This trip was one very long day, but so very worth it. I have been feeling really good and moving with confidence through the mountains this spring, skiing some really awesome lines and overall just enjoying myself, so when I saw a few conditions reports saying they had climbed Snowmass mountain in a single push and a few others saying it was in from the summit for skiing, I knew it'd be an ambitious challenge to try to hit it in a single day push from Snowmass Creek, but I was up for the challenge. The weather forecast and my schedule aligned with a green forecast on CAIC and Snowmass was predicted to have a great overnight freeze above 11k until around 6 AM when the sun was supposed to warm everything up for a great corn harvest. This meant I would want to be dropping this east facing line no later than 9 AM, I predicted. The good news for me was I only worked till 7 PM on Monday, and for once I left work 2 minutes early, as I was anxious to get on the road. I quickly headed home and made a pizza, half of which I planned to eat while driving and half to eat while I was hiking, a smart move on my part, since last big day I had, I ended up bonking out right at the end of my day. I was stoked as I loaded up my equipment into my truck ready for the 3.5 hour drive and 22.5 mile round trip I had planned, and headed out around 8 PM. The drive went quickly and I pulled up to Snowmass Creek TH at 11:30 PM and started getting myself and my gear together as quietly as possible since there were several vehicles parked here. I made sure to only open my doors once and mounted my skis and boots on my pack, and set off 7 minutes before midnight.

Hiking in the darkness always gives me two sets of emotions, my logical brain enjoying the peace and serenity of the night and my primal brain insisting a large predatory animal is lurking, waiting to attack. My compromise is to hike with my whippet uncapped, ready to defend myself and sweeping left to right with my headlamp high beam looking for a pair of bright reflective eyes. This night, I saw nothing but aspen and pine trees as I quickly made my way through the woods heading for the log jam. I was very excited about seeing this trail in daylight on the way out as it seemed pristine and very beautiful.

I arrived at the log jam at 4:30 AM and took a break to swap my headlamp batteries and eat a slice of my pizza, before trying to determine the best way across. My first attempt took me upstream to what appeared to be a good solid crossing but about half way across the trustworthy logs stopped so I had to turn around. Luckily from my vantage point halfway across I was able to spot a much shorter and better crossing slightly downstream that started with a penninsula covered in willows, so I headed back across the path I had come and made my way over to my new crossing path. The logs were frosted over which made crossing tricky, but gave me confidence in the freeze up on the snowmass, this crossing point was much easier and soon I was across at 4:50 heading up the trail again.

As I neared where the trail starts to switchback up the hillside I saw a tent and was momentarily startled by the reflectors thinking it was eyes until I quickly realized it was a tent. I felt bad for shining my light on the people I assumed were sleeping and tried to move quickly past, however I had gone off the trail towards their camp on a social trail. As I made my way back past the tent, one of the campers poked their head out and I apologized for waking them, and they pointed me back in the correct direction. Ooops… I continued up the trail, gaining a large amount of elevation for the first time since leaving the trailhead almost 5 hours ago, knowing I was finally getting close to snowmass lake and the true climb, my excitement was building.

I started hitting snow around 10,500 ft right after the switchbacks but it was never consistent enough to skin and it was frozen so I wasn't postholing at all. Not soon after I passed the trail junction that splits off toward the pass heading south and the trail to Snowmass lake continues on west for another .3 miles before arriving at the east end of the lake. I got my first view of what I had hiked all this way to see, and ski, just as the sun started to barely light the eastern skies and I could take it all in, in the faint dawn of 5:30 light. I looked for a way across the creek, which was much easier than the log jam crossing as there was a solid couple trees making a bridge just to the left of where the trail opens up at the lake.

From here the snow was finally continuous around the south side of the lake. I still didn't bother to skin as the snow was very supportive and sidehilling on skis isn't that fun either. I wrapped around the lake, continuing to stare at the beautiful east face of the other snowmass, unranked 13er snowmass peak. I reached the west side of the lake, and sat down to put on my ski boots and crampons and also eat my last piece of pizza. As I started climbing up the steep snow gully the sun started to rise over Buckskin BM, and the unnamed 13ers north of it. I was quite excited to see the sun rise, it gave me a burst of energy and stoke that was much needed at this point in the journey, having hiked around 8.5 miles and already having been awake for 21 hours. Climbing up the gully was a nice consistent slope in the low 30s and I was able to french tech with my crampons, using different leg muscles than I was while hiking, so I was feeling fresh and confident I could hit the summit by 9 AM, which was my cut off time if the weather matched the forecast.

