Karl's Hiking and Climbing Log

[Karl Valten]

Hey all, I figured I'd start a separate thread for this considering I've been swamping the picture request thread and swallowing up everyone elses images.

Move to Colorado early June and started hiking/climbing July 2 and decided to keep a photo album/list of all the 14ers (peaks over 14000 feet) and 13ers (13000 feet) I've managed to hit. Colorado is home to 54 14ers (~460 world wide) so is a pretty favored place for hiking climbing.

14er Summits

Huron Peak (14,003) - Standard Route - July 2nd, 2011
Missouri Mountain (14,067) - Standard Route - July 3rd, 2011
Mount Democrat (14,148) - Standard Route - July 10th, 2011
Pikes Peak (14,110) - Barr Trail Route - July 16th, 2011
Mount Cameron (14,238) - Standard Route - July 23rd, 2011
Mount Lincoln (14,286) - Standard Route - July 23rd, 2011
Mount Bross (14,172) - Standard Route - July 23rd, 2011
Quandry Peak( 14,265) - East Ridge Route - July 24th, 2011
Torreys Peak (14,267) - Kelso Ridge Route - July 30th, 2011
Grays Peak (14,270) - West Slope Route - July 30th, 2011



Note: Sorry, currently don't have photos of the Cameron, Lincoln, Bross, and Quandry summits. Forgot my camera that weekend. Though I do have a few crappy cell phone pics.









July 2nd, 2011:



So it was a busy as hell weekend for me. Went out hiking/camping this weekend with a bunch of fraternity brothers. Needed to do a good deal of off-roading to actually reach the trailheads. Had to stop the car a few times to make sure we didn't rip something important off of the undercarriage.

Was a ton of fun and spent 3 days well about 10000 feet in elevation.

Summited my first 14er (mountains over 14000 feet above sea level. 456 of them in the world, 88 in the US and 54 of those or in Colorado) on Saturday and bagged my second on Sunday. So I'm currently 2 out of 54 done in Colorado and am planning to hit another two this coming weekend.

Here are the pics from the weekend.

Huron Peak (14003 feet)

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Huron%20Peak%207-02-2011/HuronandMissouri009.jpg

Mountain visible right from where we set up base camp. Looks pretty big, doesn't it? Fantastic views all around this particular canyon.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Huron%20Peak%207-02-2011/HuronandMissouri019.jpg

Base camp near a small group of trees (about 10500 feet elevation). One of the guys set up a hammock instead of a tent. Though he was fucking nuts because I was pretty damn cold all night even wearing two layers my sleeping bag.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Huron%20Peak%207-02-2011/HuronandMissouri024.jpg

Sunrise just as we're heading out from the trailhead.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Huron%20Peak%207-02-2011/HuronandMissouri029.jpg

Taking a quick break and waiting for another group of fraternity brothers to show up (they camped in a different canyon).

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Huron%20Peak%207-02-2011/HuronandMissouri036.jpg

Whole crew is together and taking a breather just above the treeline before starting our actual ascent of the mountain.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Huron%20Peak%207-02-2011/HuronandMissouri035.jpg

Same mountain we saw down in the canyon.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Huron%20Peak%207-02-2011/HuronandMissouri038.jpg

First glimpse of Huron Peak. We still have about 2.5 miles and 2500 feet of elevation gain left

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Huron%20Peak%207-02-2011/HuronandMissouri044.jpg

Making our way towards the ridge-line we'll be taking to the top. Can't go up the circe you see in back. About a 1500 foot drop and class 4 and 5 climbing if we want to go that route.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Huron%20Peak%207-02-2011/263573_1829771435354_1572390161_31553983_5209361_n .jpg

Sometimes I am really happy I'm in a co-ed fraternity

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Huron%20Peak%207-02-2011/HuronandMissouri047.jpg

Finally made it up to the main ridge.

[Karl Valten]

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Huron%20Peak%207-02-2011/261687_1829783635659_1572390161_31554012_4442914_n .jpg

Only 600 in elevation feet to go!! All of it through this kind of crap. Had to take a break almost every 50-100 feet or so.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Huron%20Peak%207-02-2011/HuronandMissouri060.jpg

Neighboring ridge leading to Brown's Peak (a 13er about a mile farther).

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Huron%20Peak%207-02-2011/HuronandMissouri072.jpg

VICTORY!!!!

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Huron%20Peak%207-02-2011/HuronandMissouri071.jpg

VICTORY VODKA!!!!

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Huron%20Peak%207-02-2011/HuronandMissouri068.jpg

Remember that mountain in the first post? There it is 1800 feet below us.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Huron%20Peak%207-02-2011/HuronandMissouri081.jpg

Emma blowing bubbles on the summit.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Huron%20Peak%207-02-2011/270000_2081450990849_1082287975_32470582_3690637_n .jpg

Group shot

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Huron%20Peak%207-02-2011/HuronandMissouri083.jpg

Eating, drinking (Tequila and Vodka), and resting.

Also did a bit of tanning up there. Only takes about 5-10 minutes. Another group came up about half an hour with some very attractive woman that also decided to tan.

Sadly I have no pictures of that event.

Though I do have pictures of marmots for some reason:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Huron%20Peak%207-02-2011/HuronandMissouri091.jpg

[Karl Valten]

Missouri Mountain (14067 feet)

This hike was much more brutal than yesterday. 11 miles as compared to 6.5. And we had about a 3500 foot elevation gain in about a mile and half.

Also a bit worried, two bodies were pulled off of this peak just the day before. A farther and daughter end up falling from the peak into the circe. Probably caught be a wind gust as weather was rough that morning.

Half of the group called it quits for the weekend and the rest of us marched on after we got back down from Huron Peak.

