East Face, Peak 1
Location/Route: North Ten Mile Range. North ridge to East ridge
Aspect: East Elevation Gain/Length: about 4k gain and 8 miles RT in 5 1/2 hours TH: Mt Royal. Group/Date: with Jeremiah Meizis on 3.11.15 |
With all this high pressure weather we have been having lately I was stoked to get out and into the alpine for another beautiful day of splitboarding in Colorado. Jeremiah Meizis, owner of Colorado Climbing Company, and I had been in contact since our AMGA course and had coordinated today as a good day to get out and work on some pre-req's for our next course. He was cool with me mock-guiding him and so I planned this tour as a great option. Jeremiah was on board and so left Colorado Springs and met me in Frisco at about 7am. A quick staging and we were off and on trail. Plan was to hike the North ridge and then ski down the East with the options of assessing the snow to drop North off the East ridge.
A couple of hours into the tour we enjoyed a quick breakfast snack and transitioned to boot the rest of the ridge.
And in a little under 4hrs we found ourselves on a beautiful and sunny summit.
Eager for some turns, we didn't stay on the summit long. .
Dropping!!
Dropping!!
Continually peeking over the Northern side of the ridge and a little ways down I had eyes on a nice line dropping down. A bit hesitant of what kind of snow was lurking down there I decided to have Jeremiah give me a quick hip belay down the slope. I made a few slope cuts and it felt pretty good. I then started to work more into the gut, continually digging hand pits and assessing. As I got further into the gut and more East facing there started to develop a thick windslab. That was all I needed to see. Not today. A quick slope cut back out onto the ridge and on we went.
A little further down the ridge and I spotted another great looking line that would drop us into the bowl. Not as many convexities, a bit mellower of an angle, and a more Northerly aspect. A quick assessment and decided it was good to go. I dropped first with a slope cut and continually assessed as I skied the slope. A great line with some good turns. Then it was Jeremiah's turn.
Both of us supremely stoked on the line and with smiles on our faces we continued on down the hill and back to the trail head with about 5 1/2 hours of fun behind us. A great day out in the backyard!