Mt. Democrat Trip Report 04/07/2015

Peak(s):	Mt. Democrat - 14,154 feet
Date Posted:	04/07/2015
Modified:	12/13/2015
Date Climbed:	04/04/2015
Author:	jmanner
Additional Members:	BenfromtheEast

Donut and Beers at Paris Mill
Start: 5:45 am Summit: 11:45 am Summit lounging 11:45-12:45 Finish: 2:00 PM Total Miles: ~9.04 Vertical gain: 3,264 feet Time with stops: 8 hours 15 minutes This past weekend I was staying in Breck with the family and I was not about to drop down $129 per day on a lift tickets, so, I decided that maybe some mountain ski objectives might be completed. I talked BenfromtheEast and another friend, Terrence, into giving a mountain a go and after some plan changes we met at Paris Mill around 5:15 am. Our plan was to ski Democrat's South Slope and then if we had time we would attempt to skin up Bross's S-gully. We established a turnaround time of 12:30pm, we all had wives or girlfriend to get back to. After a successful ski, but not challenging decent on Friday I was looking forward to the more interesting climb and ski of Democrat. We were moving by 5:45, but we took a left in the dark and went down the wrong way for a tenth of mile before realizing we weren't on the Kite Lake road. We back tracked and quickly found our mistake. After about fifteen minutes of skinning on the shoulder of the road or on drifts in the middle we decided to throw our skis on our shoulders and started walking. Clearly the road has melted out a fair amount since the last conditions report stated that the road was covered. We traveled in this manner for about a mile and a half. Mount Buckskin? Skin along the road About half way between the lake and Paris Mill we found continuous snow off to our left in the creek bed. It had some snowmobile tracks so we figured it was worth the risk of falling into the creek for the increased speed. dropping into the creek bed From the creek bed we worked out way towards a bowl above Kite Lake and below the South Slopes. The route from the creek bed to the bowl. In the creek Skin track above Kite Lake Once in the bowl, I attempted to put a switchback up the slope, but the 2" of new snow on the top of hard crust prevented travel. Bowl where we failed to skin and put the skis on our back Terrence and Ben, who had been waiting and watching me struggle to keep my skis from skidding downhill, put their skis on their packs and I hacked a seat with my ax so I could do the same and throw on my crampons. It had taken about two and a quarter hours to this point. climbing out of the bowl From here we climbed up to a shelf above Lake Emma and below the rocky south face of Democrat. We regrouped at the top and started a climbing traverse to the base of the largest and closest chute. Above the bowl. The chute we used is at left. Along the way Ben dug a pit with his ax and found that the snow pack was only about two feet deep of freeze thaw snow over about 1" of faceted snow on top of the talus below. Climbing toward the eastern most chute Track from the top of the bowl to below the chutes Looking into the chute from our staging point. We spaced out about 50 feet climbing through the chute, but with the windblown snow on top of the crust we were able to make "quick" time up the steepest section. In the Chute Ben's view of Terrence and John climbing out. From here to the summit the three of us took turns leading, however Ben generally was in the lead. The slope angle levels out to around 28 degrees (via Ben's inclinometer) about 500 feet above the top of the chutes and maintains this to around the summit mound. Ben enjoying a cool breeze on the summit face We generally contoured left to stay on snow and more direct route to the summit. Climbing on the upper sloeps Look towards the summit( pyramid shape at right) We summit around 11:45 and hydrated, ate Pringles, took pictures and generally enjoyed our good fortune that the wind had died down. Summit! Nice view of the Elks. Loungin' After chatting with a couple of folks that summited a few minutes after us, we popped on the sticks and started the ski down. The snow on the south face/slopes unfortunately had not softened up due to the wind (probably safer due to the lack of bonding with crust underneath). The snow was about 2-4" of heavy cement snow on top of a hard crust, not ideal, but not miserable skiing. We took turns carving to what we hoped would be safe areas. The ski through the eastern most chute was not the steepest run ever, but the "mud-on-crust" meant that a fast carve was out of the question for me... I took a deliberate approach and hop turned as efficiently as I could until I got through the chutes and meet up with the guys. Skiing below the summit Elegant no? From where we met, on the east side of the chutes, we traversed above the bowl we had climbed up and took turns skiing through the rocks. We decided that a quick ski down to as low as we could get to Kite Lake, and still get back to the creek bed, would be the most fun...and it was, the face above Kite Lake had the softest and most enjoyable snow of the day. It was now about 1:15 pm and clear that we were a little ambitious with our Bross plans... Skiing into the bowl Once we entered the creek bed, Terrence was able to find a ski line for all but the last mile, of which we only had to walk 1/4 mile of it, the rest was with skis on and then back off again. Ben decided that Pringles-can and Nalgene are better than poles "Skiing to the car" We got back to the car and enjoyed some nice Devient Dales with a shared Donut. Final thoughts: This definitely was my favorite of the six mountain's I've skied, the group dynamic was amazing, we all moved at about the same pace and the weather was perfect. It also was Terrence's first CO 14er and Ben's first 14er ski. Best of all was only driving 30 minutes back home, instead of the usual two hours, must be nice... I appreciate the read and your understanding for my poor grammar and spelling. My GPS Tracks on Google Maps (made from a .GPX file upload): Login required to view this map... Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Donut and Beers at Paris Mill

Start: 5:45 am
Summit: 11:45 am
Summit lounging 11:45-12:45
Finish: 2:00 PM

Total Miles: ~9.04
Vertical gain: 3,264 feet
Time with stops: 8 hours 15 minutes

This past weekend I was staying in Breck with the family and I was not about to drop down $129 per day on a lift tickets, so, I decided that maybe some mountain ski objectives might be completed.

