Steep Ski Clinic

Dave Barnard and Eli enjoyed a stormy day in RMNP on St. Patrick's Day while on a Steep Skiing Clinic in the Tyndall Gorge where thick grey skies and an intermittent strong wind from the west made for a somewhat ominous atmosphere in what is normally sunny Colorado.  We received about 4" of fresh during our 7hr. outing and Dave was able to experience steep uphill skinning in the Dream Chutes where we skinned up 30-40 degree slopes to reach the ridgecrest overlooking Lake Haiyaha and Dream Lake, although visibility at that point was limited to approx. 100 meters. After three pitches of steep skiing in overall great snow, we headed west to Emerald Lake where we step kicked up the last part of our ascent in the Dead Elk Couloir area due to a firm melt-freeze crust that formed earlier in the week and made for tricky skinning conditions and a fast downhill ride.

 

Dave nearing the top of the east ridge of Hallett Peak above Dream Lake.

 

The first turns of the day on a 45 degree slope at the top of the ridge. Despite strong winds and new snow, we found no evidence of reactive wind slabs despite a day long search for these lurking beasts.

 

Putting the skins back on for a trip into the Dragontail zone.

Creamy snow in the lower Dream Chutes.

Skinning up the lower apron in challenging conditions with fresh snow on a slippery melt-freeze crust.

 Some sweet turns on the DT apron.

Kicking steps in a hard melt-freeze crust up the lower apron of the Dead Elk Couloir.

Skating across a snow covered Emerald Lake with the still boney apron of the DT showing much stone.

Alpine Training Eldo Style

As an internationally licensed mountain guide living in the Front Range of Colorado, it can be frustrating trying to provide alpine training services locally due to no permits being available for commercial guiding on our local federal lands including all National Parks and Forests.  We can easily obtain permits to pack many horses into the hills, yank many trout out of the streams, clear-cut fores or mine for minerals,etc;  But taking students and guests out climbing with minimal impact (close to none) is prohibited by these agencies so that they can "preserve the resources".  This is certainly one place where we'd like to see a change at the federal level in the name of common sense, but until then we just have to be creative on where and when alpine training can happen without flying to Alaska, Canada, the Andes, or Alps where our guiding licenses are recognized and due access is readily available.

Timing is everything in the mountains and so when my long-term expedition client Steve recently phoned from Philadelphia requesting some training days this spring before our planned climbs in Bolivia later this year, I suggested that we wait and see what the weather was doing before finalizing our plans.  With a big dumpage in the southern part of the Front Range this last week providing extra accumulations in Eldorado Canyon, we grabbed our crampons and ice axes and headed to the east face of the Redgarden Wall for what turned out to be a perfect day of alpine training for a 71 yr. old part-time climber from the big city preparing for his next big mountain route.

Our path was up the east face of the Redgarden Wall to the summit with a  rappel descent of the west face via the Dirty Deeds Chimney and Vertigo rappels which descend vertical and overhanging terrain to the base of the escarpment.  Starting at 8am, we completed the loop in 7 hrs on what was a beautiful day in Eldorado Canyon full of snow, ice, and rock climbing for over 1500' of vertical elevation gain. and descent.

Steve at the base of the east face of the Redgarden Wall as the sun first touches the icicles of the night.

Steve on the crux pitch of the day.

Soaking up a bit of sun on our fourth pitch of the day.

Nearing the top of the East Face with the bungalows of Eldorado Springs below.

Via Ferratta on the final sections of the trail down to the canyon base.

Steve starting the awkward Dirty Deeds Chimney rappel to the top of the Upper Ramp.

Hanging at the Den with Finley

The Bear's Den has been a fun place to enjoy routes with friends and after hearing the stories, our recent 5yr. old Finley decided that he was going to join in the cold madness and hang with us in the Den this week.  Monday, March 11th was a very snowy day in RMNP!

Finley and Ryan crossing Bear Lake on the long approach to the Den.

Finley's 1st snow cave with many more to come!

Ryan on Spider Nuts.

Finley tries out the monkey foot option for multi-grip dry tooling.

"These things are heavy!"

Finley happy to reach the high point on Spider Nuts.

Ryan trying hard at the thin crux.

Pika Glacier Alaska Ski Trip

The Alaska Range is one of the most spectacular mountain landscapes on the planet and the glaciers and cold powder in the spring months are a skier's delight with a limitless supply of slopes to feed the powder addiction for many lifetimes.  Since visiting this range for the first time in 1994, Eli has been fortunate to return every year to lead climbing and skiing trips in one of his favorite places for mountain adventures and he'll be returning again in April of 2013 with a small group of skiers to explore more virgin slopes of deep powder and amazing vistas.

Glacier skiing avoids one of the weak layers in the snowpack that we find abundant in non-glaciated terrain which is the formation of depth hoar on the glacier surfaces.  Nearby ridges and other areas may have this heinous weak layer in supply, but the cold base of a glacier negates the formation of this basal facet and so we are primarily focused on surface layering which in the past has primarily consisted of sloughing on the steep slopes we visit.

