TR: Missouri Mountain powder day (5-24-2008)

[mtnbikerskierchick]

TR: Missouri Mountain powder day
14,067'
5/24/2008
Kya, mtnbikerskierchick


Kya agreed to join me on this outing. Kya is a great ski partner and I always appreciate his company. He's joined me now on four different
fourteeners, and I hope there will be more.

We camped the previous night in one of the plentiful camping spots along the road to Vicksburg. Knowing that the weather was going to
remain cool and largely cloudy throughout the day, we knew a really early start was not essential. We began from the Missouri Gulch
trailhead at 5:45 am.

For the first 1000' feet or so, the trail was about 50% snow and 50% dirt. We did skin up the majority of it, but our skins most likely
suffered the consequences. Skinning through this bit was difficult as the trail was bombarded by previous users postholes and "ledges".
Once we got past this first bit, skinning was a lot easier.

When we first arrived in the basin, Missouri was enshrouded by a cloud. Clouds and flurries were coming and going throughout the day.
It was awhile before Missouri was released from her cloak to show her face. Our first view of Missouri from the basin below.


Kya skinning.




We skinned all the way to the north face of Missouri and we were able to skin part way up the face as well. But freshly fallen snow and an
icy snowpack beneath began to make skinning difficult, so we booted the rest of the way.




Sometimes the clouds cleared a bit and we could see what surrounded us. Here, you can see the basin we skinned up. We began at the bottom
of the far valley in the picture. To reach the top of Missouri, you must travel 6 miles and 4,500'.


We climbed up the north face of Missouri a little bit to the lookers right of the summit. This provided a good look at our anticipated
descent route.


We followed the ridge to reach the summit. Kya, with the summit in view.


When we reached the summit (around 11:15), the weather took a turn for the worst. We encountered high winds and snow pelted our faces
with vengeance. We hoped the weather would clear for our ski, but we didn't feel like waiting for a long time at the summit.





We skied the couloir that comes directly off the summit. We found a good 4-5 inches of light fresh powder waiting for us.

Kya skiing from the summit.




Turn after turn it was powder and more powder. It couldn't have been better!

MBSC skiing the north face.










Kya's turn!














I like this photo because it sums up the whole day. Kya looking at Missouri in awe...


Who knew we would have such a fantastic powder day at the end of May! Winter just won't go away!

We were able to ski down the basin and into treeline, until about 10,400'. At that point the trail was again about 50% dirt and 50% snow.
We attempted to ski parts of it, but eventually gave in and threw our skis on our pack. We arrived back to the trailhead less than 7.5 hours
after we started, making it one of the quicker fourteener outings.

Thanks again to Kya for joining me on this wonderful May Missouri powder day!

[smmokan]

So sick for the end of May. Way to get after it!

[jon turner]

Awesome! Looks a little like the weather we had on Massive last June.

[Ville]

Looks fun way to spend a day in May

[_Aaron_]

Its almost June and your skiing powder. You are lucky. I am jealous.

[Lone Star]

drrrooooooll

[HikeforTurns]

looks like a sweet score!

[KillingCokes]

Holy shit that was nice looking snow.

I skied Pikes solo today.

Which ones do you have left

[Alpine Dreams]

Keep up the good work!

[tone capone]

Way more than I have accomplished the last few weeks. Right on.

[cuseo]

What sweet lines. Nice work on gettin' it!

[altabird92]

even colorado is good this may

[Agave Afish]

Awesome as always MBSC! Thanks for the beta, cjw and I skied Missouri yesterday. Unfortunately the wind was relentless and whipped that pow into a slab but still fun nonetheless. That's my reward for having to work sat

Nice to meet and chat with kya and FrontRangeDrummer who were skiing Oxford/Belford with the hordes.

A little bird told me there will be a couple more TR's from you this weekend. Hey wait a second - how can 1 person ski AND write TR's AND drive to the next ski destination at the same time? I think MBSC is a clone!

[IridePow]

Nice one crew!
Skiing powder at the end of May........ not too shabby!

Just checking in from Lima, Peru.
I am missing sliding on the snow.... however I went sandboarding the other day, but it just does not compare. But I will go and check out the surf in a few days. Not sure how I will do since I am a JONG surfer.

Have fun out there.

[srozing]

4500' in 7.5 hours?

Animals.

[Ripzalot]

nice may stoke!

[FrontRangeDrummer]

MBSC, great timing! That snow looks fun. Kya and I found some nice corn on Belford Sunday.


Agave Afish, nice to meet you and cjw.

[adimmen]

Oh yeah!

[mtnbikerskierchick]

I skied Pikes solo today.

Which ones do you have left

Nice! GB has convinced me to ski Pikes as my last peak, so I can invite all my friends and have a big blowout

What I have left: Snowmass, Maroon, Wetterhorn, Mt. Wilson, Wilson Peak, El Diente, Blanca, Ellingwood, Little Bear, Pikes, Pyramid, Capitol, Crestone Needle.

[mtnbikerskierchick]

Awesome as always MBSC! Thanks for the beta, cjw and I skied Missouri yesterday. Unfortunately the wind was relentless and whipped that pow into a slab but still fun nonetheless. That's my reward for having to work sat

Nice to meet and chat with kya and FrontRangeDrummer who were skiing Oxford/Belford with the hordes.

A little bird told me there will be a couple more TR's from you this weekend. Hey wait a second - how can 1 person ski AND write TR's AND drive to the next ski destination at the same time? I think MBSC is a clone!

That's great you met up w/ FrontRange Drummer and Kya! Sorry Missouri was not as good for you Boo! If it's any consolation, we nearly got blown off of Sneffels today. On the summit, when I was putting on my skis, I was literally afraid the wind was going to blow me right on over into the Snake. Yikes!

[Dside11-11]

Pow!? I'm jealous. Keep on tickin' em off, chica!

[Kya]

Man, that was sweet....powder skiing...from the summit....in May! Probably my best 14er skiing conditions yet. Thanks for having me along Brittany. We always seem to have a blast skiing together. I'll totally help check a few more off that list of yours.

Nice! You got Sneffels! Dude your so close.

[Pow4Brains]

[powdork]

very sweet, as always.

[ISL]

Excellent! Missouri's just a fun mountain, and catching it with powder's too cool. .