TR: Pacific Peak 5.21.05

**iskibc** · 05-21-2005, 06:30 PM

TR: Pacific Peak 13,950’ 5.21.05
Kya, iskibc

PF: Fearless: Meddle

“You say the hill's too steep to climb,
Climb it!

You say you'd like to see me try,
Climb it!

You pick the place and I'll choose the time
And I'll climb

The hill in my own way
just wait a while, for the right day
And as I rise above the treeline and the clouds

I look down hear the sound of the things you said today
Fearlessly the idiot faced the crowd, smiling
Emotionless the magistrate turns 'round, frowning
and who's the fool who wears the crown
Go down in your own way
And everyday is the right day

And as you rise above the fearlines in the frown
You look down

Hear the sound of the faces in the crowd”

**iskibc** · 05-21-2005, 06:31 PM

Today was one of those days where everything clicked into place and we got the “go ahead” to climb and descend in peace. While most aspects were scathed with avy debris, we were fortunate enough to find the goods hidden in a small slot off Pacific Peak on the west side of the tenmile range.

The last few days in the Colorado high country have been like war zones. A rapid warming trend and a heavy spring snowpack have made ski travel in the backcountry and inbounds frustrating to say the least. After reading and hearing numerous first hand reports on the conditions and studying the weather patterns religiously, I hoped for a small window of opportunity on a peak I’ve been looking at for some time. It seems as though west and northwest facing aspects over this warming trend have suffered the least. Pacific would work out perfectly since there were some very nice northwest facing couloirs coming down just a couple hundred feet off the summit. Talked with Kya and filled him in on the plan and made it certain that any signs of danger and we would turn around. Plans were set as well as the alarm clock. 2:30 AM wake up and a scheduled 5:00 AM start.

Pacific Peak is just 50’ short of being a 14er. The classic pyramid shaped peak stands at the high point of the tenmile range with Quandary Peak just a mile or so to the south. The normal route is a 3.5 mile climb up a class 2+ ridge to the summit. Today we decided to climb our intended descent route to see what was going on in the snowpack. Early starts are always nice.

A slight overnight freeze at 10,000’ brought our hopes up for a possible snow descent. The pack was still sensitive down low, especially below treeline as we punched through the light crust several times and collapsed through 2-4’ of snow to the ground. At 11,700’ the freeze was more evident and we were skating on top of a nice frozen layer. On the way up we noticed that just about every aspect had been avalanched. The only aspects that were holding tight were west and northwest facing slopes. However, there were still some signs of recent slide activity.

We got into the couloir we intended to ski and started our climb.

Rock solid the entire way up. My ice axe was punching through a 4-7” layer of frozen snow and into a thick serving of fairly consolidated snow.

We reached the summit and talked about our planned route. We had each move and safety zone worked out for our descent. Kya dropped in first and made some sweet turns on a solid top layer of softening corn. We started our descent around 10 AM.

The sun was just beginning to touch the upper slopes we were skiing on. I dropped in next and was surprised by the hardness of the snow and the lack of warning signs in the snowpack. The northwest face of Pacific is like a maze. Couloirs connect to each other via small chokes and small spines, which make for a fun descent. Everything we had hoped for came through in the end.

The entire run was solid and we never found any weaknesses in the snowpack. I am certain we hit the window of opportunity and it closed up very fast as the day went on. There was a nice constant wind which probably helped keep the pack somewhat on the cool side through convection. There was also some cloud cover, which possibly slowed down the direct sun melting cycle.

The rest of the morning/afternoon:

From one of my earlier posts:

The pack is super weak in a lot of places and fairly strong in others. You have to know your areas to be safe at this point in time. We came across the treeline-below treeline mush that more than likely caused the a-basin slide yesterday. It's nasty. We had 4-5' collapses on 10 degree slopes causing a quick panic on our way out this afternoon.

