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Peak(s):  Quandary Peak  -  14,272 feet
Date Posted:  04/22/2014
Modified:  02/11/2018
Date Climbed:   04/19/2014
Author:  Chinook
 Cristo Couloir - Quandary Peak   

The forecast didn't look great as it called for possible rain/snow in the morning and thunderstorms in the afternoon. I wasn't sure how good it would be but Nate, Dave, and I decided to give Quandary a go and turn back if the weather didn't cooperate.

Nate and Dave have done a lot of back country skiing, but neither had skied a 14er before, so I thought the Cristo Couloir would be a great first descent. I've skied Quandary 3 times before, but had not done Cristo, so I was really excited. We left Morrison at about 3:45 AM, met up at the Mammoth Lot and got to the trailhead around 5:30 AM. We started skinning up right around 6:00 AM.
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Nate and Dave skinning up


There is a ton of snow and the skinning begins right at the car (2 years ago you had to hike to treeline to find the first snow). We made decent time getting to treeline and had 2 shed 2 layers pretty quickly as there was no wind with temps around 30 degrees.
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Heading into the wide open trees


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Coming up the big hump


There was only one spot on the whole skin up that did not have continuous snow, which was only about a 50 foot section. Skins work well on grass to as Nate and Dave demonstrate.
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Skinning across the bald spot


We felt good making it over the 2nd hump, but I really felt it on the final 1,000+ feet heading to the summit. I was kind of lazy over the winter so I am not in as good of shape as I've been in the past and I definitely felt it as this was my first 14er of the year.

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Making the final push up the ridge


The final push really gassed me and it didn't help that I started sliding back on my skins. Dave had to take his skis off and boot pack it up the final 500 ft. None the less we made the summit around 10:00 AM.
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In the clouds on the summit


We were pretty socked in on top so we waited around 20 minutes as the clouds started to clear. Dave jumped in the Cristo Couloir first, then I followed.
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Dropping in


The snow was extremely hard and icy (as we expected) up top and our skis had quite a chatter fest on the initial descent. Nate dropped in shortly after.
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Nate coming down from summit


Hanging on for dear life!
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Nate making hard crusty turns


The top quarter of the run was definitely a no fall zone as you have to maneuver through a few rock fields before getting to the continuous wide open couloir.

My legs were pretty tired from the skin up and I could feel the burn on the descent down.
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Taking a breather


After taking a breather, Nate headed down
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Nate skiing down


As we neared the middle of the couloir, the snow started to soften (a little)
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Better snow makes me happy


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Making turns in the large middle portion


Dave then skied down and made his turns in the middle section of the couloir
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Dave heading in

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Fun turns

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Dave nearing the bottom


As we came to the bottom 3rd of the couloir the sun came out and really made some nice corn snow. It was a welcome relief to the mandatory jump turns on ice that we had to make up top. The sun stayed out after that and made for a beautiful day. In hindsight, we should have waited on the summit for about an hour and would have had great snow. Oh well, the day was supposed to get worse not better according to the forecast, but you never know!

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Nearing the bottom


The snow at the bottom was fantastic and we definitely enjoyed the spring corn.
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Nate's close up turns


Here nate is skiing the last part of the run with the entire couloir in view above him.
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Skiing the bottom looking up the couloir


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Dave skiing through the rocks


At the bottom of the couloir my legs were shot and I was exhausted, but I had so much fun skiing it.
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Happy and tired finishing the couloir


Once we all skiied down to Blue Lake, we were able to ski down the Blue Lakes road all the way to 1/4 mile of the trailhead. This was a huge relief as I did not want to walk 2 miles back to the car. There is still a ton of snow on the road, so I think it will be skiable for several more weeks to the .25 mile marker where they stop plowing for winter.
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skiing down the 2 mile road


The short hike back to the car on the road was relaxing and quite warm as it turned into a beautiful day. There was a huge practice session for search and rescue going on, so the parking lot was filled with emergency vehicles. Luckily no one was hurt and it was just a practice run.
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Hiking out the last 1/4 mile


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Red=Skin up, Blue=ski descent, Yellow dash=walk


Here is the footage from Dave's GoPro of the entire descent.



Even though the snow was bullet proof up top, conditions improved during our descent and we had a great day skiing Cristo! Congrats to Nate and Dave on their first 14er ski descent!

What would back country skiing be without blisters right? I can't believe I forgot moleskin!
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What happens when I forget to tape up my feet


Get out there and enjoy this classic line!



Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
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Comments or Questions
jmanner
User
Blisters
4/28/2014 6:47pm
I know the feeling man... my BD's kill my heals in the exact same location every time!


codreamgirl
User
Nice!
5/1/2014 10:16pm
Thank you for the Beta. May head up there one day soon.



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