Got the winter trailhead on saturday and realized a river was blocking our way. Well we didn't like that so much so we forded across carrying all of our gear (including tents and sleeping bags) in waist deep icy water.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Huron%20Peak%207-02-2011/260540_1829847437254_1572390161_31554124_8379857_n .jpg

Trying to figure out where best to cross the damn river.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Missouri%20Mountain%207-3-2011/HuronandMissouri101.jpg

Hiked another 3 miles after crossing the river and set up camp.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Missouri%20Mountain%207-3-2011/HuronandMissouri098.jpg

Doug's hammock set-up. Crazy guy.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Missouri%20Mountain%207-3-2011/HuronandMissouri102.jpg

Got up early on Sunday and headed out. After about 2.5 miles we hit this lake and decided to stock up on water for the next 9 miles.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Missouri%20Mountain%207-3-2011/HuronandMissouri105.jpg

Another shot of the lake. Absolutely fantastic weather and we are the only ones out here so far.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Missouri%20Mountain%207-3-2011/HuronandMissouri108.jpg

Remember what I said about a 3500 foot elevation gain in 1.5 miles?

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Missouri%20Mountain%207-3-2011/HuronandMissouri109.jpg

With this right next to us.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Missouri%20Mountain%207-3-2011/HuronandMissouri110.jpg

Exhausted and we haven't even hit the tree line yet.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Missouri%20Mountain%207-3-2011/HuronandMissouri112.jpg

Still haven't broken the damn tree line.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Missouri%20Mountain%207-3-2011/HuronandMissouri114.jpg

Fucking finally, but now we have to deal with this. (In all seriousness, climbing this was a ton of fun).

[Karl Valten]

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Missouri%20Mountain%207-3-2011/HuronandMissouri115.jpg

Unfortunately that still isn't the summit, the summit is hiding behind that peak.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Missouri%20Mountain%207-3-2011/HuronandMissouri116.jpg

Starting to make our way to the ridge line.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Missouri%20Mountain%207-3-2011/HuronandMissouri120.jpg

Ridge line that we want to reach in order to get to the summit.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Missouri%20Mountain%207-3-2011/HuronandMissouri122.jpg

Getting up the ridge was hard. Had about a 30-35 degree incline for about a mile and a half of hiking.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Missouri%20Mountain%207-3-2011/HuronandMissouri125.jpg

Made it to the talos slope that leads up to the ridge line.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Missouri%20Mountain%207-3-2011/HuronandMissouri126.jpg

View from the ridge line.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Missouri%20Mountain%207-3-2011/HuronandMissouri132.jpg

Huzzah, we made it to the ridge line. Now we just have to navigate this about another mile and a half.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Missouri%20Mountain%207-3-2011/HuronandMissouri133.jpg

Navigating the ridgeline. Some decent class 3 and class 4 climbing.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Missouri%20Mountain%207-3-2011/HuronandMissouri136.jpg

2000 foot drop close to where the hikers fell earlier that week. We stopped to pay our respects.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Missouri%20Mountain%207-3-2011/HuronandMissouri137.jpg

Peak marker. VICTORY!!!

[Karl Valten]

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Missouri%20Mountain%207-3-2011/HuronandMissouri135.jpg

More climbing to do.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Missouri%20Mountain%207-3-2011/HuronandMissouri140.jpg

Taking a rest at the cairn on top of the mountain.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Missouri%20Mountain%207-3-2011/HuronandMissouri142.jpg

Captain's pose! The tallest mountain peak just to the left is where we were the day before.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Missouri%20Mountain%207-3-2011/HuronandMissouri144.jpg

Marmots came to say hello on the summit. They demanded our food.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Missouri%20Mountain%207-3-2011/HuronandMissouri147.jpg

A second marmot flanking us and demanding more tribute.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Missouri%20Mountain%207-3-2011/HuronandMissouri139.jpg

View from the summit


All in all one hell of a weekend. Very tiring, but well worth it. Two of the guys continued on on Monday the 4th and managed to summit two 14ers (Bierstadt and Evans) in one day and hit a 13er as well.

Didn't have the energy to keep up and I was out of food supplies or I would have tagged along.

[Morgan Evanar]

Dude that is awesome. I am jealous. Wanna climb dat mountain (although being a sea-level creature I would prolly keel over.)

[Karl Valten]

I've only been out here 4 weeks and one of the guys (purple shorts guy) is from Ohio and hiked his first 14er on day 4 of being in Colorado.

Come out for a visit and we'll pick a peak or two.


I might try and hit another 2 - 4 this weekend depending on how I feel. And the weekend after is going to be Pike's Peak.

[Tear]

:lol Marmots demanding tribute. Awesome.

[Morgan Evanar]

Pike's Peak you say?

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[Lilaena De'Ville]

Awesome pictures - those are some breathtaking views!

[Karl Valten]

:lol Marmots demanding tribute. Awesome.

I swear on the way down the mountain we had packs of those furry little buggers following us.



Pike's Peak you say?

Yeah, race was just a few weeks ago. Didn't see any of it, though.


Awesome pictures - those are some breathtaking views!

Definitely. I think I'm going to stay in this state.

[Karl Valten]

Hey all. Did whitewater rafting on Saturday, but don't have pics yet (friend of mine has the disc).

Sunday I set out with two fraternity brothers and Miss Teen America Junior 2007 (20 years old now). And no I'm not kidding. Doug and Greg met her and her climbing partner on Grays Peak a few weeks ago and have been attempting to schedule more hikes with them.

That girl is hella attractive. Unfortunately I don't have great pics of her....sorry to all the guys. I'll see what the frat brother got on camera. :p

Anywho, on Sunday we attempt to summit four peaks in one day (Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, and Bross). Sadly we only managed to summit Democrat.

Brittany turned back at 13200 due to altitude sickness (a week at sea level didn't help).

Greg quit after after getting back down to the saddle between Democrat and Cameron after summiting. He went rock-climbing the day before and was pretty worn.

Doug and I double timed it up the majority of Cameron at a stupid-fast pace, but bad weather forced us to turn back with about 300 feet of elevation to go. Damn thunderstorms.