After the gully, the snowmass opens up and the slope tapers off in steepness, with some rollovers, the view from this point at around 12k is incredible as I looked south east and could see pyramid and the maroon bells, maybe one of the best views I've seen yet climbing around CO. I was excited to continue upwards as the view kept expanding and every time I looked back the view was just a little better.

By 7:45 AM I had reached a decision point at 13k. I could take the easiest ramp used in the standard summer route off to climbers left, head more direct to the steep snow climb mentioned on the route description which had already been climbed frequently in recent days and had a solid booter, or angle to climbers right for an even more direct climb up even steeper snow to the summit. Since my goal was to ski off the summit, I wanted to get eyes and possibly hands and feet in the snow I was planning on skiing, to have a better grasp of what I was getting myself into, to make sure it was a safe and feasible decision. At this point in time the sun had never come out in full force as a large group of clouds was moving across the sky, blocking the sun for large periods at a time with only short bursts of direct sunlight, so I knew I still had time as I contoured climbers right across death cookies, large rock fall, and one small wet slide that all must have happened in recent days.

Luckily for me I had not seen a single rock move today and with the clouds still blocking the sun I felt pretty confident that the rocks weren't ready to start moving yet, but still I kept my eyes up and a safe distance from the overhead hazards. From here I had a choice of increasingly steep chutes to climb with climbers left being the most steep and climbers right being the least steep and also the line I believed to be the most direct ski line off the summit. The ski line was full of visible rocks and I was hoping it went easily but wasn't sure, I figured I'd climb up the middle left chute which appeared to be holding the most skiable snow from my vantage point, so I could try have a back up plan if the main line wasn't working today. This chute was steep, I measured 52 degrees on my phoneclinometer and topped out even steeper, probably 55 or more for the last 15-20 feet. About half way up the chute the sun came out and I could feel it starting to get warm quite quickly. Luckily I was about 250 vertical feet and maybe twice that in linear distance from the summit and making quick progress up this steep snow. The snow was perfect conditions for front pointing, allowing me to kick ankle deep footholds with one firm motion and holding solidly, I was using my ice axe in high dagger and my whippet the same although a second ice axe might have felt a little more secure, this certainly worked without any issues. Right as the slope steepened for this finish onto the ridge, the snow also changed, to a layer of 5-6 inches of unconsolidated snow on top of consolidated snow, so I had to dig thru a layer of snow before setting my feet and ice axe into the snow. This increased the pucker factor a bit and I tried the snow to the left and right, to the left there was a little rib of windblown snow that was thicker and just as soft and to the right the snow was the same as I was currently climbing. I decided to just stay on my line without traversing either way and dig the snow out with my axe then kick a step in where I had dug with my ice axe. This worked well and within a minute, although it felt longer I had climbed the last 20 ft and I was on the ridge, looking at one class 3 move on dry rocks to top out on the summit.

The view as I hit the ridge opened up into an absolutely jaw dropping spectacle with views of the gore to the northeast and San Juan in the distance to the southwest, the heart of the Elk to the southeast and the Sawatch dominating the eastern horizon. I placed my axe in the snow above the class three move to use as a hand hold if the rock was garbage, but to my delighted suprise all three handholds I went for on this one move were absolutely solid, and not a single piece of rock moved on me at all. From here it was 10 easy steps over to the rock pinnacle that is Snowmass Mountains true summit. Climbing up to the true summit of the rock is a must to make it official and I was glad to keep my crampons on for this little scramble as a fall at this point seemed rather unpleasant, especially down the exposed west face. I stood on the true summit at 8:45 AM taking it all in, totally stoked and at this point not at all tired from my journey. I took a few minutes to relax and have a snack, before transitioning to ski mode and getting ready to drop right at 9 AM, 24 hours since I woke up the day before, I laughed to myself since I felt quite alert at this moment and exhilarated looking over the steep drop right off the summit. I was glad this direct line off the summit was skiable, with just a few rocks poking thru in spots, since the line I had climbed would be a tough ski and wasn't directly connected to the summit in any easy way for skiing.

