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?

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Originally Posted by H20MAN

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?

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We skied it this Thursday, May 19. We booted up the saddle between the two peaks - that was the toughest part of the climb. Kicked into a glissade track.

Ooooh, the lost rat is on Torrey's? I wish somebody would make me one of those red arrows for that one. Between the Grays/Torreys saddle and the peak of Torrey's there was an entire corniced face with a lot of cool looking lines in it. I was too chicken to think about skiing in there though, at least this time. Not only cornices, but a lot of rocky heat sinks too. And not a lot of vert in exchange for the big hike (4.5 miles). I wouldn't feel like I got my money's worth unless I hiked that part twice, I guess... ;)

Anyway, sorry we didn't hit it together. But there's a long summer ahead. So many lines. You're gonna teach me ropes too, right? And I am so psyched to go camping this year.

I'll see you guys tonight on Loveland Pass. Don't forget your gear this time. :D ;)

Again, I'm no expert either, but I still like the idea of bringing a digital thermometer. In this case, checking the snow temps (every 10 cm or so) all the way up and before you go down might give you an idea if the snow is actually cooling (4:00 pm) or if the air temps are just starting to cool. It seems like it could really give you a better idea of what's happening throughout the day.
Excerpt from the Avalanche Handbook :
"There are scattered but persistent reports of thin wet slab avalanches releasing after slopes become covered by shadows as the sun sets in the evening. One explanation is that surface cooling causes the release of a slab that is already in tension due to water lubrication of an interface below the surface. Snow with low water content (as would be expected near the surface) is known to contract as it feezes. This effect can increase the tensile stresses rapidly to cause crown fracture and avalanche release.
The "taffy" analogy comes into play nicely here...
Looks like a great line! Nicely done.
Over-

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Originally Posted by Z

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

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I also will not be judgemental, but you broke a major tenant of skiing in the backcountry, particulally in the spring. Never ever be on a slope that late. Check out the A Basin thread and look at the times. This slope ripped lose at 1030 in the morning, a slope that had huge compaction. IN aspen this spring, we had a man from the springs die in a slide in March off the back of highlands. He was in a level 2 avi class and was skiing a east, ne facing slope at 2 in the afternoon. Lots of people thought this was a major error in judegment.
I skied a east facing slope on wed, was off the hill by 830. I came back around laster that day (4pm )and the slope had ripped lose right were we skied. Upon further inspection it was a hard slab release that was a result of running water under the snow.
Not to be overly harsch, if you want to take huge chances like that, be my guest, but you are putting other people at risk, like rescue workers who would need to search for you guys.
I kept on asking you about the time of day you skied because I am trying to figure out the latest you can descend off of a est facing 14er.
Take this as a learing experience, but I would say you dodged a major bullet.

Not to beat a dead horse,- I think we all understand it's pretty warm out there....
email from Bob Perlmutter on Friday -
... Lou and I skied Torreys today having slept
there
last night. Very warm night and too scary to ski anything with any East
to
the aspect. Skied off to the North at 9am. with the snow still frozen.
We
were afraid to let the sun warm the thin eggshell crust. That said, due
to
the extreme heat and my exhaustion from non-stop skiing, I am going to
take
a week off of skis until the Pass opens...
Over-

Great descent! That one has been on my list for awhile. Way more people talk about it than actually bother to go and ski it.

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Originally Posted by Phatstix

Not to beat a dead horse,- I think we all understand it's pretty warm out there....
email from Bob Perlmutter on Friday -
... Lou and I skied Torreys today having slept
there
last night. Very warm night and too scary to ski anything with any East
to
the aspect. Skied off to the North at 9am. with the snow still frozen.
We
were afraid to let the sun warm the thin eggshell crust. That said, due
to
the extreme heat and my exhaustion from non-stop skiing, I am going to
take
a week off of skis until the Pass opens...
Over-

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Lou and Bob who? Like those guys know what they are talking about. :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by JoeStrummer

Great descent! That one has been on my list for awhile. Way more people talk about it than actually bother to go and ski it.

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I've done both!!!

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Originally Posted by Ireallyliketoski

Lou and Bob who? Like those guys know what they are talking about. :rolleyes:

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Lou Dawsen and Bob Pearlmutter, the former has pioneered all 14ners in colo, and the latter was with him on about 5O% of those descents.