We'll just have to bag the rest of the peaks next time.


Mount Democrat (14148 feet)

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Mount%20Democrat%207-10-2011/002.jpg

Drove out Saturday night. Had some pretty nice clouds hanging around the mountains.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Mount%20Democrat%207-10-2011/004.jpg

Sunrise over the ridge between Cameron and Bross at about 5:30 am.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Mount%20Democrat%207-10-2011/005.jpg

This is our first goal. Mount Democrat with the sun just hitting the top.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Mount%20Democrat%207-10-2011/007.jpg

Had to cross several snow fields before on the first mile or so. All of us ended up post holing at some point. Frigging cold.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Mount%20Democrat%207-10-2011/009.jpg

View down the valley we just hiked.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Mount%20Democrat%207-10-2011/011.jpg

First rest stop. See, I wasn't lying about the girl. I didn't have the opportunity to take any better pics.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Mount%20Democrat%207-10-2011/018.jpg

Mount Cameron on the other side of the valley. This would have been our second target.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Mount%20Democrat%207-10-2011/023.jpg

Another shot of the valley from even higher up.

[Karl Valten]

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Mount%20Democrat%207-10-2011/028.jpg

Mount Cameron right across the saddle from us.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Mount%20Democrat%207-10-2011/029.jpg

Greg lagging at the back. He was pretty beat from the day before

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Mount%20Democrat%207-10-2011/032.jpg

This was a bitch to get up. We had about 20-30 feet of elevation that was a solid wall of snow at about a 60 degree incline. Not fun.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Mount%20Democrat%207-10-2011/033.jpg

Greg cresting the top of the same snow incline.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Mount%20Democrat%207-10-2011/035.jpg

The summit is in sight. Only about 450 feet of elevation to go.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Mount%20Democrat%207-10-2011/037.jpg

Summit!

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Mount%20Democrat%207-10-2011/038.jpg

View to the east.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Mount%20Democrat%207-10-2011/039.jpg

View to the north.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Mount%20Democrat%207-10-2011/040.jpg

View to the south and the valley we came up from earlier.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Mount%20Democrat%207-10-2011/041.jpg

Captain's pose on the summit. Of course with a flask of Captain Morgan Private Stock. Spilt some on the summit in tribute.

[Karl Valten]

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Mount%20Democrat%207-10-2011/042.jpg

More views from the top. That cluster of building you see there used to be the town of Climax. Currently it's the site of the richest molybdenum mine in the world. The mine is shut down at the moment, but at it's peak capacity gave about 75% of the world supply of moly.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Mount%20Democrat%207-10-2011/043.jpg

And again.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Mount%20Democrat%207-10-2011/044.jpg

Need to descend back down to the saddle and next peak away.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Mount%20Democrat%207-10-2011/048.jpg

Back at the saddle looking up at Democrat from where we just descended.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Mount%20Democrat%207-10-2011/049.jpg

Heading up the side of Cameron. Sorry about the bad angle.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Mount%20Democrat%207-10-2011/050.jpg

Almost to the top of Cameron. Don't have many pictures was we nearly sprinted up this thing to try and beat storms that started forming over Democrat.

This is about as far as we got.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Mount%20Democrat%207-10-2011/051.jpg

Back near the valley at the snow fields. Doug wanted to try out his new ice axe and glissade down. He lost our radio (Greg and Brittany had the other one) and had to hike back up that snow field.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Mount%20Democrat%207-10-2011/052.jpg

Water fall back in the valley. No more pictures from here on out. We had to high-tail back to the car and meet up with Greg and Brittany to get the hell out of there.


Will be attempting to summit Pikes Peak this weekend. It'll be a mean one. About 26 miles round-trip.

[Adelaide Kasperian-Kazaar]

Those are some amazing pictures.

What an intrepid fellow you are, Karl.

[Crusader]

Thanks for sharing these pictures. They are really amazing.

[Karl Valten]

Cranked out another one today. I'm probably going to end up doing 1-4 of these a weekend until the weather gets to the point where it's no longer an option.

New hiking crew this time, my roommates, another intern from work, and a friend of mine from Minneapolis. None of the others had climbed a 14er before so I was a bit nervous, especially since this hike was going to be a mean one.

Our target: Pike's Peak starting using the Barr Trail. 13 miles one-way put this well into marathon length but also included an elevation gain of 7800 feet. Woke up at 2am after 3 hours of sleep and managed to arrive at the trailhead about 4:30am. Got started about 4:45.

Made summits in groups. First two booked it ahead and made summit at 11:01. I made summit at 11:34, next guy at 11:55, and the final one at 12:18.

Pikes Peak (14110 feet)

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Pikes%20Peak%207-16-2011/PikesPeak001.jpg

4:30am. Getting our gear set to go most of us with little or no sleep.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Pikes%20Peak%207-16-2011/PikesPeak004.jpg

About 1.5 miles in on a ridge overlooking the city of Colorado Springs.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Pikes%20Peak%207-16-2011/PikesPeak006.jpg

Just before sunrise booking it through some arches as we try to make a ridge with a clear view of the sunrise.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Pikes%20Peak%207-16-2011/PikesPeak007.jpg

Just some cool rock formations.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Pikes%20Peak%207-16-2011/PikesPeak009.jpg

First sighting of the summit. Still have about 10 miles to go.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Pikes%20Peak%207-16-2011/PikesPeak010.jpg

First extended break. Went to do some bouldering to the top of this rock formation.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Pikes%20Peak%207-16-2011/PikesPeak011.jpg

Summit view from the rock tower.

