Ski Elbert

[atalarico]

Anyone know if there's still enough snow left to ski Elbert (with the understanding that it will be hot and lacking a freeze this weekend)? Is it possible to just ski low-angle safe stuff off the summit still, or is the Box Couloir area probably the only place holding snow still?

Thanks!

Edited to add: Also realizing there might be better conditions if we drove up South Half-Moon Creek and climbed one of the West couloirs?! This is kind of more intriguing to me! https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=6306

[AlexeyD]

Haven't been there recently, but here's a webcam that gives a decent view of current conditions on Elbert and Massive: https://www.wunderground.com/webcams/zdjh22/1/show.html

[atalarico]

Haven't been there recently, but here's a webcam that gives a decent view of current conditions on Elbert and Massive: https://www.wunderground.com/webcams/zdjh22/1/show.html

Oh my! It sort of looks like you still could ride from the summit (carefully) on the east slopes. I'm guessing South Halfmoon should be awesome given that it's West facing, etc. Oh this is exciting. Thanks for the link!

[bergsteigen]

The west side of Elbert is dry, as seen from Champion last Friday. East side looked snowy. Don't specifically remember the low angle east ridge. I would imagine skiing it shortly after sunrise, may be possible.

[atalarico]

The west side of Elbert is dry, as seen from Champion last Friday. East side looked snowy. Don't specifically remember the low angle east ridge. I would imagine skiing it shortly after sunrise, may be possible.

Huh. Damn. Could you specifically see the half moon couloir?





It looks like it holds snow when everything else appears dry around it. At least, that's what I'm hoping for.

[atalarico]

The big question mark would be whether or not the water crossing(s) on that branch of the road are too burly for my 4Runner. I have a 3" lift and 32" tires, but still, spring run-off water crossings are no joke and watching my truck get carried away would be a bad way to start a ski day.

[bergsteigen]

Unfortunately, I didn't spend a lot of time on Champion, since the freeze was bad, and we just wanted off the mountain with the clouds and possible afternoon storm. I'll check my camera in a couple hours, but I'm guessing if it was in view of Champion, then it's at a minimum, dry for a long bit off the summit.

[Count40]

Post by bergsteigen » Wed Jun 07, 2017 3:21 pm
Unfortunately, I didn't spend a lot of time on Champion, since the freeze was bad, and we just wanted off the mountain with the clouds and possible afternoon storm. I'll check my camera in a couple hours, but I'm guessing if it was in view of Champion, then it's at a minimum, dry for a long bit off the summit.

Diverting the thread a bit sideways. Bergsteigen, can you maybe tell a bit more about Champion condition, when you find time?

[bergsteigen]

Diverting the thread a bit sideways. Bergsteigen, can you maybe tell a bit more about Champion condition, when you find time?

We went up the west face on some couloir/gully I had spotted the day before, since the south face ridge was almost completely dry. The stream crossing wasn't too bad in my sandals, underneath the western snow gully. The snow on the west had gotten evening rain, and was really firm in places, and not quite in others. As we neared the top, it became unsupportive, so we went to the south ridge to complete the climb more efficiently. The east side is fully filled in, and you can chose from the NE, E and SE lines directly off the corniced summit. We probably should have skied the NE line (likely firmer snow), but I went down the more tempting east, and Joel the SE. The more solar you were, the more sloppy the snow, even in the morning when we dropped (around 9am). We managed to ski almost continuous snow down to the other stream crossing by the TH.

[Count40]

Diverting the thread a bit sideways. Bergsteigen, can you maybe tell a bit more about Champion condition, when you find time?

We went up the west face on some couloir/gully I had spotted the day before, since the south face ridge was almost completely dry. The stream crossing wasn't too bad in my sandals, underneath the western snow gully. The snow on the west had gotten evening rain, and was really firm in places, and not quite in others. As we neared the top, it became unsupportive, so we went to the south ridge to complete the climb more efficiently. The east side is fully filled in, and you can chose from the NE, E and SE lines directly off the corniced summit. We probably should have skied the NE line (likely firmer snow), but I went down the more tempting east, and Joel the SE. The more solar you were, the more sloppy the snow, even in the morning when we dropped (around 9am). We managed to ski almost continuous snow down to the other stream crossing by the TH.

Thanks. Apologies to atalarico for post/thread disruption.