Winter 14ers record attempt?

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Jorts
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Re: Winter 14ers record attempt?

Post by Jorts »

From Chris yesterday:
"Hoping I can traverse over to Kit Karson but the avenue traverse is very very loaded.. so I’m thinking Challenger/KC will be two separate outings."

Good on him if he managed to get over there.
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Re: Winter 14ers record attempt?

Post by andrewhamilton »

So i actually got a text from Chris while he was on the summit of challenger. He sent me a picture of kit Carson and asked if i had ever gone up the west-ish face from the saddle with kit Carson. I explained where i have gone up, but didn’t like the idea of descending the wall back down with the snow on it. In his picture the avenue was filled in so getting to the prow would have been hard.

He told me he was going to check it out. It looks to me like he made it up a ways and decided to back off. However i can’t say for sure they didn’t make the summit. I’ll post when i hear from him again.
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Re: Winter 14ers record attempt?

Post by SnowAlien »

In Jan'16, Dillon and I tried to make the Avenue "go" from the Cole couloir side, but came to our senses, backed off and went up Kit Carson. On the summit I saw tracks coming from the Prow side, Dillon thought I was hallucinating. That was until Maki posted some pix on Instagram, saying he made it up KC from Challenger, and not via the Avenue. I wouldn't have believed it had I not seen the footprints myself, that ridge looked rather improbable with snow.
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Re: Winter 14ers record attempt?

Post by justiner »

Chris and co are really movin'.

Maki is a quite an accomplished mixed climber.
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Re: Winter 14ers record attempt?

Post by andrewhamilton »

Here is what i heard from Chris, he clarified he did not try the face and was trying to get across the avenue:
“I backed off of KC. Got a pretty uneasy gut feeling when I was about halfway across & turned around. Fortunately, I figured that would happen so no big deal. Will go back via Spanish creek at some point”
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Re: Winter 14ers record attempt?

Post by KentonB »

Sounds like a smart move. Thanks for the update Andrew!
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Re: Winter 14ers record attempt?

Post by HikerBox »

andrewhamilton wrote: Thu Feb 02, 2023 3:57 pm
HikerBox wrote: Thu Feb 02, 2023 3:02 pm I think what these two are doing is incredible and wish them luck. That said, this forum seems to be forgetting the CO snowpacks ability to generate *new* and exciting weak layers.
I’m not really sure how you are getting the impression that the forum is forgetting about the dangers associated with climbing the Fourteeners in winter??? I’m sure Erin and Chris are going to be obsessed with avy conditions whether or not we get any new snow for awhile.
It just sounded like there was this assumption that avalanche conditions could improve for the rest of the attempt when it's more likely to be a window of a few weeks or less.
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Re: Winter 14ers record attempt?

Post by Jorts »

HikerBox wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 7:39 am It just sounded like there was this assumption that avalanche conditions could improve for the rest of the attempt when it's more likely to be a window of a few weeks or less.
Don’t mistake optimism for an assumption that conditions would improve for the rest of winter. I was proselytizing that the deep, homogenous snow setup -specifically here in the SJs- was conducive to stability. And look at that, we have some mid-winter stability!

I’m not a complete idiot, just partial.

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Re: Winter 14ers record attempt?

Post by the_hare »

Just did Sunshine & Redcloud from the Mill campground and heading towards Handies. Maybe he’s going up Grizzly Gulch or coming around to American basin. CAIC just put this area to green today, pretty good timing.

https://share.garmin.com/EYYHG
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Re: Winter 14ers record attempt?

Post by climbingcue »

the_hare wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 10:27 am Just did Sunshine & Redcloud from the Mill campground and heading towards Handies. Maybe he’s going up Grizzly Gulch or coming around to American basin. CAIC just put this area to green today, pretty good timing.

https://share.garmin.com/EYYHG
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Re: Winter 14ers record attempt?

Post by SnowAlien »

Skiing down! Advantage: skis ✔️. He's not in Sangres anymore!
P.S. Skiing off the NE face of Handies in winter - not too shabby.
Last edited by SnowAlien on Tue Feb 07, 2023 5:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Winter 14ers record attempt?

Post by andrewhamilton »

Redcloud, sunshine, and Handies without even getting back in the dark! Pretty spectacular!
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