[Karl Valten]

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Pikes%20Peak%207-16-2011/PikesPeak012.jpg

The valley we just came up with a view of Colorado Springs way off in the distance.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Pikes%20Peak%207-16-2011/PikesPeak015.jpg

The rock tower is actually pretty high up. Looking down on the rest of the group.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Pikes%20Peak%207-16-2011/PikesPeak014.jpg

More cool rock out-croppings.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Pikes%20Peak%207-16-2011/PikesPeak017.jpg

Barr Camp a little over halfway up the mountain. People can reserve bunkhouses and the like here. This is 6-7 miles from the trailhead. We made it here in two hours on the dot. Probably the fastest hiking pace I've done so far.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Pikes%20Peak%207-16-2011/PikesPeak020.jpg

Bar camp cabin. The place is run be an older couple. Very nice people and enjoyed chatting with them about 30 minutes before moving on.

Only 3 miles to the tree-line.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Pikes%20Peak%207-16-2011/PikesPeak023.jpg

Huzzah, made it to the treeline. You can trace the 10 miles we hiked back through the valley leading to Colorado Springs. Unfortunately at this point my left leg really started cramping and hurting.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Pikes%20Peak%207-16-2011/PikesPeak028.jpg

Rock field on the way up just above the tree line

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Pikes%20Peak%207-16-2011/PikesPeak039.jpg

Another nice view of Colorado springs.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Pikes%20Peak%207-16-2011/PikesPeak040.jpg

More cool formations.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Pikes%20Peak%207-16-2011/PikesPeak043.jpg

Pikes Peak circe, a nice 1500 foot drop to the floor of the circe. Only 1.8 miles and and 1600 feet of elevation gain left. Already well over a mile higher than when we started.

Leg is absolutely killing me at this point. Completely forgot to bring painkillers along.

[Karl Valten]

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Pikes%20Peak%207-16-2011/PikesPeak045.jpg

Back down the path we just came up. Tree line, valley, and Colorado Springs in the far distance. 11.5 miles in, only 1.5 to go.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Pikes%20Peak%207-16-2011/PikesPeak046.jpg

Kept having to walk across the mountain face back and forth about five times while slowly gaining elevation.

Don't have pics of the final mile. That part was just brutal with about 26 switch backs over boulders for the last 500 feet of elevation.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Pikes%20Peak%207-16-2011/PikesPeak050.jpg

Summit!!! Unfortunately it's in the middle of the parking lot. Yep, there is a visitor center up here. We could have driven or taken the train, but screw that....we want a challenge.

Sad thing is we still have 13 miles back down the mountain to hike.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Pikes%20Peak%207-16-2011/PikesPeak054.jpg

Summit marker for actual proof of reaching the top.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Pikes%20Peak%207-16-2011/PikesPeak055.jpg

View from the top.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Pikes%20Peak%207-16-2011/PikesPeak057.jpg

And again.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Pikes%20Peak%207-16-2011/PikesPeak059.jpg

Last one.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Pikes%20Peak%207-16-2011/PikesPeak063.jpg

Touristy photo spot. About 200 feet from the real summit.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Pikes%20Peak%207-16-2011/PikesPeak067.jpg

Cog wheel train. Look at all those tourists that just rode up.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Pikes%20Peak%207-16-2011/PikesPeak064.jpg

View of the 13 mile path we hiked. Can just barely see the trailhead parking lot slightly lower than middle and slighty left. between a dark U-shaped valley that is pretty hard to see.

[Karl Valten]

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Pikes%20Peak%207-16-2011/PikesPeak068.jpg

Entire crew made it even though we had about an hour and twenty minutes difference in our summit times. Fun experience.

All we had to do was hike down again. No pictures of that as we kinda sprinted down the mountain.

Managed to bum painkillers off of a tourist, though the drugs made me a bit loopy at this altitude. The rapid elevation gain (about a mile and half) really screwed with our heads.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Those are some beautiful views

[Karl Valten]

Okay, finally and update. I completely forgot my camera the weekend of the 22nd-24th. I do have some crappy cell phone pictures, but don't think it's worth uploading them.

Stayed at a condo in Breckenridge that weekend and hiked four of the peaks in the area. Summited Cameron, Lincoln, and Bross on Saturday after previously having failed those three two weeks earlier because of bad weather.

Sunday made summit on Quandry in only 1 hour and fifty minutes so I was very happy about that. First time I've felt in shape in a while. Passed by a very large church group (130 people) from all over the country hiking the peak the standard route. Cool thing was that they were carrying a 14 year old kid with cerebral palsy in a litter so he could make it to the summit with them. They managed to make it up in 3 hours and 40 minutes carrying the kid, which I thought was pretty damn fast.



Anywho, on to the photos. My normal hiking partners were out of state this past weekend so I decided to go solo. Also decided that I'd actually take a difficult non-standard route this time just to spite them. :)

Ended up choosing to combo Grays and Torreys Peak via Kelso ridge. Drove to the trail head Friday night in my car (bottomed the poor car out a few times on the dirt mountain road. I really need a 4WD or AWD vehicle with decent clearance). Camped overnight in the woods just shy of the timber line and woke up at 4:30 am to cook myself some breakfast..............yum......boiling water and freeze dried food.


Grays Peak (14,270 feet) and Torreys Peak (14,267 feet) - July 30th, 2011


First glimpse of Grays (left) and Torreys (right) about a mile past the trailhead. About 5:30 am.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys001.jpg


Sunrise hitting the top of Grays Peak (left) and Torreys Peak (right)

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys002.jpg

Just about to a small collection of alpine ponds where I'm about to split off the main trail. Kelso Ridge is along the right of Torreys Peak here. Main trail curves to the left around the hill and snakes up Grays Peak (out of view).

