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TR: Type 3 Fun (Holy Cross Couloir, Easter 2012)
This weekend I was apprised of the classifications of fun.
Type 1 fun: just unadulterated fun.
Type 2 fun: not enjoyable at the time, but definitely fun in hindsight.
Type 3 fun: pretty miserable and you’re probably never going back to do it again.
Once Chris Geary and I were four miles up Tigiwon road on Saturday, we decided that mountain biking up a steep access road in ski clothes with a 60 lb pack classifies as Type 3 fun.
[After fighting with a stripped pedal (and a hangover) in the morning, it was 11 am by the time we were on our way.]
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Luckily, at this point the sloppy road wreaked havoc on our bikes and we were able to lighten the packs by a pair of skis for the remaining four miles to the summer trailhead.
[Muck.]
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After briefly resting our sweltering feet, we made good time on the skin up to Half Moon pass (~11,650 ft).
[Some nice views of the Gore range with a snowpack suggestive of June.]
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From here the standard approach route drops about 1,000 ft into the valley before continuing up towards Mount of the Holy Cross, a prospect on which we weren’t too keen. From the topo map, it looked like we might be able to piece together a traverse along Notch mountain and into the drainage below the Cross, knowing we risked being cliffed out. This possibility came to fruition, and after losing a lot of time tunneling through some very rotten snow during the steep traverse, night fell as we rapped and down climbed toward Lake Patricia.
[Chris sets up an anchor with Mount of the Holy Cross in the background.]
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[Rappelling into the night.]
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A beautiful night sky with dazzling stars, eventually supplanted by an intense moon, stood watch over our home for the night as we caught some sleep in anticipation of the line that awaited.
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We got underway at 7 am the next morning, an hour later than intended, making quick work of the remaining mile to the apron of the Cross Couloir. This location presented the following view of our objective.
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We briefly contemplated circumventing the crux for the standard entrance, but decided that 30 miles is a long way to carry a rope and trad rack to no avail. While slated as two pitches of 5.5, the climb was a tricky one with crampons on, as necessary for the sections of snow and ice. As per usual, I was dragged along by someone with climbing abilities exceeding my own, and was relieved when I finally topped out into the remainder of the couloir. Some puckered Type 2 fun…
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While it was 1 pm when we finished climbing, the snow was nowhere near saturated and it wasn’t a difficult decision to knock out the remaining 1500 ft for a summit bid. We had come here to ski after all. Two hours and two pairs of tired legs later, we enjoyed our summit beer and panorama view of Colorado’s Rockies.
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The snow on our ski descent was decent but by no means heroic, and after some satisfying turns and two rather rope-stretching rappels, we were on our way down to collect camp.
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[I decided to have a go at one of the rapps with skis on, not ideal on the overhang.]
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The glory of the line we just nailed was somewhat overshadowed by the fact that it was 7 pm and we had 15 miles to cover to the car. Having decided not to attempt any more shortcuts, it wasn’t until we slogged back up to Half Moon pass along some asinine snowshoe tracks that we realized we might just have nipped the approach the day before. Under clear skies and without even a breeze in the air, we pounded out 8 more hours of Type 3 fun for a 3:30 am return to the car, resisting the urge to set up camp and split up a biblical (well, holy in any case) 20 hour day. The result was without a doubt the most strenuous but rewarding outing I’ve undertaken to date.
- Daan Stevenson