Mt. Belford Trip Report 06/04/2017

Report Type	Full
Peak(s)	Mt. Belford - 14,202 feet Missouri Mountain - 14,071 feet
Date Posted	06/04/2017
Date Climbed	06/03/2017
Author	laxcountrypiper

The Missouri Whomper
After reading last weeks report conderning the north couliers on Missiour, my buddy and I decided to give it a go. We left Denver after just after work, hungry for steep ski lines, undaunted by the long hike in. To satisfy our more literal hunger, I introduced my compatriot to in Leadville. A bedtime of 11:00 PM and a wake time of 4:00 AM put us on the trail at 5:15 PM, only a quarter hour later than we desired. Huffing it up in good time we hit the cabin remains at 6:30. Leaving the parking lot at 5:15, headlamps were no longer needed A linked pair of long and beautiful shoots off Belford's north side were mentally noticed at this time by my partner and I as we stammered through the valley in silence Belford's North side Winding our way up, our objective looked good from afar. Missouri's North side Shortly after the cabin, one could certainly ski the rest of the way up, we waited to transition until maybe midway through the high, low-angle valley until we were confident we could ski the entire way. At one juncture in the valley, the snow split, we went left. We could have skied the entire way had we gone right. Below the shoots, one must gain a short shelf and we saw a rout directly below the shoots, and one to the left. Both had tracks. Is possible another rout even further to the lookers right existed. We chose the rout that afforded us to keep our skis on longer, the rout directly below the shoots. Here it was 8:15 and the snow was soft, we sank up to our bood cuffs. I began to worry we were too late. On top of the shelf, the snow was different. It had a firm crust. My pole handle did not penetrate even with my full weight. My worry level quickly subsided. We took a long look at our options. There was avalanche debris in the area but not affecting our rout too much. We decided the main coulier was the way to go up and down because of more debirs in the C coulier. Main Coulier on Missouri "C" Cuolier on Missious Approaching the main coulier, we transitions to crampons and snow tools. Then, climbing just above old tracks that diverged into each coulier, we hear the massive whomp . My partner and I, separated by 100 feet both heard and felt it. I believe phrase said at that point was "Lets get the (heck) outa here". I noted the time was exactly 9:00 and we were both somewhat perplexed considering the conditions report last week. Later we learned it had snowed 9 inches on the upper portions Thursday which may have lead to a couple of snow layer not yet binding. We skied to the valley and schemed a new plan, climb the patchwork snow on the south side of Belford to the summit. The new plan required a long look, it was like trying to complete a maze. Several options were noticed and we headed up. Although thin, the snow was crusty and supportive. I summited around 11:00 if memory serves me correctly. Unfortunately my partner was gasses and only made it half-way up, so the option to do the NW gully was off the table for me because of that. The ski down was a delight and we made it almost all the way back to the half-cabin around 11:30. I consider the day salvaged. Orange - Ascent, Red - Descent, Blue - Considered for ascent Back to the car at 12:30 and took a quick dip in the raging river. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

The Missouri Whomper

After reading last weeks report conderning the north couliers on Missiour, my buddy and I decided to give it a go.

We left Denver after just after work, hungry for steep ski lines, undaunted by the long hike in. To satisfy our more literal hunger, I introduced my compatriot to in Leadville.

A bedtime of 11:00 PM and a wake time of 4:00 AM put us on the trail at 5:15 PM, only a quarter hour later than we desired. Huffing it up in good time we hit the cabin remains at 6:30.

Leaving the parking lot at 5:15, headlamps were no longer needed

A linked pair of long and beautiful shoots off Belford's north side were mentally noticed at this time by my partner and I as we stammered through the valley in silence

Winding our way up, our objective looked good from afar.

Shortly after the cabin, one could certainly ski the rest of the way up, we waited to transition until maybe midway through the high, low-angle valley until we were confident we could ski the entire way. At one juncture in the valley, the snow split, we went left. We could have skied the entire way had we gone right.

Below the shoots, one must gain a short shelf and we saw a rout directly below the shoots, and one to the left. Both had tracks. Is possible another rout even further to the lookers right existed. We chose the rout that afforded us to keep our skis on longer, the rout directly below the shoots. Here it was 8:15 and the snow was soft, we sank up to our bood cuffs. I began to worry we were too late.

On top of the shelf, the snow was different. It had a firm crust. My pole handle did not penetrate even with my full weight. My worry level quickly subsided.

We took a long look at our options. There was avalanche debris in the area but not affecting our rout too much. We decided the main coulier was the way to go up and down because of more debirs in the C coulier.

Approaching the main coulier, we transitions to crampons and snow tools. Then, climbing just above old tracks that diverged into each coulier, we hear the massive whomp

. My partner and I, separated by 100 feet both heard and felt it. I believe phrase said at that point was "Lets get the (heck) outa here". I noted the time was exactly 9:00 and we were both somewhat perplexed considering the conditions report last week. Later we learned it had snowed 9 inches on the upper portions Thursday which may have lead to a couple of snow layer not yet binding. We skied to the valley and schemed a new plan, climb the patchwork snow on the south side of Belford to the summit.

The new plan required a long look, it was like trying to complete a maze. Several options were noticed and we headed up. Although thin, the snow was crusty and supportive. I summited around 11:00 if memory serves me correctly. Unfortunately my partner was gasses and only made it half-way up, so the option to do the NW gully was off the table for me because of that. The ski down was a delight and we made it almost all the way back to the half-cabin around 11:30. I consider the day salvaged.

Orange - Ascent, Red - Descent, Blue - Considered for ascent

Back to the car at 12:30 and took a quick dip in the raging river.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

SchralpTheGnar

Nice tr
6/5/2017 9:12pm

Good job improvising, and persevering. FYI it's chutes and couloirs

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