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys011.jpg

Alpine ponds and a view down the valley I just hiked.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys012.jpg

Here is where I left the main trail and headed for the low point on Kelso Ridge. There is an old collapsed mine shack just at the ridge saddle.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys015.jpg

Better view down the Valley. Sunlight still hasn't broken the east ridge yet.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys016.jpg

On the saddle of Kelso Ridge before I start hitting the fun stuff. Kelso Ridge is straight ahead. About 1.5 miles and 3500 feet of elevation gain consisting of class 3 and class 4 climbing to the summit of Torreys.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys027.jpg

[Karl Valten]

And now the fun begins.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys029.jpg

A short cliff that I had to climb early on.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys034.jpg

Looking down from that climb. Sun is a pain in the neck at this point. Lots of glare off the rocks, I should have left at around 4:00 am.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys035.jpg

Another short cliff.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys036.jpg

Progress so far, making really good time.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys037.jpg

I quickly caught up with these guys (about 6:30 am) and decided to slow down and match their pace. It's good to have climbing buddies. This is one of the taller walls we had to climb.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys039.jpg

Here is a better view to give you an idea of the height and difficulty.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys042.jpg
Almost to the top of the wall.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys044.jpg

Here's a view back from the top of the wall.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys045.jpg

[Karl Valten]

Of course we're greeted right away by another wall.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys046.jpg


Oh look, a third one.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys047.jpg


Paused here right on the cliff face for food and the strip off layers. It was waaaaaaaay too hot at this point. Still about another 1500 feet to the summit.

View of Grays Peak from the cliff face.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys049.jpg

View to the west. This about the time it really hit me how high up I was.....and how far the fall would be if I slipped.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys053.jpg


View down the valley I had hiked up when it was still dark out.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys054.jpg


Farther on. Hello steep fall that would result in dismemberment and death.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys057.jpg

Fantastic views, though. That's the base of the valley I hiked up. You can see the standard trail snaking off to the right.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys061.jpg


Oh fuck......that thing is straight up.......with almost no hand holds or foot holds.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys062.jpg

About a quarter way up the wall from the last picture. Used one free hand to snap a photo of the two guys I was pacing.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys064.jpg

Made it to the top! You can see the other two just getting to the base of the wall.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys065.jpg

[Karl Valten]

Guy in the brown shirt is smart and took the same way up I did, the little ledge there had much easier access to the top the going straight up the whole way.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys067.jpg

Gotta give blue-shirt props for going straight up, though.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys068.jpg

And now we're at the part I'm looking forward to the most. This is the Kelso Ridge knife-edge. It's pretty much the last obstacle to the summit, about a hundred foot knife-edge with a 3000 foot drop on either side.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys069.jpg

Looking back at the other two. They are just starting to hit the knife-edge.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys072.jpg

View down one of the couliers. Straight drop all the way down.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys073.jpg

Back to the other two.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys074.jpg

And back down again.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys075.jpg

A really cool white-rock formation that is pretty much the last 20 feet of teh knife-edge.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys076.jpg

Just starting my climb down from the white-rock formation.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys079.jpg

[Karl Valten]

I stopped to make sure the other guys descended safely from the knife-edge. From here on out its a really easy hike (relatively speaking) to the summit.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys083.jpg

Here's a view back down Kelso Ridge from nearly the summit.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys084.jpg

VICTORY!!!! With Rum in my flask of course.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys091.jpg

View from the top

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys086.jpg

And again

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys087.jpg

Down the valley towards the trailhead far off in the distance.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys088.jpg

Now for the hike across the saddle over to Gray's peak just for the hell of it. Took me about 30-40 minutes to get over there.

Looking back up at Torreys Peak from the saddle.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys097.jpg

Grays Peak, about another 20 minutes of fast hiking.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys099.jpg

Second VICTORY!!! Though a bit lack luster as this one was easy to get. At this point there were a ton of people on the summit. I ran into a grand total of two people on Kelso Ridge. The standard route had several dozen people on it and about 50 at the summit. Was slightly annoyed by the crowds so I slammed about three quarters of the flask.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys110.jpg

Yay, booze.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys112.jpg

[Karl Valten]

View from the top of Grays

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys106.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys107.jpg


There is the start of Kelso Ridge seen from Grays.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys108.jpg

Heading down the mountains. I used the standard route for my descent. Kelso Ridge as seen from the standard trail

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys122.jpg

Waaaaaaaay high up there you can just make out some white rock.....that would be the knife edge from earlier.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys127.jpg

I hate hiking snow. So. Freaking. Much.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys125.jpg


Bye Bye Grays (Torreys is out of view)

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys130.jpg

Hello tent...time to take a nap before heading home.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Grays%20Peak%20and%20Torreys%20Peak%207-30-2011/GraysandTorreys129.jpg




Left at 5:00 am. Reached the Summit of Torreys at 8:15am. Made summit of Grays at 9:12. Made it back to camp by 11: 38.

[Katrin Laran]

My climbing partner is heading back to Ohio for school fairly soon so we decide to celebrate that with a hurray and attempting Longs Peak last Saturday. This is by far the hardest mountain I've done so far (both in technical skills required and endurance.)

Round trip is 14 miles with a total elevation gain of 5100 feet. Not as long or as much gain as Pikes, but much, much harder in terms of the trail.

Camped out Friday night in Roosevelt National Forest (went to bed around 7 or 8 pm). Woke up at 2am, had some food, and started hiking at about 2:45 am. Don't have many pictures of the dark of course, but it was kinda cool seeing all the headlamps dotting the mountain in the dark.

Longs Peak (14255 Feet) - Keyhole Route - August 6th, 2011

Here is a view of Longs from the highway from Friday afternoon. The big dark one in the middle with the snow and shear cliffs is Longs.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak114.jpg

The city of Longmont way in the distance at about 3:30 in the morning.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak001.jpg

Sun is just barely starting to clear the horizon.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak002.jpg

This is about 5 miles in. We booked it like mad to get to the boulder field seen here before sunrise. The cliff face there is known as "The Diamond" and is one of the most well-known features of Longs Peak. About a 1000 foot vertical face.

