Skiing a Peak: What it takes

Info, conditions and gear related to skiing or riding Colorado Peaks, including the 14ers!
Forum rules
  • This is a mountaineering forum, so please keep your posts on-topic. Posts do not all have to be related to the 14ers but should at least be mountaineering-related.
  • Personal attacks and confrontational behavior will result in removal from the forum at the discretion of the administrators.
  • Do not use this forum to advertise, sell photos or other products or promote a commercial website.
  • Posts will be removed at the discretion of the site administrator or moderator(s), including: Troll posts, posts pushing political views or religious beliefs, and posts with the purpose of instigating conflict within the forum.
For more details, please see the Terms of Use you agreed to when joining the forum.
weakenedwarrior
Posts: 31
Joined: 11/5/2020
14ers: 32  1  15 
13ers: 34 3 3
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Skiing a Peak: What it takes

Post by weakenedwarrior »

bergsteigen wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 4:32 pm This is where timing is so tricky to get perfect. General rule of thumb work most times, but then comes in weather. Wind and a slow warm up mean that these generalized rules won’t work so well.

Sunday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 22. Blustery, with a west wind 13 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph.

From what I remember on James, it’s windy AF up there. Will the sun or the wind win out? My guess is that the wind will keep things fairy cold. Last peak I skied, the snow stayed frozen up top, and only a much lower valley zone out of the wind corned up. It’s still early spring. Those generalized rules are more for late April and May.
aholle88 wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 4:38 pm This is where the science/art detail comes into play. Air temperature is only one variable. If it’s sunny and there’s low wind, 15 degrees can feel smoking hot on an exposed eastern/southern aspect and will still turn the snow into mash potatoes. A little cloud cover/high clouds and some wind, and then the snow might stay good for a while. Always better to get there earlier than later, especially with fresh snow on the table.
Thank you two for your input, I appreciate it.
User avatar
Dave B
Posts: 2387
Joined: 6/14/2010
Trip Reports (9)
 

Re: Skiing a Peak: What it takes

Post by Dave B »

Col_Forbin wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 5:09 pm Bill, you're the man! I think a simple asterisk to label a ski descent being not from the true summit would be easy?

A board icon would be great too. :mrgreen: Sorry can't help it!
I was trying to think of a way to show "I make all my partners wait on me, a lot" but I think a board icon will probably do pretty well.

I'm kidding, I love split boarders.
Make wilderness less accessible.
User avatar
AnnaG22
Posts: 814
Joined: 9/16/2013
14ers: 58  7  20 
13ers: 124 3 6
Trip Reports (5)
 
Contact:

Re: Skiing a Peak: What it takes

Post by AnnaG22 »

Kumbayaaaaaa chatboard, kumbayaaaaaa
Calm yo tits, chatboard, calm yo tits
We all like mountains, kumbayaaaaaaa

Please assume good intent, everybody, and try to not be hypocrites :-D
"The love of wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth, the earth which bore us and sustains us, the only home we shall ever know, the only paradise we ever need – if only we had the eyes to see." -Ed Abbey

"I get scared sometimes—lots of times—but it's not bad. You know? I feel close to myself. When I'm out there at night, I feel close to my own body, I can feel my blood moving, my skin and my fingernails, everything, it's like I'm full of electricity and I'm glowing in the dark—I'm on fire almost—I'm burning away into nothing—but it doesn't matter because I know exactly who I am." from The Things They Carried
User avatar
greenonion
Posts: 1890
Joined: 10/3/2012
14ers: 50  1 
13ers: 2
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Skiing a Peak: What it takes

Post by greenonion »

AnnaG22 wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 5:36 pm Kumbayaaaaaa chatboard, kumbayaaaaaa
Calm yo tits, chatboard, calm yo tits
We all like mountains, kumbayaaaaaaa

Please assume good intent, everybody, and try to not be hypocrites :-D
+ a BUNCH
pvnisher
Posts: 1723
Joined: 9/28/2006
Trip Reports (8)
 

Re: Skiing a Peak: What it takes

Post by pvnisher »

BillMiddlebrook wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 12:26 pm I hope to have something in a few days. I promise it won't be perfect but I'll make an attempt and will welcome public input.
Since most ski trips are ski ON the mountain, not true summit descents (I assume), I think an indicator showing it was a summit descent would be better than an asterisk to show NOT on summit.

Like, there's the regular ski icon. Skied ON the mountain.
Then there's the ski icon with a gold star or a halo. For summit descents.
User avatar
k_fergie
Posts: 296
Joined: 8/28/2019
14ers: 58  2  1 
13ers: 160 33 5
Trip Reports (5)
 

Re: Skiing a Peak: What it takes

Post by k_fergie »

Col_Forbin wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 5:09 pm Bill, you're the man! I think a simple asterisk to label a ski descent being not from the true summit would be easy?

A board icon would be great too. :mrgreen: Sorry can't help it!
^^ Now this guy gets it!
I thought, I taught, I wrought
User avatar
Posthole Pete
Posts: 8
Joined: 2/18/2018
14ers: 32  28  5 
13ers: 161 101 20
Trip Reports (1)
 
Contact:

Re: Skiing a Peak: What it takes

Post by Posthole Pete »

I guess I got super lucky on Missouri.
a forest wrote: Thu Apr 15, 2021 6:23 pm I coincidently was just reading a Missouri TR that related to this thread, kinda funny.
The sensible decision here would be to ski from the start of the snow. But no, that wouldn’t count. All winter long this peak can be skied off the top and just because we were late shouldn’t allow us any slack in the rules. We could come back later to redo it right, but we were already here, and it was so close to being a true summit ski. Lou managed it from the top as well….

