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El Diente, another tough peak in calendar winter. It is hard to get a good read on conditions with this peak. Mt Wilson's summit gives a good vantage point, otherwise you might as well hike in to upper Kilpacker basin to see for yourself. Mike had favorable things to say about the snow conditions he saw during his traverse from Mt. Wilson to El Diente in December. Sounds like a good possibility. Joe, Kevin, and Sarah invited me to climb this peak the weekend before, but I had family obligations. They broke trail to lower Kilpacker basin, found running water, and set up camp. The next day they were turned around near 13,100' due to unstable snow conditions in the upper basin. They retreated with sad hearts.
Their view of the El Diente after turning around the week before.
Picture of the upper slopes from the previous weekends attempt
View of unstable snow on our successful ascent. At least we knew how to avoid it this time.......
Snow that turned Kevin, Joe, and Sarah last weekend
I sent a message to the 3 of them on Monday morning to see if they had a successful trip, left me a pretty trench to poach. I think I even mentioned the word "pay" somewhere..... I got an immediate response from Kevin. Good news, the trench was in!!!!! Bad news, they were going to try again on Sunday the 26th as a day trip. Would I like to join them for a 3am start? I was stunned at their proposal. 21 miles, 5K, and a little 3rd or 4th class at the top is not their normal game plan. Did they start doping? Stop drinking beer? Stem Cell Cocktail was my drink....I made some excuse that I had to be at work in Denver at 7am on Monday, and said I would get back with them. I called Joe, hoping for a more pedestrian plan. Joe's plan of hiking in Saturday to Kilpacker basin, summit on Sunday, and possibly spending Sunday night at camp, then hike out Monday morning sounded more appealing. Joe dubbed the Papperson the "Zombie peakbaggers", after hearing their plan. I really did have to work on Monday, so I ended up hiking in on Saturday to lessen the time in the pain cave on Sunday. I'm not sure what the going price of a trench is, but what I saw on the way in meant I would have to put it on my credit card. Someone had driven a PistenBully with an Alpinflextiller over the road sometime during the week. There was a perfectly flat, corduroy road in front of me. Where was my bike?
Zombie sighting at 4am.
Zombie sign
We decided on a 6am meeting/start from camp. Kevin and Sarah arrived at 5:40am after cruising the superhighway, not even using the snowshoes after the trench started at the summer trailhead. They continued on to the watering hole, while Joe and I finished packing. We caught up to them, only to discover the water that was running last weekend, was now 3 inches of ice. Kevin and Sarah only packed in 1 liter each, so it was imperative that they get and treat the water in the creek. We left them to chop through the ice, and continued on. Spacing us out on the harder slopes ahead would be safer, and I could break trail if needed. We got to the cliffband at 11K, and ditched our snowshoes.
The elusive Joe early in the am
We got above the waterfall/cliffband following a mix of rock and firm snow in the summer trail without much difficulty. Joe and I took the high line to get above some suspect snow that was encountered on their previous attempt.
Getting close to the upper slopes
Passing under the SW face of El Diente in the morning sun
View of our route taken on the way down. I will try and photoshop our route in later. Right now, I am being bullied by the Zombies to get the TR done.
Route choices as seen on the descent
After we kicked steps up the steeper snow, we emerged into the upper bowl. We decided to go straight up, then take the traverse to the summit. The snow was getting soft already. Joe floated up the slope, not really getting into the unconsolidated snow underneath. It was a different story for the rest of us heavyweights.
Joe leading the upper slopes
Kevin and Sarah slogging
Once we got to the traverse, things were looking up. The snow was more supportive, we could see the route ahead to the ridge, the weather was downright pleasant.
Kevin at the beginning of the traverse
Once we got to the ridge we were able to assess the route on the north side of the peak. We had 2 choices. Get on the ridge proper, possibly getting into some hard climbing, or try the summer route, dealing with the inevitable unconsolidated windblown snow of the north face. We chose to try the summer route first.
Kevin and Sarah on the north side
There was only one short spot that gave us hesitation. Cross a 10' snowslope with a poor runout, or go up high into the possibly loose rock below the ridgeline. I chose the direct line through the snow. Joe went across up high. Kevin and Sarah tried to go up high, but were unable to follow in Joe's path.