My partner and I want to scale this at some point, but we took a different route this time.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak005.jpg

First view of the "Keyhole" That is the point where the really hard stuff actually starts and is another well-known feature. There is a stone shelter built off to the left of the Keyhole. Actually has glass windows and everything.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak007.jpg

Closer up you can actually see people standing in the keyhole. Also a few areas where rocks have been cleared out and wind blockers made from boulders stacked up to make space for tents. I think there were about half a dozen tents or so set up here. Surprisingly there are also two sets of outhouses.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak015.jpg

More of the terrain around the area

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak016.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak017.jpg

Okay, here is a picture of that shelter I mentioned. It is dedicated to the woman who made the first successful winter ascent of the mountain. She died in this area from exposure on the way back down from the summit.

Almost to the Keyhole. At this point there is no trail. It died out by where the tents were. The boulders are simply too big and scattered about.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak019.jpg

[Katrin Laran]

Views near the shelter. We have now finally hit actual sunrise. The views are just amazing from here. Best I've seen in a while. About 6 or 6:30 in the morning now.

These are all by the Keyhole and shelter.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak020.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak021.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak024.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak025.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak028.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak032.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak038.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak039.jpg

[Katrin Laran]

Hiking partner #1 at the Keyhole. The ohio guy.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak034.jpg

Hiking partner #2 from Alaska.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak022.jpg

Here are the view looking through the keyhole to the other side. It was cold and windy as all hell at this point. We were having 30 mph gusts at times. Made it hard to keep to the cliffs.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak035.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak036.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak037.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak042.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak043.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak062.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak069.jpg

[Katrin Laran]

And now we start the hard part of the hike. At this point were pretty much climbing class 4 surfaces the next 1.5 miles to the summit. There is no trail at this point. The only thing we have to go by are the bull's eyes painted on the rocks every 500 feet or so.

The following pictures are from a stretch called "The Ledges" we actually descend about 300 feet at this point.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak045.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak046.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak047.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak048.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak049.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak050.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak051.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak057.jpg

[Katrin Laran]

Just past The Ledges. Now we climb back up through an area adequately and simply named "The Gulley". Unique, right?

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak058.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak064.jpg

Views along the way

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak069.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak070.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak066.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak075.jpg

[Katrin Laran]

From the Gulley, we move to "The Narrows" This part was freaky. No room to move and the wind was whipping through this area. Hard to keep a good grip on the rocks. I mostly kept to the left as best I could. The cliff on the right was very far down.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak072.jpg

View down the Gulley

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak073.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak074.jpg

And more from the Narrows.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak076.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak077.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak078.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak079.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak081.jpg

[Katrin Laran]

Hoo-rah. This is the last 300 foot pitch to the summit called "The Homestretch". This is the steepest part of the climb as can be seen. The rock wall was smooth and slick too so it was fairly dangerous.

Only one real safe route up where you can see the bulk of the climbers.

At this point I broke out the mini-speakers and start blasting "The Final Countdown" and "Eye of the Tiger" and other motivational Rockey songs. :p

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak080.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak082.jpg

VICTORY!!!!!

Summit made at 7:40 am. Total travel time was 4 hours and 50 minutes.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak083.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak085.jpg

The summit is actually fairly flat. I had a frisbee with me that we tossed around a bit.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak089.jpg

Views from the top. This is overlooking The Diamond (the 1000 foot shear cliff mentioned earlier. I soooooooo want to climb that at some point.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak090.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak091.jpg

Chasm Lake at the bottom of the Diamond.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak092.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak096.jpg

[Katrin Laran]

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak095.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak098.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak100.jpg

Now for the trip back down:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak101.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak102.jpg

Too many people trying to climb through the narrows so we took shelter in these nooks while they passed by.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak103.jpg

Climbers heading on up to the summit.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak104.jpg

Back down at the boulder field.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak106.jpg

[Katrin Laran]

At the campsites in the boulder field. I saw a marmot stealing food out of a container. The fuzzy little bastard went straight for the tomato wedges and energy bars. Complete ignored the crackers and trailer mix....just tossed those aside.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak107.jpg

And here is what we didn't see in the dark on the way up:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak108.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak109.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak110.jpg

Here is a great view of the Diamond from about two miles away.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak111.jpg

River running through the forest on the way back down.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak112.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Longs%20Peak%208-6-2011/LongsPeak113.jpg



And that makes 11 summits for me!

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

These are breathtaking!! Love 'em :D

[Morgan Evanar]

Honestly I'm not sure I would have enjoyed that last climb.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Wow, those pictures gave me an uncomfortable feeling in my tummy. Heights. :(

The Homestretch looks like you should be using ropes or something. O_o

[Katrin Laran]

These are breathtaking!! Love 'em :D

Yeah! The Keyhole really surprised me. I was expecting another boulder field on the back side......I was not expect a huge awesome valley and mountain panorama to just open up like that.

Sat there about 30 minutes taking pictures and enjoying everything.



Honestly I'm not sure I would have enjoyed that last climb.

Views were definitely worth it and I loved the challenge. I don't think I can go back to doing anything less than Class 3 from here on out. :p


Wow, those pictures gave me an uncomfortable feeling in my tummy. Heights. :(

The Homestretch looks like you should be using ropes or something. O_o

Homestretch isn't as bad as it looks in the photos. It's not completely vertical and the cracks on the way up had nice hand and foot holds.

But yeah, any steeper than that and we'd have been using ropes.

[Karl Valten]

Castle Peak (14,265 feet) and Conundrum Peak (14,060 feet) - March 25th, 2012 ---- Failed Summit Attempt

So I'm on spring break and this past weekend I headed out with three other guys to try and summit Castle Peak and Conundrum Peak in the Elks mountain range near Aspen, Colorado for my first winter summit of a 14er.

Sadly the summit attempt failed and while this was my second failed attempt it pisses me off a bit more as I can't blame weather or some such thing holding me back.