I talked BenfromtheEast and another friend, Terrence, into giving a mountain a go and after some plan changes we met at Paris Mill around 5:15 am. Our plan was to ski Democrat's South Slope and then if we had time we would attempt to skin up Bross's S-gully. We established a turnaround time of 12:30pm, we all had wives or girlfriend to get back to. After a successful ski, but not challenging decent on Friday I was looking forward to the more interesting climb and ski of Democrat.

We were moving by 5:45, but we took a left in the dark and went down the wrong way for a tenth of mile before realizing we weren't on the Kite Lake road. We back tracked and quickly found our mistake. After about fifteen minutes of skinning on the shoulder of the road or on drifts in the middle we decided to throw our skis on our shoulders and started walking. Clearly the road has melted out a fair amount since the last conditions report stated that the road was covered. We traveled in this manner for about a mile and a half.

About half way between the lake and Paris Mill we found continuous snow off to our left in the creek bed. It had some snowmobile tracks so we figured it was worth the risk of falling into the creek for the increased speed.

From the creek bed we worked out way towards a bowl above Kite Lake and below the South Slopes.

The route from the creek bed to the bowl.

Once in the bowl, I attempted to put a switchback up the slope, but the 2" of new snow on the top of hard crust prevented travel.

Bowl where we failed to skin and put the skis on our back

Terrence and Ben, who had been waiting and watching me struggle to keep my skis from skidding downhill, put their skis on their packs and I hacked a seat with my ax so I could do the same and throw on my crampons. It had taken about two and a quarter hours to this point.

From here we climbed up to a shelf above Lake Emma and below the rocky south face of Democrat. We regrouped at the top and started a climbing traverse to the base of the largest and closest chute.

Above the bowl. The chute we used is at left.

Along the way Ben dug a pit with his ax and found that the snow pack was only about two feet deep of freeze thaw snow over about 1" of faceted snow on top of the talus below.

Track from the top of the bowl to below the chutes

Looking into the chute from our staging point.

We spaced out about 50 feet climbing through the chute, but with the windblown snow on top of the crust we were able to make "quick" time up the steepest section.

Ben's view of Terrence and John climbing out.

From here to the summit the three of us took turns leading, however Ben generally was in the lead. The slope angle levels out to around 28 degrees (via Ben's inclinometer) about 500 feet above the top of the chutes and maintains this to around the summit mound.

Ben enjoying a cool breeze on the summit face

We generally contoured left to stay on snow and more direct route to the summit.

Look towards the summit( pyramid shape at right)

We summit around 11:45 and hydrated, ate Pringles, took pictures and generally enjoyed our good fortune that the wind had died down.

After chatting with a couple of folks that summited a few minutes after us, we popped on the sticks and started the ski down.

The snow on the south face/slopes unfortunately had not softened up due to the wind (probably safer due to the lack of bonding with crust underneath). The snow was about 2-4" of heavy cement snow on top of a hard crust, not ideal, but not miserable skiing. We took turns carving to what we hoped would be safe areas. The ski through the eastern most chute was not the steepest run ever, but the "mud-on-crust" meant that a fast carve was out of the question for me... I took a deliberate approach and hop turned as efficiently as I could until I got through the chutes and meet up with the guys.

From where we met, on the east side of the chutes, we traversed above the bowl we had climbed up and took turns skiing through the rocks. We decided that a quick ski down to as low as we could get to Kite Lake, and still get back to the creek bed, would be the most fun...and it was, the face above Kite Lake had the softest and most enjoyable snow of the day. It was now about 1:15 pm and clear that we were a little ambitious with our Bross plans...

Once we entered the creek bed, Terrence was able to find a ski line for all but the last mile, of which we only had to walk 1/4 mile of it, the rest was with skis on and then back off again.

Ben decided that Pringles-can and Nalgene are better than poles

We got back to the car and enjoyed some nice Devient Dales with a shared Donut.

Final thoughts: This definitely was my favorite of the six mountain's I've skied, the group dynamic was amazing, we all moved at about the same pace and the weather was perfect. It also was Terrence's first CO 14er and Ben's first 14er ski. Best of all was only driving 30 minutes back home, instead of the usual two hours, must be nice... I appreciate the read and your understanding for my poor grammar and spelling.

My GPS Tracks on Google Maps (made from a .GPX file upload):

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

Somewhat of a Prick	Cool pics 4/7/2015 4:21pm Nice summit view in the pictures. Solid day
Steve Climber	Image 8 4/7/2015 4:36pm is far superior to Image 28. Nice work, gents! (Skiing is still stupid though.)
lordhelmut	Nice outing 4/7/2015 9:21pm Despite the less than ideal snow conditions. North Face is worth going back for (from Monty Reservoir). Cheddar pringles and Deviants are a fine addition to any spring outing. Arkansas’s NE Couloir looks decent right now. Sat was a good day to be out.
SurfNTurf	Ben’s first descent 4/7/2015 9:39pm C’mon, Bross totally counts.
benners	Nice guys! 4/8/2015 8:23pm I’ve been noticing more and more that the second peak of the day almost always seems too ambitious once the first is in the bag, especially when something like Deviant Dales is waiting at the car. Nice job on the ski.
jmanner	Thanks guys! 4/9/2015 7:16pm Steveclimber: If that is your name; I agree picture 8 is probably the best picture on the report. Your face is stupid Lordhelmut: The snow wasn’t the greatest, but it’s good to get out when it’s less than ideal. I doubt we will get much of a corn season this year. It’s funny, I was just looking at a trip report of some guys that did the north face a couple years back. It does look fun! SurfNSalad: Ben seems to have pretty high standard for what constitutes a ski descent(higher than me at least). Benners: Yea, its amazing how much of a pull back to the car a tasty beer has on me.

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