Dropped into the Pika Glacier by our partners at Talkeetna Air Taxi, this was another amazing week of skiing in North America's greatest mountain range and we had the place to ourselves.  Powder stayed deep and cold while the corn cycle on south slopes started and ended late in the day for a range of predictable options with LOW avi danger and a well covered glacier system.

We can't wait to return in April of 2013- maybe you should join us?

ClimbingLife Guides Alaska Ski Expedtion

Seth finding deep powder in the Hobbit Hop Couloir (45 degree powder, 300m).

Climbing up from the base of the Hobbit Hop with the Royal Tower in the near distance.

An amazing ascent and descent of the Bella Couloir (45 degree corn, 600m) on Italy's Boot.

Perry, Jim, Eli, Dave, Seth, and Mike on our 2012 April trip into the Pika Glacier.

Mike ripping it up in the lower half of the quickly warming Bella Couloir on the south face of Italy's Boot.

Seth dropping a knee in the lower narrow of the Bella Couloir.  Our up track stretches across the valley to skirt around the ice fall to the Pika.

Jim the Flyin' Hawaiian impressed us all with his smooth skiing and true Aloha spirit.

Headng up above camp towards telephone col and another 200m high lap of silk powder in the 35-45 degree range.

Jim, Perry, and Dave reaching the top of the Hobbit Hop Couloir.

Mt. Foraker rising up to 17,400' and only behind Denali and St. Elias as the highest peaks in the United States.  Foraker is one of the most difficult in the Alaska Range with only a handful of ascents and many accidents and deaths on its windswept heights.

Sweet lines above camp on the Pika.

TAT is the top rated flight service in Alaska and flying in their beautifully restored Otters and Beaver  ski equipped planes is a highlight of any trip to the Alaska Range.

Jim finding sweet powder in the center of the Hobbit Hop Couloir.

Dave resting up for the next lap of sunny powder and blue skies, no wind skiing on the Pika in April.

Dave, Perry, and Mike getting ready for another run down the Sunset Couloir, just 30 minutes above base camp and with corn conditions in the 5-7pm time frame on this trip.

Jim jump turning in the 48 degree steeps of the Flyin' Hawaiian Couloir on the south face of Italy's Boot.

The TAT otter with chief pilot Richard Olmstead dropping us off on the Pika.  Eli and Richard first flew together in 1994 at midnight on a summer solstice and have been connecting regularly in the Alaska Range since that time.

Dave enjoying some soft corn in the later afternoon of the Sunset Couloir (40 degree, 200m)

Typical roomy and well insulated camp tent.  Temperatures inside the tents reach 80F in the day with nighttime lows reaching the single digits but quickly warming up with the early sunrise at this time of year.

After too many years of yearning for cheeseburgers mid-trip, we've adopted a regular cheeseburger (or tofu) diet along with fresh omelets, toasted bagels, drip coffee, burritos, and other non-typical camping cuisine.  The only thing we miss is pizza and luckily some of the best in the world is available at the  Moose's Tooth Pub  in Anchorage to take care of that need before we jump on the plane home.

Mike Arnold has been training for a few seasons in AK with Eli while preparing for his upcoming AMGA Ski Mountaineering Guide Exams.  Mike has already passed his Aspirant Exams in Ski Mountaineering, Alpine and Rock Guiding and so is only one more set of exams away from full IFMGA Licensing.  Eli "enjoyed' his exams in the Thompson Pass area of AK in the springs of 2002 and 2003 under the tutelage of senior IFMGA Ski Guides.

Seth staying warm on the long, steep climb up the Bella Couloir on the south face of Italy's Boot.  Who thought we'd be so warm in mid-April in the middle of the Alaska Range.  Global warming?

Jacket Field Repair

The other day while stomping the short distance to my favorite drooling (drytooling san ice) crag the dreaded broken branch grabbed my Rab Neutrino Endurance Jacket that I had recently declared to be very cut resistant so I knew that this was mountain street justice in action and lost no mojo fretting over this large incision.

Just as I was trained in my Wilderness First Responder medical program, I quickly applied pressure with my hand to staunch the flow of feathers while we finished the approach to the Den. 

Lacking my usual bag of bandages, duct, and athletic tape due to them all being in my "work" repair kits, it was time for a bit of improvisation.  And although personally I've never been a fan of lots of stickers on helmets, cars, etc.; this time a sticker saved the day (and a lot of feathers) as illustrated below.

The incision caused by a broken fir branch along the trail, minimal feather loss at this point.

The crux of this procedure was removing the sticker intact from the stick clip that it was adorning.  Apologies to our sponsor Upslope that we didn't have one of yours on this key piece of cragging equipment.

The most important technique that I will need to film to make clear and to eliminate some liability is the use of a lighter to adhere the sticker to the jacket.  I've used this technique countless times over the year in tent repairs primarily with duct tape as the flame warms the tape adhesive enough to get a long-lasting result.  In this case, the lighter was just as important as the sticker as it wouldn't have adhered otherwise.  Guess it's time to find an Upslope sticker to replace this one!