I got to less than 200 feet of elevation of the summit and had to turn back as I didn't want to continue on without a climbing partner (the others had already turned back). I probably could have made it solo, but as I haven't done one of these one winter, I wanted someone else around to haul my ass out of the fire if shit hit the fan.

In any case the attempt was still fun and I'll throw the pictures up here.


Here we are on Saturday setting up at the trailhead. We were each hauling 40-60 pounds of gear and decided to put the heavier stuff, tents, and other such supplies on a sled. It's about 60 degrees fahrenheit so it doesn't feel like winter where we are right now, but we have a lot of elevation to gain from here.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012071.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012072.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012076.jpg



Greg (red-head with the full beard) and I where fully kitted out with Alpine Turing (AT) gear for our skiis (IE we can ski uphill and switch our bindings into 'walk' mode among other things). Matt (big guy with the full beard) and Will (skinny kid with the snowboard) where on snowshoes and Will made his own fake 'sled' out of his snowboard. Matt also hauled up his ski-blades with him.


Here's me hauling 45 pounds of gear on my back.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012080.jpg




All set up and ready to roll! HELL YEAH!



...



...



...


and then I fell over and couldn't get back up while everyone laughed their asses off. I showed them what I thought of the situation.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012083.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012084.jpg




Now we're ready!

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012085.jpg


Some great views along the way.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012088.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012089.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012091.jpg


We followed this road (no car traffic allowed this time of year) for several miles before we split off to the west towards Montezuma Basin (road goes southeast towards Pearl Pass I think).

[Karl Valten]

Some more pictures along the way.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012090.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012093.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012096.jpg



Started getting pretty late in the afternoon so we decided to pitch base-camp about .6 miles and 300 feet of elevation from where we had originally planned. It's not that far, but hauling that sled behind us was a bitch. We'd already made about 8 miles uphill with the damn thing. Too tired to huck it further.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012099.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012100.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012101.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012102.jpg


Camp was set up in a sheltered area of the woods on a hillside. The place looks like we're on a road....which it is in a way.....the road is over 150 years old and is the remains of one of the mining service roads back during the Colorado gold rush.


A Snow Hare came to visit us in camp! I got a bad photo of him just as he was running away. One of the others has better pictures.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012103.jpg


Some good views just outside our shelter. Still can't see our summit points, though.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012104.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012105.jpg

[Karl Valten]

Sunday morning and we're finally ready to roll. We got a much later start than I would have liked. I wanted to get out of there around 6am or so....but no dice. Took us a long time to boil snow and ice (about 3-4 liters per person) into safe drinking water in addition to the water required to re-constitute our freeze-dreid food. Stupid latent heat of enthalpy.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012106.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012107.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012108.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012109.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012110.jpg


Time for a break! Greg was feeling pretty beat and lagged behind us pretty far. I loved my skiis for this, I just cruised uphill with the AT gear. I am totally going to be my own gear when I get the money (I rented for this trip).

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012113.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012116.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012114.jpg


At this point we've finally hit tree-line (about 11,800 feet or so). We only have a small and easy stream crossing before we hit the most dangerous section of our trip.

In that picture of me above, the blocky thing I'm wearing across my chest is an avalanche beacon. All of use are wearing one of these as beyond here there is avalanche danger.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012117.jpg


In fact way up ahead there you can actually see an avalanche track that we eventually had to cross over.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012118.jpg

[Karl Valten]

This huge open area we're in is below about a 1.5 mile stretch of area called the "Chutes of Death" as they are very prone to avalanches. However the forecast from the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC) shows minimal avalanche danger this weekend. We did have to cross over top of two avalanche runs through this area, though.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012122.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012123.jpg

Here's a video I quickly shot as we were huffing and puffing along. Sorry about the quality and jerky motion. I was doing this one-handed and couldn't orient the camera well. Feel free to browse the rest of the album for all the photos and videos.

http://s10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/?action=view&current=winter2012121.mp4

We now spread out to have about 100-300 feet between all of us in case an avalanche hit. Terrain is a lot steeper than the videos look.

I actually slipped and started skidding down the mountain trying to follow the snow-shoe clad people and had to self-arrest with the ice axe. Went a different route than them after that put me a bit behind them.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012124.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012125.jpg




I didn't take any pictures of the crossing over the first avalanche track at all ( I should have). It was a bit finicky with several meter-diameter chunks of snow and ice. I had the advantage with the skiis surprisingly and quickly caught up to Will and Matt.

There is Greg behind me just coming up on the avalanche track.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012126.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012128.jpg


The terrain started getting steeper at this point, but I was doing much better with the skiis this time around.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012129.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012131.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012133.jpg

[Karl Valten]

Here is where I had to break off from the rest of the group and about where Greg turned back (exhaustion and not feeling well). I couldn't get up this incline with my skiis at all so I started switch-backing up the canyon wall and ended up gaining about 100-200 feet of elevation above Matt and Will (amusing considering I couldn't follow them up the slope they took).

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012134.jpg


http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012135.jpg


Look at the poor schmucks down there. :cool:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012136.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012137.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012138.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012139.jpg

Unfortunately I couldn't keep my elevation up here. I was skiis over some really sketchy snow sheets and at one point felt the snow shift under me. I had no urge to get stuck in an avalanche so I promptly locked my bindings down, switched my boots from 'walk' to 'ski' mode and promptly got the fuck out of there.

I lost about about 200 feet of elevation and crossed another avalanche track, but aside from the threat of loose snow, it was great to actually ski back-country mountain. I couldn't wait to go down this thing in skiis.

Here I met back up with the others after getting out of the danger zone.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012141.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012142.jpg

We are at about 13,000 feet right now and coming up onto one of the more strenuous sections.

