Indian Peaks Current Conditions. Snow Oriented

Colorado peak questions, condition requests and other info.
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hardtryer
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Re: Indian Peaks Current Conditions. Snow Oriented

Post by hardtryer »

sorry Johnson just trying to make myself clear, as this has come up a couple times for me. and since your a climber that totally makes sense. lets say this.. there is still enough snow on queens way for it to be fun, sliding or climbing..


thank you killing- now to google earth!
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Johnson
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Re: Indian Peaks Current Conditions. Snow Oriented

Post by Johnson »

Thanks. I can imagine someone looking to ski and then find bout it isn't in would be frustrating. I know now for next time.
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moon stalker
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Re: Indian Peaks Current Conditions. Snow Oriented

Post by moon stalker »

Apache couloir was climable this past Saturday. It did have a short break in it, which obviously will get larger as the days progress, so skiers may not be happy with it. The break in snow on apache was shorter than the break in Queens Way on Saturday.
LIFE is what happens when plans go awry.
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jimw
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Re: Indian Peaks Current Conditions. Snow Oriented

Post by jimw »

I was up at Toll on Friday 7/5. Saw only one guy taking pictures at Blue lake, then when I was just about at the top of the snow on Toll, out pops hardtryer! Cool running into you and Brian up there man, we'll definitely have to get in some turns in the future. Anyway, the snow pretty lumpy. I found a nice lookers right steep entrance to the snowfield on Toll, had to unstrap once to get down to the lake. I'd say the snow conditions were just OK, borderline not worth it. HOWEVER... the POND SKIMMING is going off right now on Blue lake! So good in fact that I had to make a return trip with my buddy Ben on Monday 7/8 for another pond skim session. Read on for pics...

Here's Apache and Toll zoomed in from the road on Fri.

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The top of Apache couloir and Queens Way were significantly more melted out on Monday. The snow is going fast with the high temps/rain etc. Here's a zoomed out pic from Mon, and you can see it's more melted out.

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Some more comparison pics. Looking at Toll from the other side of Blue lake, Friday:

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... and Monday:

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Looking at the "Cooked Couloir" :) on Audobon with Blue lake below, Friday:

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Monday:

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Like I mentioned, I ran into hardtryer near the top of Toll. Here's a pic of him with some awesome terrain in the background.

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Getting back to the good stuff... did I mention that pond skimming conditions on the far end of Blue lake are primo??? This isn't gonna last long. The pond is actually sitting in a big chunk of floating snow/ice on the far end of the pond. On Monday it was barely still attached to the far shore. Pretty soon you're not gonna be able to get out to it... or maybe you could build a kicker from the shore! :)

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SOOOO much fun! If I lived out there I would totally go back there to session it again before it's gone... which could be this weekend at the rate things are melting. The cold water does weird things to your brain though. WTF???

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:)

I flew back to CA from Denver yesterday morning, and got some great views of IPW from the plane. I posted up all the full res pics in an archive here. It's about 100 MB, but you can zoom in to get a better idea of snow conditions in a particular area. Not ideal looking out a plastic plane window, but good enough for beta. I'm pretty sure I got the locations right in the notes below, but feel free to correct me; I'm not a CO native, and had to use Google earth/maps to figure out exactly what I was looking at...

Looking into IPW from the south. Pawnee is approx in the middle of the pic, and has a couple good looking lines.

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Closeup of Pawnee, middle right:

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IPW top right, 4th of July middle, Rollins Pass bottom left. The stuff near Rollins actually looks pretty good:

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Closeup of Rollins area:

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There are several more pics at full resolution in the archive link I posted above. If I were looking to get on snow this weekend, I'd probably go check out Rollins... or go session the Blue lake pond skim again!! :)
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kimo
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Re: Indian Peaks Current Conditions. Snow Oriented

Post by kimo »

Neat aerial shots of Rollins Pass area. Here's a pic taken Sunday (7/7) of Skyscraper glacier from the south ridge of Skyscraper Peak. Sorry the flowers got in the way.

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Danny504 wrote:Alex, as of now I'm heading up to S. Arapaho on Tuesday. I may do the traverse north, will let you know how it looks either way.
Danny, did you make the traverse to North Arapaho? How are conditions on the traverse? Heading up this weekend, just looking for a firsthand report. Thanks.
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Danny504
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Re: Indian Peaks Current Conditions. Snow Oriented

Post by Danny504 »

Arapaho traverse looks great. No snow, no gear needed. Some wet spots in the shade but should be good to go. Have fun!
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Tempelton
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Re: Indian Peaks Current Conditions. Snow Oriented

Post by Tempelton »

Neva
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S and N Arapaho
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Too bad you can't ski or climb up this snow...

Danny, did you end up doing the traverse? How was it? (I'm the guy you talked to on S Arapaho)
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Danny504
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Re: Indian Peaks Current Conditions. Snow Oriented

Post by Danny504 »

Tempelton wrote: Danny, did you end up doing the traverse? How was it? (I'm the guy you talked to on S Arapaho)
I did, took some time to think it over and went for it. Maybe I shouldn't have gone alone but it was worth it. Had N. Arapaho all to myself.
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kimo
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Re: Indian Peaks Current Conditions. Snow Oriented

Post by kimo »

Danny504 wrote:
Tempelton wrote: Danny, did you end up doing the traverse? How was it? (I'm the guy you talked to on S Arapaho)
I did, took some time to think it over and went for it. Maybe I shouldn't have gone alone but it was worth it. Had N. Arapaho all to myself.
Never know until you go. From what I remember it's a fun laid back route made easier by the crux bypass if one chooses. Good solo traverse to have some fun on without getting too crazy. Went solo my first time, heading up with friends this time. Really appreciate the conditions update. Glad to hear you had a good time. It's a sweet mountain, route, and view.
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