I was waiting to get a picture of them topping out on the little rib past the section, but Kevin let out some (more than one) Fbombs. We went to investigate, only to find Kevin chest deep in unconsolidated snow trying the upper route. It was like quicksand to Kevin. They made it across the lower path. And we were on our way to the summit.
The serious side of Kevin and Sarah
Kevin on cornice
We all made the summit within 15 minutes of each other. The views did not disappoint.
West ridge of Mt. Sneffels
Summit Panoramic
We all made the traverse back to the south slopes without incident.
Sarah downclimbing
As a side note, we saw tracks on the traverse below the organ pipes. We assumed they were from Mad Mike and his traverse, but Joe told me that there was a party on the west ridge of El Diente the same weekend that they turned around. I wonder if some of the tracks were from that party?
A look back at the traverse
Descending after the traverse
Kilpacker basin
Lower Kilpacker cr.
Descending the rest of the route went pretty easy. We could not glissade, but we only broke through occasionally up to our waist. Here we are plungestepping down the steeper section we went up to get to the upper bowl below the organ pipes and the traverse.
Descending
We were all excited to have summited El Diente in Winter. I was especially proud of Kevin and Sarah for stepping up their game to get to the summit. Steep snow, scrambling on rock in the unconsolidated snow on the north face, and in a day no less was impressive to see. Joe has 46 winter summits under his belt. It is always a pleasure to climb with him.
Sarah feeling success
Snow, wind, and shadows
Upper Kilpacker basin on the way out
Joe and I got to the creek first. Joe was going to spend another night at camp, and hike out in the morning. I rechopped the hole to the water, filled 2 liters, and met Joe in camp. Kevin and Sarah needed water also, but I still had to break down camp, so I continued on meeting Joe in camp, planning on hiking out with the Zombies. I treated the water, saw Joe lounging in the sun without a jacket. I thought about saying something, but decided to just smile at the sight of a man content in the warm sun. After all , I was the one poaching. It was now 4pm, camp was all packed up, but no sign of Kevin and Sarah. I asked Joe if I should wait for them. We joked that they started as zombies, and that they would be all right finishing as zombies. I started hiking, enjoying, the setting sun on the surrounding peaks on the way out. I has to use the headlamp the last 30 minutes out. That was all right, as long as the zombies did not attack me. Turns out they were only 45 minutes behind. I was on the road by 7pm, got home at 2am. There were several time I wished I was asleep in my car at the trailhead like Kevin and Sarah.
Sheep mtn., San Miguel Pk., Grizzly pk B
I don't want to be a zombie
Road away from zombieland
West Wilson
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
Earned that snow flake. Great photos
No mention of Paperson meal prep ?
Angel hair pasta with fresh pesto?
Greg it looked doable with the mountain bike
Maybe next time?
That was awesome! Nice pictures....always nice to see the serious side of Kevin and Sarah! And there were even a few pictures of Joe! What a treat. Congrats on a successful trip! Good job guys
John- The bike would have been sweet. No way to know the road was groomed....The trip out would have taken 1.5 hours max.
Kay- We only stay on top for 20 minutes. Joe gets the award for most lounging on the trip. He looked way too comfortable in the sun back at camp. Maybe 2 hours for him?
Natalie- A Tr maybe sometime.
Darin- I fixed the pictures with Bill's help. I am up to 34 snowflakes. Still a few to go, but some of the harder ones are behind me now. I don't know what Kevin and Sarah are up to. Joe is getting up there, as is Mike.
I don't know where Joe got this whole zombie thing, but I certainly did feel like the walking dead getting back to the car that night. The elation of having finally stuck this peak kept a little life in me, of course.
Awesome job on the TR, Greg. See, we bugged you because we knew you'd do your best work under pressure, right? Thanks, once again, for helping to calm my nerves in a couple of dicey spots up there.
And to answer your question.... hell no, we didn't stop drinking beer. In fact I'm pretty sure we came up with the whole daytrip idea over a couple of ”pops.” :D
Thank you for the report, Mr. Summit Lounger. Once again, you provide a clear roadmap on how to tackle something like that in winter. Hopefully this would come very handy at some point in the future. Congrats to the whole team on the outstanding accomplishment.
Btw, where is the report on S. Maroon? I gather the other 2 zombies weren't bullying you hard enough. :)
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