This thing right in front of us is a 500 foot headwall at a ridiculously steep angle. At this point I literally can't go any farther with skiis and decide to ditch them (I didn't want to carry them on my pack...too heavy for my tastes) and switched to crampons and my ice axe.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012144.jpg

[Karl Valten]

Matt had ascender bars on his snow-shoes and was able to power through the headwall without much effort (relative to Will and I anyway). It was his first winter hike and only his fifth 14er as well so we later found out he was terrified going up this thing. Will and I had to switch to crampons so we fell behind.

There goes Matt up the first section of headwall.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012145.jpg


And here is another video clip of the awesomeness that is the Elks mountain range with a shot of our summit.

http://s10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/?action=view&current=winter2012146.mp4

And this is why the headwall was so freaking scary. Will and I had to trade off kicking in footholds with our crampons in order to make it up the pitch. As you can Matt's snow-shoe tracks just leave us in the dust...we can't even see him at all anymore.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012147.jpg

Lookind down the headwall.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012149.jpg

Made it to the top of the headwall. Time for a break.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012151.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012152.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012154.jpg

And here Matt was all along just chilling out.

http://s10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/?action=view&current=winter2012155.mp4

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012159.jpg

[Karl Valten]

At this point we debated going up the North Face Coulier or to take the Northeast Ridge. I was in favor of the Coulier (the narrow and very steep chute you can see on the left side of this photo right near the base of the summit). You can see tracks going up it from a guy we ran into the day before.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012161.jpg

Since Will is the more experienced climber we went with his suggestion to take the ridge. We also ran into another guy the day before saying the Coulier really wasn't worth it so that helped in our decision. In hindsight if we had taken the coulier, we would have made summit no problem. It was actually safer than taking the northeast ridge.

Anywho, here we go up the ridge. Will is the most experienced of us all (over 40 summits), but I have the better climbing skills so I took the lead from here on out. The route book lists this path as class 2 in the summer.

Class 2 my ass, even in summer this shit would be upper class 3. In winter this was downright dangerous. The coulier (while much more difficult) would have been a lot safer.

Anyway, here are the pictures I took while leading the way up this crap. Ugh.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012163.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012164.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012165.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012169.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012172.jpg

Despite the dangerous trek through here, the view was amazing.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012170.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012166.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012173.jpg

[Karl Valten]

Took a short break here to enjoy the view and recover. We're at about 13,900 feet at this point at a very exposed part of the ridge covered in snow and ice. Plus we had to skirt a bunch of rock towers we weren't expecting to have to deal with.

Across the basin we can see Conundrum Peak. If we had made Castle Peak, we would have crossed the ridge over to Conundrum. You can't see it in the photo, but there are some beautiful s-turn ski tracks coming down that coulier off of Conundrum Peak (14,060 feet). The guy from the day before hauled his skiis all the way up this and over to that peak to ski down.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012175.jpg


And now for more climbing/

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012177.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012178.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012179.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012180.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012184.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012182.jpg

Just about 14,000 feet. 265 to go.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012183.jpg

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Your pictures are gorgeous, but I don't think you know what a full beard is. ;)

Unless it's ME who doesn't know! :uhoh

[Karl Valten]

Unfortunately Will got altitude sickness at this point (for some reason I was feeling 100% great at this point) so he was out of the running. Matt really wasn't comfortable doing class 3 to class 4 climbing in the snow and ice (I don't blame him) so he was out.

I figure I was here to summit this bitch so I'd go make the attempt solo. I handed the camera over to Matt to go explore a bit farther. I pushed on about another few hundred yards and made it to about 14,080 feet....less than 200 from the summit.

I hit a section of steep snow just before the North Face Coulier egress (Like I said, we should have taken the coulier and we'd have been fine). I could see where the "trail" (if you can call it that) led to, but a 50-80 foot stretch was covered in snow and ice so I couldn't figure out where to walk.

I moved along a bit and probed with my ice axe to find a safe way across. I ended up triggering a snow collapse that took most of the section out with it. I probably could have triggered the rest of it to collapse and clear the path and been fine, but without a climbing partner to rope off to, I didn't want to do it.

I was so fucking pissed off. I had a clear view of the summit and probably could have made it.....but I decided to play it safe and not take a 900 foot fall down the mountain.

Here are the pictures that Matt took of me navigating up the mountain before I got out of sight.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012185.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012186.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012187.jpg


I turned around and met up with them again to head back down. To speed up our descent we decided to glissade (slide on our asses and breaking with our ice axes) down the ridge.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012188.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012189.jpg


We also decided to glissade down that 500 hundred foot headwall that took Will and I forever to get up. What took us nearly an hour to get up too us less the 5 minutes to get down.

http://s10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/?action=view&current=winter2012191.mp4

I clipped into my skiis where I had ditched them right before the headwall. I don't have any pictures of videos, but I left the radio with Matt and Will and flew down the mountain. All those previous pictures of us taking the 8-mile trek up the thing...yeah....I skied through down the whole thing and powered through the avalanche tracks (surprisingly easy to do).

I only got held up when I jammed my right ski into a meter wide boulder of snow and ice. XD.

Other than that I was down in no time. At camp I started boiling up water with Greg. Matt and Will finally got down to base-camp about two hours after I made it down on skis just as sun was setting.


Instead of having our victory summit booze (I had quality gold rum, Will had quality white rum, Greg had tequila, and Matt had scotch) at the top of Castle and Conundrum we had sorrow booze at camp....either way we still got to drink.

Here we are packing up Monday morning. Skiing down was so much easier than going up. Here is a full view of the sled and even Will trying to make the snowboard work.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012193.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012195.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012197.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012198.jpg

[Karl Valten]

And of course the drive back home had some great views even from the car.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012199.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012205.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/Hockeyman506/Castle_Conundrum_1st_attempt/winter2012208.jpg

Well that's that. Thanks for viewing!


We'll summit these two bitches next time!

[Karl Valten]

Your pictures are gorgeous, but I don't think you know what a full beard is. ;)

Unless it's ME who doesn't know! :uhoh

Fu-Manchu, then. ;)

Picky Picky