TR: Mt Democrat 14,148 ft

[couloirman]

I wanted to go do Elbert today, but a later than anticipated start had me out the door at 5am wondering where to go. The shortest access and possibly sweetest line I could think of to do solo had to be Mt Democrat and the Kite Lake TH.

Sunrise was pretty cool:




Looks farther away than it is:


And a little bit closer view of Democrat:


I must come back to ski this huge flute some day:


Getting closer:


The scree field to the false summit:


Looking west toward the far side of the bowl that I wanted to ski(if I had a partner today):


Finally above the false summit and just one more quick snowfield to the top:


This couloir looks doable...... Maybe:


I like(borat voice):


Me on the summit playing with my makeshift camera holder consisting of my ski pole upside down and planted in the snow, and a piece of metal with a tripod head clamped onto my poles basket:


Some guy named Vlad on the summit right after I skied down:


Crazy powderfield to doglegged couloir hell yeah:


Sadly enough, after the summit field, these were the two snowfields I skiied before the mellow return to Kite Lake. One down the ridge, and one straight to the camera, sigh:


Vlad with the crazy extreme snowshoe straightline:



All in all it was a great day. I wish my usual partner hadn't crapped out on me so we could have skied something a little more fun, but once home safe after a nice solo 14er, theres nothing really to complain about.


Moose Creek line doesn't look too bad:


And the Cristo doesnt look too shabby either.

[Pow4Brains]

Nice work mang! Looks like a beautiful day.

[HikeforTurns]

Way to get out! Solo 14er aint to shabby

[Rontele]

Nice TR! Cristo looks $$$

[smitchell333]

Way to get after it. I'm confused was it continuous skiing from the summit down or were you crossing scoured dirt?

I skied this peak across the way to the north in November - Travers Peak. http://tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68553

[climb2ski]

Nice work....

[IridePow]

Way to get it done!!!

[Kya]

Nice dude.

[couloirman]

Way to get after it. I'm confused was it continuous skiing from the summit down or were you crossing scoured dirt?

It could have been a continuous skiing if I had taken the windloaded face I wanted to ski here to skiers right of the true summit(but I knew Id get flamed on here again, so I didnt)



But instead it was this small summit powderfield in this next pic, and then in the pic after, I skied the ridge line on the top left to the rocks/scree directly above where the ski track meets the scree, then took off the skis and walked to the bottom snowfield a few hundred feet and then skiied most of the way to the car(although it was kinda flat and not snow covered in places. I probably had to walk 1 out of the 3 miles to Kite lake.(If I sound like a retard here with my prose Im sorry, Im tired from my 330am wake up call and post climb vodka)

[couloirman]

Way to get after it. I'm confused was it continuous skiing from the summit down or were you crossing scoured dirt?

I skied this peak across the way to the north in November - Travers Peak. http://tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68553

So did that pyramid like snow field actually connect with the left most dogleg couloir that is pretty much directly on a line below the summit in the bottom of the face? It seems too good to be true that you could ski the field into the chute, its like a dream come true. I think the photo looks kind of decieving and maybe theres a small ditch at the bottom of the snowfield you'd have to ascend again to get to the chute, but youre the expert as Ive never been close to it. Either way sweet line.

[smitchell333]

So did that pyramid like snow field actually connect with the left most dogleg couloir that is pretty much directly on a line below the summit in the bottom of the face? It seems too good to be true that you could ski the field into the chute, its like a dream come true. I think the photo looks kind of decieving and maybe theres a small ditch at the bottom of the snowfield you'd have to ascend again to get to the chute, but youre the expert as Ive never been close to it. Either way sweet line.

Definitely would be uphill from the base of the summit snowfield to the that chute. I just skied the summit face and down the bowl to lookers right to tour out.

My target that day was the north face of Demo, but it had been windblasted clean.

[gimpy]

cool stuff. but honestly, you should ski whatever your comfort level dictates and not what you think the armchair quarterbacks around here think.

[couloirman]

cool stuff. but honestly, you should ski whatever your comfort level dictates and not what you think the armchair quarterbacks around here think.

I do, and my comfort dictated that I not drop into a big face with avy potential by myself no matter what the avy hazard looks like to me.(at least not in winter. Late April/May can sometimes be a different story.)

[shera]

It's nice to see someone skiing around all these places that I know and love so well. Looking at the pictures gives me warm fuzzies.

I wasn't meaning to flame in your Torrey's post, so please don't take it that was. Just making a statement for the lurkers...

[Alpine Dreams]

Good stuff Mang.

[Ireallyliketoski2]

Great work, I did the same exact trip about a year ago, didn't see another soul all day. Nothing like skiing a fourteener with no one else around.

[couloirman]

I wasn't meaning to flame in your Torrey's post, so please don't take it that was. Just making a statement for the lurkers...

No hard feelings at all. Im am realizing more and more that lurkers will use a TR as an excuse to feel safe somewhere that they shouldnt. I actually got a PM from a zero post lurker(who shall remain nameless) asking me "Since you thought the Dead Dog was so stable, do you think me and my friends really need beacons to ski it right now? I mean, I have one, but my friends dont, but that shouldnt really matter if its as stable as you said it was, should it?" I almost crapped my pants worrying over whether or not I had inadvertently killed these JONGs for the next few days, and will no longer provide a conditions assessment like that in a TR of mine ever again, no matter what I think. I may have almost 400 posts, but since these are the first handfuls of TRs I have posted, there is still some JONG left in me that needs to be hit out of my ass every now and then

[shera]

there is still some JONG left in me that needs to be hit out of my ass every now and then

Been there, done that.

[KillingCokes]

Good looking TR looks like some fun was had