So there we were, laying my jacket down, shoveling it full of snow and hauling it up to a point to dump it out, over and over, until Missouri once again skied from its summit. We were waiting for the snow to soften anyway and now we could ski and know it was done right. It seemed incredibly silly at the time but felt right when it was done.
Image

https://stuckintherockies.com/2005/06/s ... -mountain/

Either way, the skier is smiling so they're doing something right.
d_baker
Posts: 3095
Joined: 11/18/2007
14ers: 58  15 
13ers: 348 11
Trip Reports (59)
 

Re: Skiing a Peak: What it takes

Post by d_baker »

pvnisher wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 5:58 pm
BillMiddlebrook wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 12:26 pm I hope to have something in a few days. I promise it won't be perfect but I'll make an attempt and will welcome public input.
Since most ski trips are ski ON the mountain, not true summit descents (I assume), I think an indicator showing it was a summit descent would be better than an asterisk to show NOT on summit.

Like, there's the regular ski icon. Skied ON the mountain.
Then there's the ski icon with a gold star or a halo. For summit descents.
Skier icon with the peak of the mountain under skis.

I wonder if these types of discussions on the 'icon' features (e.g., ski - snowflake; or the 3000k 'rule followed' - solo - etc) would ever have happened if there was no icon to put next to your/mine/our profile.
User avatar
cougar
Posts: 1179
Joined: 8/9/2007
14ers: 58  2 
13ers: 135 2
Trip Reports (10)
 
Contact:

Re: Skiing a Peak: What it takes

Post by cougar »

Sounds similar to the 3000ft rule and the checkbox for it

Icon could be something like an x or checkmark to show off the talent, or straddling a pointy summit
unnamed.jpg
unnamed.jpg (33.36 KiB) Viewed 4222 times
http://www.listsofjohn.com/m/cougar

"If we don't change direction, we'll end up where we're going."
"Bushwhacking is like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're gonna get."
"Don't give up on your dreams, stay asleep"
User avatar
lodgling
Posts: 537
Joined: 6/21/2005
14ers: 58  58  2 
13ers: 18 1
Trip Reports (12)
 

Re: Skiing a Peak: What it takes

Post by lodgling »

BillMiddlebrook wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 12:26 pm
Scary_Canary wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 11:52 am This was a gigantic waste of time.
I don't think it was. At a minimum, it made me think of stuff I can add to the checklist and trip report pages to help clarify ski descents, winter ascents, etc. I certainly don't want the "Skied ON this Peak" trip reports to go away because they are very helpful.

I hope to have something in a few days. I promise it won't be perfect but I'll make an attempt and will welcome public input.
A solution in search of problem, I think. But I'm sure you'll figure something out. My concern that it somehow alters the status quo such that those who have checked their ski boxes for past summits would have to come back and change their lists. Most of the ski finishers have moved on to other things. That list in the OP shouldn't be altered by whatever you do IMO.
User avatar
nyker
Posts: 3227
Joined: 12/5/2007
14ers: 58 
13ers: 25
Trip Reports (69)
 

Re: Skiing a Peak: What it takes

Post by nyker »

I haven't made any ski descents down any peak. I only started skiing this year for the first time and felt pretty accomplished getting to the top of a local golf course hill in XC skis, think it was the 5th hole and then making my "descent" off that hill to what I assume was the fairway under 5ft of snow, all in my new skis without falling down! So there. ha.

To the main point in this topic, part of me thinks who cares, and to each is own. This is sort of akin to the discussions of what constitutes a "solo" climb and the importance some ascribe to that and the arguments that inevitably ensue from those claims.

I say climb and ski what you want, get out there and have fun doing it maybe challenge yourself at times, that's the purpose right? I was thrilled making my "first" hill descent off the 5th hole, solo nonetheless, haha!

My two cents: To check a box here and there to show status and your accomplishments, that's pretty innocent. For anyone trying to publicly claim all the ski descents to a community that places a priority on doing it the "right way", or if you are being promotional to market that accomplishment for your own gain, then one must be held to a higher standard and look to those who accomplished the same thing before them and follow their lead as to what constitutes a proper descent, else face criticism. It's always been that way and social media exacerbates that tendency. Sort of like the posts of "did I summit Sunlight if I didn't climb the summit block"? Practically, yes, but in reality you didn't.

Lou Dawson spells it out pretty clearly here:

https://www.loudawson.com/bios/web-inte ... wson-2006/

"First, the definition of skiing a fourteener is based on who did what before you. For example, if the peak has been skied from the summit during an average snow year, continuously, down to a logical stopping point (valley or trailhead), then that (in my opinion and by current cultural consensus) provides a definition for the next attempt. This is why I skied Pyramid Peak from the summit, as Chris Landry had done this before me. So I wasn’t going to ski it from a lower and easier point and claim a ski descent."
pvnisher
Posts: 1723
Joined: 9/28/2006
Trip Reports (8)
 

Re: Skiing a Peak: What it takes

Post by pvnisher »

d_baker wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 6:17 pm
pvnisher wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 5:58 pm Like, there's the regular ski icon. Skied ON the mountain.
Then there's the ski icon with a gold star or a halo. For summit descents.
Skier icon with the peak of the mountain under skis.
No. It has to be something to appropriately indicate and confer status appropriate and commensurate to the achievement of these gods among us.
Post Reply