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So what should have been a third failed attempt to ski the Needle was rendered a success by the whim of a cool breeze . . .
Matt and I both have some history with the Needle, some good and some bad. Matt's history with the Needle I think dates back to 1998 and includes getting "nighted" on the Ellingwood Arete and waking up in the forest just steps from his vehicle.
I first climbed the Needle in 2005 as part of my buddy Bill's "bachelor party," some of which included four dudes camping at South Colony Lakes and climbing as much of the Crestone group as we could manage in one overnight. The road was open to the upper TH back then and we were able to knock off Humboldt in the evening. We returned to find a campsite that was the victim of "marmotage," including one missing helmet later found half-eaten in the willows . Thankfully, the marmot left the beer and other party favors untouched.
What I considered an early start back then kicked off an attempt at the Peak to Needle traverse.
All four of us made it up the Peak and then my buddy Will and I tackled the traverse.
Will sporting the marmotaged helmet
After some route-finding challenges, we made it up the Needle and decided the last pitch was about at our acceptable risk limit. We found the route-finding back to Broken Hand Pass rather simple after the complexities of the traverse, even helping one lost group find their way back down. Back then, that someone would even consider skiing what we had just down-climbed could not have been further from my thoughts.
Fast forward to Memorial Day weekend 2010, by which time I had become a fledgling 14er skier. Matt, his wife Tanya and I returned to South Colony Lakes with heavy packs and hopes of skiing the Peak, the Needle and Broken Hand Peak.
We found the route up to BHP to still hold some skiable lines:
and crossed our fingers that we would find the same on the other side of the pass. But the Needle was not going to happen on this trip.
Though we found great conditions on the Peak (2010 Crestone Peak TR), we left the area wanting more.
Memorial Day weekend 2014 found Matt and I back at South Colony again with heavy packs. Another pre-dawn climb up to BHP and we were treated to another view of a dry south face of the Needle. We settled for the Consolation Prize in Colorado's most prime of snirty conditions, which in some spots required straight-lining. Was it at least good practice for things to come?
Snirty straight-line
Memorial Day weekend 2015 brought more hopes and more fail. Like most Colorado ski mountaineers that weekend, we were drooling at the amount of snow and tearing up at the inability to find a weather window to safely ski it. And my incredible wife had even flown to California with our boys so that I could spend the whole weekend 14er skiing. The weekend came and went without even an attempt on a 14er.
To me, the next weekend didn't look much better. Somehow, Matt predicted a weather window on Saturday morning. I studied the forecasts and couldn't figure out what he saw, but who was I to question it? For once, Matt was leading the charge for yet another Needle attempt. I certainly wasn't going to talk him down. This time we would forgo the heavy packs in favor of a nap in the truck at the TH and one light and fast push. My opening demand was a midnight start -- Matt countered with 2am -- and I quickly accepted.
We reached the upper lake in time for sunrise.
And found an encouraging amount of snow going up to BHP.
However, the climbing immediately became excruciatingly slow. The NE-facing slope had a thin breakable crust on top of corn still damp from Friday's warm weather. What should have taken less than an hour took two. The booting and the thought that the upper S face of the Needle was cooking in the morning sun sapped our energy. Should we have started at midnight? Or even 1am? Was the extra tossing and turning in the truck worth missing out on our best chance yet?
Eventually, we topped out on BHP and rounded the corner to find this:
And a cold breeze from the south. So much snow, but would the breeze win the battle with the sun?
I got my first "ice-climbing" experience on the first bulge:
We skirted the second ice bulge and kept climbing surprisingly cold snow. So long as the cold breeze held on, we might stand a chance. We summited at the casual hour of 10am, at least an hour after we should have been skiing. But the cold breeze had saved us.
A quick transition and some Red Bull and we were on our way:
Being the more experienced billy-goater, I found a snow-covered path and managed to "ski" around both ice bulges. But I couldn't recommend the work-around for the smaller one. Matt considered his options.
And settled on the straight-line.
The ski down from BHP was clean and white. But pretty saturated by then. We carefully slid our way back to dry ground, our trail runners and a victory beer that had been a long time coming.
Thanks to Matt's meteorology and a cold breeze we had finally done it.
(May 30, 2015)
(May 30, 2010)(with today's snow-line drawn in)
My GPS Tracks on Google Maps (made from a .GPX file upload):
Thanks for posting the picture of Humboldt. I plan on skiing the SE route of Humboldt on Sunday or Monday. Where does continuous snow on the SoCo road start?
to all for the kind words. Cascade –– snow essentially began at the summer trailhead, though on the way out we were able to leave the skis on and milk it for about one mile. We were noting that there might be some skiable lines on the N side of Humboldt if you are up for finding possible first descents!
I added a gpx specifically to aid in route–finding between the old summer TH and the lakes. Having done this on snow a few times, I think that our route thru that section is the most efficient means of snow travel (especially in the dark). It does ascend an avy chute, so you will want to be confident about BTL stability.
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