Ski decent of Quandary Peak

This weekend I completed my first ski decent of one of the 14ers in Colorado.  I did a trip report that contains a bunch of pictures and a log of the days events, but what I want to talk about now is the emotions I felt when I completed the trip.  First let me start by saying if you've never hiked a 14er, and you get a chance you should.  Even the easiest of the mountains is challengeing, and you'll get to see some awesome views when you get to the top.  It's this challenge that brings me back to these mountains over and over, not only looking for the summit, but looking for the summit in the winter.  

For the last few years, I've been really wanting to start backcountry skiing.  There was always some anxiety about the dangers of backcountry skiing, but living in fear just isn't how I roll.  For one reason or another, I hadn't taken the steps to really start getting out from under the lift.  That all changed a few months ago when I took a weekend avalanche course and got my first taste of the freedom of backcountry skiing.  There were no ropes to tell me where I could and couldn't go, no lift lines, no >$100 lift tickets...it was grand I tell ya!  Since then I've done a few trips with my buddy Jeremiah, and one with a buddy I met at the avy class.

Next on my list was to hike/skin up a 14er and ski down.  This steps up the game quite a bit, as the snow conditions are tricky, the decent is tricky, and there is a long hard hike before you get to ski down.  We hit the trail head by 4am and were back at the truck by 11:30.  We got some great views in, got to watch the sun come up while at >13k feet, and got some sweet turns in on the way back down.  It was a great day, and the since of accomplishment I felt is something I'll be riding high on until the next decent.

Just about 6 months ago to the day, I went through a breakup that I took very hard.  It really made me question what I was doing with my life.  Had I just wasted 5 years of my life?  What had I done wrong?  I had a lot of doubt about the things I was doing, and what my end game for this life is.  At first I decided to just put my head down and try to move on without being able to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I worked out 5 days a week, and I tried to stay busy in the evenings.  This mostly worked, but I had lost some motivation to do the things I love.  I didn't want to ride the mighty Katoom, or pedal my single speed until my legs were numb.  All I wanted to do was stair at the ceiling.

Slowly but surely, I started to come around.  I met an awesome woman, I started checking off ski resorts I wanted to go to, I started messing with shit at home in the evenings, I got on a great workout schedule with a buddy, and I started really working hard on my tele skiing.  Over the last few months, I've had a ton of fun, and I'm now in the best shape I've been in, in some time.  I'm eating healthy, and I'm really feeling good about things.  I guess the culmination of that was this weekend when I got up at 1am to go climb a mountain so I could watch the sunrise and ski down.  It feels good enough to tell people about it, so there you go.

- Rob

Kim's First 14er

Those of you that live in Colorado, probably know what a 14er is, and know about the sport of bagging all of the states 14ers.  Short and simple, 14er just means a peak that has an elevation over 14k feet.  Colorado has the highest density of 14ers in the country and people are pretty obsessed with climbing all of them.  14ers are rated on a scale from 1 - 4, and even the lowest rating means at least 3 - 5 hours of hiking and 2 - 3 thousand feet of elevation gain.  In other words, it's no walk in the park no matter how you look at it.  Last year, I started climbing the 14ers, and to date, I've climbed about five of them:

View 14ers I've climbed in a larger map

Kim has expressed interest in coming along, but has always been nervous because she has asthma, and at 14k feet, breathing is pretty difficult, even when you're standing still. All that being said, she decided it was time, and we, along with a group of people, decided to do Grays Peak.

We jumped in a few cars, and headed up to hike the south side of the mountain.  This is not the standard route, but it's less crowded, and more difficult than the class 1 standard route.  Kim wasn't the only first timer with our group, so we new we might not summit this day.  The trip was set to be 7 miles round trip with ~3200 feet of elevation gain.  The drive up to the trail head can probably be negotiated without 4WD, but low cleareance vehicles may have trouble in a few spots and there were a few deeper puddles that have to be crossed in the spring. We got to the trail head about 7:45am and we were hiking by 8am.  From the parking area, you walk a few hundred yards to a gate, and from there, it's foot travel only.  You immediately see the ruins from an old mine to your left, and mineral deposits can be seen all around. 

You continue up the well used trail for a meaningful amount of time, and at this point, you have no problem finding your way, and the hike is pretty easy.  This doesn't last for long however, and you soon find yourself on steeper grades and the trail becomes less and less visible until you're scrambling over rock and to the summit.  Before you even get to the summit, you're treated with great views, and there is a break in the climbing as you reach a false summit that you walk along for a few hundred yards.  From here you can already see Breckendridge ski resort, Keystone ski resort, and Quandary Peak.  

The trail is still gradual hereSlowly but surely

This is where the climbing starts

This is where the climbing gets toughWe made it to the first ridge

A little more scrambling and...

We made it!

 All and all, it was a great day.  We were back to the car in 6 hours and we were hiking for about 4.5 hours of that.  We had a great group of people, great weather, and a good challenging hike.  I encourge anyone who lives in CO to get out and try a 14er.  It's tough work, but the sense of accomplishment you get when you make it to the top makes it all worth it.  If you are interested in getting started on your first trip, head over to 14ers.com.  You'll find all the info you need, including how to prepare, routes, forums, and just friendly people willing to answer all your questions.

- - Rob