The scuffle. There were many prints of what looked like two different animals converging on this spot:

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...%20scuffle.jpg

The remains of something (marmot perhaps?):

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...%20remains.jpg

Climbing up the drainage went quickly and soon we were at the saddle between Wilcox and Argentine with our first close up views of the face and the basin below. We debated which lines to hit and whether we should climb back to the saddle or ski out the basin. The route out of the basin looked flat and possibly a pain in the ass, but we kept our options open. As for the lines, it looked like there might be cornices protecting the lines lookers right of the summit, but one line nearly direct off the summit looked good as well as one more lookers left of the summit. We continued skinning up the ridge and claimed the summit at roughly 9:30, skinning from the car to summit in just over 4 hours.

The lines on the NE face. We skied the one just to looker's right of what appears to be the highest point:

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...06%20lines.jpg

A view down the couloir skier's right of the one we skied:

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...ir%20right.jpg

Approaching the summit, Squaretop in the background:

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...8%20summit.jpg

Some scenics from the summit:

Squaretop

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...0squaretop.jpg

Grays and Torreys

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...ys.torreys.jpg

Breck and the south end of the ten mile

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...ck.tenmile.jpg

East face of Ruby

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05....face.ruby.jpg

Guyot and Bald

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...guyot.bald.jpg

A quick break and discussion of lines and escape from the basin, and we opted out of the 50+ degree lines to skier's left with small but imposing cornices likely requiring some air followed by committing turns above rocks and chose to hit the line that was just skiers right of the summit with a 40+ degree entrance and no cornice.

The chute was wide for the first few hundred feet, but choked down to some narrower shots to exit into the apron. The snow was perfect - nice corn top layer with some sloughing, but quite manageable. The steepness abated pretty quickly to mid-30's. The narrow rock chutes were a lot of fun, with 3DB and I taking different routes through here.

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...opping%201.jpg

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...opping%202.jpg

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...rst%20turn.jpg

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...hute%20top.jpg

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...in%20chute.jpg

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...19%20keith.jpg

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...in%20chute.jpg

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...0chute%201.jpg

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...0chute%202.jpg

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...0chute%203.jpg

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...0chute%204.jpg

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...of%20chute.jpg

This is a view up the shoot looker's left of our line, we came in from the right"

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...0back%20up.jpg

I stopped near the middle of the apron and waited for 3DB to arrive. I'd noticed that we were just below the elevation of the saddle and suggested we traverse over and ski back into the basin we'd come up. 3DB agreed this would be the best option and we began our traverse. I was tempted to ski the rest of the apron with some of the best spring corn I've been on, but I knew we'd hit some more on the way back to the car. At this point it was getting downright hot so we shed layers and made good time back to the car, just over 6 hours roundtrip. An awesome line on a beautiful day.

The traverse back to the saddle:

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...rse%20back.jpg

Some shots from the ski back:

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...20back%201.jpg

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...20back%202.jpg

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...ing%20back.jpg

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...31%20turns.jpg

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...h%20skiing.jpg

A parting shot of Evans/Bierstadt with the Sawtooth between. I looked at Bierstadt wondering how MSBC and goldenboy had found a good line down earlier in the week - looks pretty thin:

http://jt.gomarmots.com/pics/2007.05...20sawtooth.jpg

Nice, dude! Looks like you hit that perfectly.

nice looking day. me and homi tried to do this trip earlier this year but it was too windy. way to get it

Most excellent TR!

That is a great peak to ski. I was up there in November and skied some chutes below the summit in the vicinity of Argentine Pass. Getting the peak from the summit looked burly to me. Nicely done.

And the animal... wow! It makes an interesting puzzle to ponder because it seems too big to be a coyote. Yet I would be surprised if it were a wolf. It would not suprise me if it were a mountain lion but the tracks don't quite line up straight as a mountain lions usually do. Looking at the distant picture suggests elements that could be either feline or canine. The hindquarters definitlely look cat-like but there is no tail visible. The forelegs and chest look more like a canine to me. But if I use my imagination as I look at where the head is, I seem to see cheeky tufts and a square face with upright ears looking right at you. Too big to be a bobcat? Could it be a lynx?

Looks like a good day out! Nice!!!!!

Nice day out there.

Wolf?
I thought there are no wolfs in Colorado, besides one or two exceptional guys from Wyoming who "got lost".

See: http://wildlife.state.co.us/Wildlife...s/GrayWolf.htm

You are correct that there are generally no wolves in Colorado, that's why it would be kind of a big deal if this was a wolf and also why I don't want to suggest I saw one definitively. But, I have been up close to wolves and seen both wolves and coyotes, and this was pretty convincing that it could be a wolf.

In 2004, a wolf from Yellowstone was found dead in the road near Idaho Springs, as well as I've read numerous reports of people who claim to see wolves up in the North Park area, the most convincing is a video on the website you link.

I appreciate all the input about the photos and I've had people who think it's a wolf as well as people who highly doubt it. Wolf or not, it was a pretty big mammal, which you don't often get to see in the wild, so I consider myself lucky to have the opportunity. As far as the other poster suggesting it's a cat, it's possible, but we watched it run a good ways accross the slope and initially had a closer view, and I don't think it was feline.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by IridePow

Nice day out there.

Wolf?
I thought there are no wolfs in Colorado, besides one or two exceptional guys from Wyoming who "got lost".

See: http://wildlife.state.co.us/Wildlife...s/GrayWolf.htm

---

Way to take care of it.

Having wasted an hour staring at Google Images results for wolves and coyotes, the lines feel even more blurred. Some coyotes do appear fairly bulky, although I wouldn't expect to see one in that shape after a long winter. And the coat looked awfully dark for a coyote, but that could be a trick of the light. The one definitive mark would be the shape of its face, but our friend just had to be looking straight at the camera, so we'll never know.

Regardless, it's enough circumstantial evidence to get us onto the news. We could be the second CO mags on the news in the last month! And if we were, we'd promise to drop as many gratuitous plugs for TGR as we possibly could. :D :D :D

looks like a nice day on CO!

hey maybe the unidentified creature was a "large bobcat" - no seriously i dont know it is - hard to tell from your pic - probably a coyote if no wolf exist in co right?

i say dont always believe what is thought about what animals exist where.

i saw something i swore was a wolf in the sierra only to be told wolf dont exist there and it was probably just a "large bobcat" - ya ok.

Looking closely at your photo, it becomes most likely it was a werewolf.

Good times Jon!!

Lets get out and tour soon.


Thats a coyote - I think.

I'm about 99.99% sure that that is a coyote. I've seen some really big ones, bigger than you would think a coyote would be.

As for Bierstadt, the good snow and good lines would definitely drop off the other side (S). But there was indeed enough snow to ski it without walking on rocks for more than a few feet, despite appearances.