Kya digging out of a collapse on a traverse:

Ugly snow below treeline:

Anything at or below treeline that is one something steep will slide, period. Don't mess with it. Above treeline is a different story. West and NW facing slopes are actually in decent condition. A fairly nice freeze occured last night which stabilized a lot of the west-northwest-north facing terrain. However, things are still touchy. Today was all about getting on the slope early and descending early. All other aspects were like a warzone. I've never seen so many avys in one given area. Tenmile range, gore range, elk range, front range, mosquito range, sawatch ranges were all hit hard with debris on east>south faces. Ugly. There are still some pockets of strong bonding out there. I would suggest being extra careful in the next several days.

**hucksquaw** · 05-21-2005, 06:59 PM

schweeeet!

**Trackhead** · 05-21-2005, 07:01 PM

Nice to see some TR's on here again. Thought everyone melted.

**Idris** · 05-21-2005, 07:08 PM

Nice one iskibc

**sick.bird** · 05-21-2005, 07:21 PM

CAW!!!!! CAW!!!!! CAW!!!!!

**truth** · 05-21-2005, 07:22 PM

sickity rickety hot!

Z · 05-21-2005, 07:50 PM

Very cool line!!

**Blurred** · 05-21-2005, 08:06 PM

So did you guys ski this chute or not?

**iskibc** · 05-22-2005, 06:07 AM

Originally Posted by BlurredElevens

So did you guys ski this chute or not?

No, it wasn't safe enough as the sun had already gotten to it by the time we summited. It also drops you into the east side of the tenmile, so we would have to find something safe enough to climb back over to the other side. Cool line though. Maybe once the snowpack returns to a consistent thaw-freeze.

**bcrider** · 05-22-2005, 02:54 PM

Gimpy’s been prodding me to use that song in a viddy !skibc.

It sure goes well with your TR.

Pacific Peak looks $$$! Way to slay it propa.

**Artie Fufkin** · 05-22-2005, 03:31 PM

Nice pictures.

Fearless is an amazing song.

**Stu Gotz** · 05-22-2005, 04:33 PM

I would give that TR a 9.5 out of 10, with 1/2 point deduction coming from a lack of pointing.

Good stuff!

**skier666** · 05-22-2005, 05:32 PM

WICKED guys....

The dedication, the terrain, the effort to take pics...nicely done and top notch TR!!!!!

**Ireallyliketoski2** · 05-22-2005, 08:07 PM

Originally Posted by skier666

WICKED guys....

The dedication, the terrain, the effort to take pics...nicely done and top notch TR!!!!!

If a maggot skis a mountain and takes no pics or posts no TR, then has he skied?

Awesome work dudes, do you access that peak from 91, on the west side of fremont pass or is that up mayflower gulch?

**jpcski** · 05-22-2005, 08:37 PM

Nice TR. Thanks for the info on the snowpack. It will come in handy for this week.

**Blurred** · 05-22-2005, 08:40 PM

Originally Posted by Ireallyliketoski

do you access that peak from 91, on the west side of fremont pass

Yes, they climbed up the west side of freemont, across 24, around holy cross, and back over 24 and 91 for a warm-up.

**snowfire** · 05-23-2005, 07:42 AM

Sweet, guys.

Wish I could have joined in. My life is a frenzy right now and I don't know when I'll see mountains again. Soon, hopefully.

**iskibc** · 05-23-2005, 10:22 AM

Originally Posted by Ireallyliketoski

Awesome work dudes, do you access that peak from 91, on the west side of fremont pass or is that up mayflower gulch?

Yes, you access the peak from 91 up Mayflower gulch. Fremont pass is another several miles south on 91. You can also access the peak from the east side by heading up McCollough gulch, near quandary. That burly north facing couloir would dump you back into that basin. I would love to get back up there and approach from the east. There were a few other cool looking lines on that side of the peak.

Snowfire,
You moved in yet? We still have to hit up the lake agnes area sometime. Give me a heads up.