Went out today and found just about every type of scenario you could imagine. The pack is super weak in a lot of places and fairly strong in others. You have to know your areas to be safe at this point in time. We came across the treeline-below treeline mush that more than likely caused the a-basin slide yesterday. It's nasty. We had 4-5' collapses on 10 degree slopes causing a quick panic on our way out this afternoon. Anything at or below treeline that is one something steep will slide, period. Don't mess with it. Above treeline is a different story. West and NW facing slopes are actually in decent condition. A fairly nice freeze occured last night which stabilized a lot of the west-northwest-north facing terrain. However, things are still touchy. Today was all about getting on the slope early and descending early. All other aspects were like a warzone. I've never seen so many avys in one given area. Tenmile range, gore range, elk range, front range, mosquito range, sawatch ranges were all hit hard with debris on east>south faces. Ugly. There are still some pockets of strong bonding out there. I would suggest being extra careful in the next several days and always think wet slide.

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Originally Posted by iskibc

Went out today and found just about every type of scenario you could imagine. The pack is super weak in a lot of places and fairly strong in others. You have to know your areas to be safe at this point in time. We came across the treeline-below treeline mush that more than likely caused the a-basin slide yesterday. It's nasty. We had 4-5' collapses on 10 degree slopes causing a quick panic on our way out this afternoon. Anything at or below treeline that is one something steep will slide, period. Don't mess with it. Above treeline is a different story. West and NW facing slopes are actually in decent condition. A fairly nice freeze occured last night which stabilized a lot of the west-northwest-north facing terrain. However, things are still touchy. Today was all about getting on the slope early and descending early. All other aspects were like a warzone. I've never seen so many avys in one given area. Tenmile range, gore range, elk range, front range, mosquito range, sawatch ranges were all hit hard with debris on east>south faces. Ugly. There are still some pockets of strong bonding out there. I would suggest being extra careful in the next several days and always think wet slide.

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Thanks for the update, makes me glad I stayed home. Update on the highline canal traile. It was nice, consistent conditions of dirt path mixed with some asphalt. Too warm though, hopefully things will settle by memorial day, looks like a cooling period towards the end of the week. Let's hope so, I only get to get out once a year now with the baby.

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Originally Posted by skideeppow

Lou Dawsen and Bob Pearlmutter, the former has pioneered all 14ners in colo, and the latter was with him on about 5O% of those descents.

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Big deal, have they skied Corbet's?

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Originally Posted by Phatstix

Again, I'm no expert either, but I still like the idea of bringing a digital thermometer. In this case, checking the snow temps (every 10 cm or so) all the way up and before you go down might give you an idea if the snow is actually cooling (4:00 pm) or if the air temps are just starting to cool. It seems like it could really give you a better idea of what's happening throughout the day.
Excerpt from the Avalanche Handbook :
"There are scattered but persistent reports of thin wet slab avalanches releasing after slopes become covered by shadows as the sun sets in the evening. One explanation is that surface cooling causes the release of a slab that is already in tension due to water lubrication of an interface below the surface. Snow with low water content (as would be expected near the surface) is known to contract as it feezes. This effect can increase the tensile stresses rapidly to cause crown fracture and avalanche release.
The "taffy" analogy comes into play nicely here...
Looks like a great line! Nicely done.
Over-

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Thanks! Interesting post.

I wonder what the snow would feel like under those conditions? Breakthrough crust? We skied a little bit down Hoosier Pass almost at sunset yesterday and the top surface was crusty. Not at all like what we had on Torreys - the base was so bomber, where on Hoosier it was just sugary junk. Both places cooling off, but completely different characteristics.

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Originally Posted by SheRa

We skied it this Thursday, May 19. We booted up the saddle between the two peaks - that was the toughest part of the climb. Kicked into a glissade track.

Ooooh, the lost rat is on Torrey's? I wish somebody would make me one of those red arrows for that one. Between the Grays/Torreys saddle and the peak of Torrey's there was an entire corniced face with a lot of cool looking lines in it. I was too chicken to think about skiing in there though, at least this time. Not only cornices, but a lot of rocky heat sinks too. And not a lot of vert in exchange for the big hike (4.5 miles). I wouldn't feel like I got my money's worth unless I hiked that part twice, I guess... ;)

Anyway, sorry we didn't hit it together. But there's a long summer ahead. So many lines. You're gonna teach me ropes too, right? And I am so psyched to go camping this year.

I'll see you guys tonight on Loveland Pass. Don't forget your gear this time. :D ;)

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The lost rat holds snow longer than that dog but your right more bang for the hoof'n, it's not that long a hike but it can kick your ass. Got's to do a midnight 14'ner hike
:) :) :) :)

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Originally Posted by H20MAN

The lost rat holds snow longer than that dog but your right more bang for the hoof'n, it's not that long a hike but it can kick your ass. Got's to do a midnight 14'ner hike
:) :) :) :)

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Last year I hiked once at night and really loved it. Amazing how the eyes can adjust...

some more 14er beta....a "stay the hell away from my projects and hit the obvious stuff" bump