Traver Peak
Location: Mosquito Range. South side of Hoosier Pass
Aspect: Southeast
Elevation/Length: 3000ft gain in over 9 miles. 6.5 hrs RT
TH: Montgomery Res
Group/Date: Greg Hansen/ 01.07.14
The good thing about working the graveyard shift is that it gives me a chance to poke around on the internet to check on conditions or scope new lines. In fact, a good chunk of the time I spend in the BC is after I've done a lot of research beforehand. So after seeing a picture that somebody posted that was taken off of Democrat about a week ago, I saw that the SE face of Traver peak was looking mighty fine. I personally had never skied Traver before this but from the looks of the pic and topo and after reading a few TR's on the peak it seemed that I had found the perfect destination for the day.
The snowpack across the state has been very touchy lately with a lot of new snow and a lot of wind over the past few weeks. There have been reports of slides popping off everywhere and stepping down onto deeper layers. Today marked to second fatality in Colorado within the past few weeks and so with this dangerous snowpack we wanted to especially make sure that we were making the right decisions all across the board. Luckily, the day consisted of low angle terrain and we were able to keep it under 30 degrees 99% of the tour.
Weather forecast for the day called for seasonal temps in the 20's with winds 10-20mph and some unsettled weather moving in by afternoon. While the morning started out beautiful the true Colorado weather would shine through within a few hours. By about noon we found ourselves at the base of Clinton and "Monica's Descent" when our beautiful sun and blue skies were quickly washed away by the clouds and wind. The wind would only continue throughout the rest of the day with sustained 20-30mph and gusts upwards of probably 60. We knew that with the storm coming in we would be losing light and visibility quickly so we hastily pushed on up the East ridge to the summit. By the time we summited we could see a wall of low lying clouds and snow coming our way fast so after a few summit shots we quickly transitioned, discussed our descent route, and were then on our way 2000ft to the valley floor.