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04-08-2007, 10:22 PM #1
TR: Mount Yale (14,196) Silver Creek 4/7/07
I awoke to a mouthful of warm water. I looked around at Cottonwood Hot Springs. All was peaceful. After my day on Huron I needed a rest but it was time to face the cold and get dressed. Dobish and Andrew (non mag) were gonna be in Buena Vista soon. The plan was to drive down to the San Juans and get a couple 14ers this weekend. I headed down the road to town and saw a ton of really low clouds. Dobish and Andrew were waiting at Shitty Markup and we started mulling it over. We decided against the long drive and unknown conditions and settled on Yale just up the road.
It was good to sleep in. We arose at 7:30 to more cloudy skies. Things weren't looking to promising. We decided to eat breakfast and see what happened. MMM eggs and hot cocoa.
To our surprise the clouds broke revealing blue sky above, could it be an inversion. Time to make for the hills. We geared up and left the Silver Creek trailhead at the ridiculously early hour of 9:45. This trail, part of the Colorado Trail, was really nice. However we dropped our shoes a little too early and ended up booting up a mile of trail.
Getting above the inversion
Getting a look at the Silver Creek Bowl and the East Ridge which wound up being our ascent route.
All the way up I was looking at the weather wondering if this was gonna happen. We skinned though the woods forever trying not loose any vert and head in the right direction. The just as we broke out of the woods we saw this.
We decided to have some lunch and see what happened. After my Blanca trip I was not interested in going too far and ending up whited out and in a snow cave again. We decided to press on and at least get some skiing in. They say if you don't like the weather in Colorado just wait 5 minutes, while this isn't five minutes later it does illustrate a point.
Yale's little neighbor, Mascot Pk, looking ripe and juicy
Last edited by KillingCokes; 04-09-2007 at 10:50 AM.
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04-08-2007, 10:23 PM #2
With the sun nearing the horizon and 5 miles and 4800 vert conquered we made it to the top. The weather had held long enough for us to make it to the top. The winds had been brutal but that can be tolerated. Visibility had held and that's what mattered. We had hedged our bets though and had escape routes in mind the entire way up but we didn't need them.
A look down the Silver Creek Bowl. It was kind of thin but we managed to get about 4000 vert of skiing with a summit descent and a little walking. We had to keep moving to make it to treeline by dark.
killingcokes off the summit
Andrew havin at it
Dobish freezing his ass off
Making our way through the darkness it was hard to figure out how far we had gone. It seemed like forever getting to the skin track but we finally found it. We made great time getting off the mountain and did the whole 10 miles and 4800 vert in 12 hours. A nice day on the hill for sure. Great skiing with you guys.
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04-08-2007, 11:00 PM #3
Sweet!
Way to get another summit ski, you tough gritty sob. Your a peak baggin fool. Better go get Lincoln tomorrow, oh actually, you should wait for me.
Aspen kinda sucked dude. Highlands has some nice steeps, but the technicality of the terrain is lacking. Snowmass is as flat as Breck.
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04-08-2007, 11:03 PM #4
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04-08-2007, 11:16 PM #5
I enjoyed this TR. Thanks
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04-08-2007, 11:29 PM #6
Nice, Fritz & co. You've put together several "bigger" days this season. Let me know if you want to ski some pow this week.
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04-08-2007, 11:57 PM #7
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04-09-2007, 12:51 AM #8
Looks like mascot is holding more than a couple of good lines. Great TR.
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04-09-2007, 04:23 AM #9
it was a great day... even though I was a little slow on the way up (that talus sucked balls, and I wasted a lot of energy) i still felt really good getting to the top. I still cannot feel my finger, and I slept until around 1 yesterday! that drive home was brutal. I really wanted to wake up and go skiing, but that sure as hell didn't happen.
It was a great day, with not all that much bitching. It was kind of nice to wake up at 7:30 and be nice and relaxed.
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04-09-2007, 06:03 AM #10
Strong work, looks a great day.
Have fun or get hurt bad. "MFT" A.K.A. Dr. Doom
There are but three true sports--bullfighting, mountain climbing, and motor-racing. The rest are merely games. "Ernest Hemingway"
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04-09-2007, 08:01 AM #11
Nice dudes!
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04-09-2007, 08:10 AM #12
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04-09-2007, 08:24 AM #13
Nice Job, Great TR!
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04-09-2007, 09:00 AM #14
Good work Killer of Cokes ... good work.
It's looking real good so far this Spring ...
Maybe early May/June for a possible full moon ski descent? ... we'll see.
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04-09-2007, 10:56 AM #15
Left the trail at 9:45, eh? Well, we totally kicked your ass yesterday on the slacker schedule and started up Shavano well after noon
Some interesting weather the last few days, eh? Way to persevere and get up there, without even spending a night on the mountain
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04-09-2007, 10:58 AM #16
Really good this spring indeed. If you look at the south face of Harvard it's way better than when we did Columbia and that doesn't even include what they got Saturday night and Sunday. It would seem that all that heat we had a few weeks back helped lock up the snowpack a little bit. And the cold and snow is just helping it along. I hope we don't have another spring like the last 2 with a month straight of no freeze and daytimes in the 70s.
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04-09-2007, 12:38 PM #17
Nice work fellas.
And by the way: Aspen rules IMO.
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04-09-2007, 01:09 PM #18Registered User
- Join Date
- May 2005
- Posts
- 3,972
Nice work boys. These hills seem to be in the best shape they've been in all winter, thanks to some "sticky" snow & sans hurricane winds.
Somethin about this shot I just dig.
Thanks for the TR.
PS You guys should form a band...
it could be:
K.C. (KillingCokes)
...and the Sunshine band.
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04-09-2007, 01:09 PM #19
Great pics. It's great to see you guys getting after some big lines.
Brandine: Now Cletus, if I catch you with pig lipstick on your collar one more time you ain't gonna be allowed to sleep in the barn no more!
Cletus: Duly noted.
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04-09-2007, 01:25 PM #20
Nice alpine start there. Looks like you got some interesting light out of it. Watching the sunset from a high summit is a worthwhile experience. Now go get after Eolus!
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04-09-2007, 02:37 PM #21
Way to get after it!
"Can't vouch for him, though he seems normal via email."
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04-09-2007, 03:49 PM #22jtwassoc
- Join Date
- Nov 2005
- Location
- lakeville, minnesota
- Posts
- 603
cool tr.....
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04-09-2007, 04:39 PM #23
There are some nice pictures in there, good depth. Any look at the lines down to Kroenke Lake?
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04-09-2007, 04:45 PM #24
Didn't get over that way this trip but if you look over kya's shoulder you can see how it was on 3/18 from Columbia
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04-09-2007, 04:52 PM #25
Good work! You doing kit carson soon?
Ride Fast, Live slow.
We're mountain people. This is what we do, this is how we live. -D.C.
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