I dropped off the summit into a few inches of the same unconsolidated snow I had dug through on the climb up and my skis didn't quite grab an edge in it so I slid a few inches down as the snow compacted. I did one jump turn with the same effect before deciding to side step down the chute a ways to hit some more consistently edgable snow. Certainly not the most glamourous ski in the world, but if you have skis on it counts, right? As I cleared the rock obstacles at the bottom of the chute I also hit some great corn and I did two hop turns on the steep slope before I was able to open it up on the apron and rode the creamy corn snow down several hundred feet of perfect turns. The snow had softened up just enough that even the death cookies were easy enough to ride through and I was so excited by the fact I had gotten a ski off the summit of snowmass and timed it right for perfect corn down on the snowmass. I cut over to the skiers right to get myself back in a position to hit several of the steeper roll overs I had seen on the climb, each time pausing at the bottom of the pitch to marvel in the joys of the sets of turns I had put in such a beautiful place. As I crossed some low angle terrain aimed at the bells I took the time to truly appreciate this moment, skiing the snowmass, looking at some of Colorado's most iconic 14ers in the distance. I had reached the drop for the gully down to the lake, knowing from here the snow was gonna be an interesting combination of textures, with plenty of rocks too avoid and took my time making careful turns down the sometimes slushy, sometimes corn, sometimes firm snow, reaching the lake shore around 9:30 AM.

Once I reached the bottom, I put my skins on for the first time, grabbed my approach shoes on the tree I had stashed them and started skinning back around the lake. The sidehilling wasn't too bad as the snow was soft and supportive with my skis on and I made good progress around the lake, stopping to look back at what I had just climbed and skied occasionally, hoping the sun would come all the way out so I could get a picture that actually showed some of the turns I made. I wasn't having luck with that, but it sure was beautiful, and I enjoyed the view one last time as I hung my skis on my pack, before crossing the stream at the east edge of the lake and heading back down the trail, knowing I still had an 8 mile hike to the trailhead. Luckily it was still early, only 10 AM, and the whole hike out in daylight would be full of new views as I hadn't seen anything but my headlamp light on the way in. I started off wearing my ski boots for the first mile or so since the snow was now soft and there were a few post holes to be had, although I was mainly able to avoid them, as I reached the last pile of snow before the switchbacks at 10,500ft. I was starting feel the lack of sleep, the big day I'd already had and the heat of the day down in the trees and I knew the way out would be a slog by the end, but I was happy to get my tired feet back into my very comfortable approach shoes, despite knowing my back would be unhappy with the added weigh of the boots. From here, I continued down the switchbacks, over the log jam only stopping to take pictures a few times and mainly just focusing on moving my feet, trying to make the trailhead by 2 PM. I kept saying to myself, once I reach the first gate marking private property I am almost there, but first before I made it there I finally saw the first people I'd seen since I interrupted those campers early in the morning. The first couple was headed up to Snowmass and one person was carrying a split so we talked riding conditions for a minute before I continued on as we both had a ways to go. The next few groups were all surprised I had skied anything since it was probably 70 degrees Fahrenheit by now down around 9000 ft. I just wanted to keep moving so I didn't fall asleep at this point so I didn't stay to chat for too long, it was nice to see people and each group gave me a little spurt of energy, just knowing they were a sign I was getting closer to home. When I finally reached the first gate it was around 1:40 PM and I took a big sip of water and had some honey stingers gummies as I passed through, knowing if I pushed hard I could make it back by 2! I passed through the 3rd gate closest to the TH at 2:05 and was back at my truck 2 minutes later. Totally wiped out, and just in awe of the day I just had, I couldn't have been happier as I drank some Maté and changed into shorts and got ready for the drive home. It felt so good to be in different clothes and shoeless. I thought about taking a nap, but I wanted to get home to my cat and dog, and my bed, so I started driving back to the paved roads and onward to the traffic free I-70 (a spring time treat). Glad I made it home safely, accomplishing the 22.5 mile round trip in just over 14 hours including stoppage time and the whole day including work in about 36 hours! Not something I want to do everyday, but the spring ski season only lasts for such a fleeting moment, I hate to miss a great opportunity.

Objective: climb and ski Snowmass Mountain from Snowmass Creek TH safely in a single push.

Pros: didn't have to haul camp up to the lake + ski equipment, was able to squeeze it into a day trip

Cons: really long approach in the darkness, no sleep for 36 hours left me exhausted

Verdict: I recommend this if you don't get days off in a row frequently, you have good physical fitness for an endurance slog, you are determined/stubborn, you don't like to backpack, or you are just a little nuts and need a great challenge.

I don't recommend this if you like to sleep, 22.5 miles in a day sounds terrible to you, you really like camping in beautiful spots and don't mind hauling a tent + ski + climbing gear.

For me, it was convenient (if that's even the right word), allowed me to check off a new 14er ascent and ski all at once, and climb a new Elk 14er for the first time in almost a year. Totally worth it, tho I hope next time I'm in the area I get to camp or at least slow down for a bit and take it all in a little more.