North Maroon Peak Trip Report 04/16/2017

Report Type	Full
Peak(s)	North Maroon Peak - 14,022 feet
Date Posted	04/16/2017
Modified	04/17/2017
Date Climbed	04/13/2017
Author	lodgling
Additional Members	Gueza

Spring tune-up
And so we found ourselves on April 21 five years ago, gearing up in the upper lot at the Maroon Lake trailhead, being cross-examined by a supposedly experienced local who questioned our intended line ("I mean ... how are you going to get over the Punk Rock Band???"), when it occurred to me that I had not brought my axe. Gueza and rmiller were unimpressed. Nevertheless, we discussed options -- either I could run into town and buy one, or we could ski something nearby with less exposure where a whippet would suffice. Rmiller and I had both skied Castle, but Gueza had not and a plan was hatched to do the Conundrum/Castle double. So we regrouped and bivied near treeline a couple drainages over in order to be in position for an early start. That trip produced a chattery descent of Conundrum, a powdery descent of Castle's N face and some of my best sunrise shots yet: But it left me feeling guilty for causing the change in plans and hungry for another trip up the Maroon Lake road. Every season since, N Maroon has been tops on the list, but the timing never seems to come together. This time Gueza and I found ourselves some six miles from the upper lot, but fully equipped and motivated. Well, I guess without a sled or bikes (nor trail runners for me ), not fully equipped, but well enough equipped for the terrain above the summer trailhead. A 1am departure time was agreed upon in order to overcome the initial challenges presented by miles of dry but gated asphalt. That long-awaited trip up the Maroon Lake road would be on foot. My answer to the inevitable inquiry of "what's the hardest 14er?" is always "the first one of the year," so I think it is generally nice to start the 14er season off with a "tune-up" peak. With the list short and stout, I guess a slog on N Maroon must do. The going was slow and steady, but too slow for more quality sunrise shots. In the precious moments when those were available, we were knee deep in the slot used to gain access to the upper basin. But we found our way around the corner and considered our objective: The solar aspects had transitioned to a springish snow pack, but we had questions about how much swimming would be involved in getting up the N face. We picked out the most likely route from below and then began to leave the tell-tale marks of N face virgins. Thankfully, the snow was only rotten in spots and those marks were for the most part only about boot deep. Gueza navigating the sneaky crux traverse: And higher still, wishing there was a bit more snow on Cap: Thanks to the cold that prevailed on the N face, we topped out 11 hours after leaving the car and enjoyed the perspective while readying ourselves for the ski: The Punk Rock Band was in what I imagine is better than average condition and largely did not live up to the hype. I caught a frame shot of Gueza making his first turn after the band: A feel for the exposure over the E face: The slow bootpacking meant that the down would be a sloughy grin-fest: Fun learning how to use the frame-grab feature of the helmet cam: And here's the edit. (Lots of vert and two skiers means that most of it is the sped-up nausea-inducing type). YouTube picks the most random frame grabs for the album cover: We managed about 3.3 miles of the road on skis on the way out. The remainder was soul-crushing. Pro tip: plan ahead to avoid walking out on the assfault. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Spring tune-up

And so we found ourselves on April 21 five years ago, gearing up in the upper lot at the Maroon Lake trailhead, being cross-examined by a supposedly experienced local who questioned our intended line ("I mean ... how are you going to get over the Punk Rock Band???"), when it occurred to me that I had not brought my axe.

Gueza and rmiller were unimpressed. Nevertheless, we discussed options -- either I could run into town and buy one, or we could ski something nearby with less exposure where a whippet would suffice. Rmiller and I had both skied Castle, but Gueza had not and a plan was hatched to do the Conundrum/Castle double. So we regrouped and bivied near treeline a couple drainages over in order to be in position for an early start.

That trip produced a chattery descent of Conundrum, a powdery descent of Castle's N face and some of my best sunrise shots yet:

But it left me feeling guilty for causing the change in plans and hungry for another trip up the Maroon Lake road. Every season since, N Maroon has been tops on the list, but the timing never seems to come together.

This time Gueza and I found ourselves some six miles from the upper lot, but fully equipped and motivated. Well, I guess without a sled or bikes (nor trail runners for me

), not fully equipped, but well enough equipped for the terrain above the summer trailhead. A 1am departure time was agreed upon in order to overcome the initial challenges presented by miles of dry but gated asphalt. That long-awaited trip up the Maroon Lake road would be on foot. My answer to the inevitable inquiry of "what's the hardest 14er?" is always "the first one of the year," so I think it is generally nice to start the 14er season off with a "tune-up" peak. With the list short and stout, I guess a slog on N Maroon must do.

The going was slow and steady, but too slow for more quality sunrise shots. In the precious moments when those were available, we were knee deep in the slot used to gain access to the upper basin. But we found our way around the corner and considered our objective:

The solar aspects had transitioned to a springish snow pack, but we had questions about how much swimming would be involved in getting up the N face. We picked out the most likely route from below and then began to leave the tell-tale marks of N face virgins. Thankfully, the snow was only rotten in spots and those marks were for the most part only about boot deep.

Gueza navigating the sneaky crux traverse:

And higher still, wishing there was a bit more snow on Cap:

Thanks to the cold that prevailed on the N face, we topped out 11 hours after leaving the car

and enjoyed the perspective while readying ourselves for the ski:

The Punk Rock Band was in what I imagine is better than average condition and largely did not live up to the hype. I caught a frame shot of Gueza making his first turn after the band:

A feel for the exposure over the E face:

The slow bootpacking meant that the down would be a sloughy grin-fest:

Fun learning how to use the frame-grab feature of the helmet cam:

And here's the edit. (Lots of vert and two skiers means that most of it is the sped-up nausea-inducing type). YouTube picks the most random frame grabs for the album cover:

We managed about 3.3 miles of the road on skis on the way out. The remainder was soul-crushing. Pro tip: plan ahead to avoid walking out on the assfault.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

mojah	Something something... 4/17/2017 6:45am Free the heel, free the soul. I always love watching tele skiers do their thing. Nice work, that looks damn good!
mtnfiend	Nice Rob! 4/17/2017 8:41am Glad everything worked out!!
XterraRob	Those are some sexy 4/17/2017 9:35pm pictures dude. Good job.
jmanner	Nice! 4/18/2017 9:05am Well done! You had some serious slough trains to deal with! Definitely, a worthwhile start to skimo season.
jbchalk	So awesome... 4/18/2017 2:48pm I love seeing telemarkers rip intense lines. Congrats to you fellas.

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