Sketchy in the Best Kind of Way

• Date: 2 February, 2024
• Peaks: Quandary Peak
• Route: West Ridge, East Bowls
• Mileage: 9.1mi
• Vertical: 3730ft
• Time: 7.5hrs
• Partners: Owen

It was about that time of year again where Owen and I wanted to tackle a miserable, snowy fourteener. We had previously talked about going for Quandary West Ridge, since it seemed like it wouldn't be too much of a step up from Kelso Ridge (which we had done the previous year in MUCH worse conditions). It was a pretty easy plan to put together, just kind of leave before I-70 traffic got too bad, then climb it with skis and take the easy way down. We arrived at the trailhead at 7:00 or so (if my memory doesn't fail me, which it often does), the only souls in the parking lot at such a God-forsaken, early, alpine-start-type hour.

We decided to skin up the Blue Lakes Road, a good decision. Towards the top the road was a bit windblown, but we never had to take off our skis so it was definitely worth it in retrospect. Once we got to the dam we did have to take off the skis briefly to go up a talus slope, but we put them right back on on the top. We had decided to forego the traditional (summer) approach due to avalanche concerns, so we were going to be touring up a bit further than is typical for this route, to the lower-angle slopes that could still take us up to the notch at the start of the ridge.

After we saw some slopes that looked thin enough to just head straight up, we turned north and painstakingly booted up for some rocky elevation gain. We figured it was likely safe enough from an avalanche standpoint (despite being pretty steep) due to how thin the snow actually was up there. Before long we were walking along the ridge with a view (if you can call cloudy skies a view) of the West Ridge route itself.

Despite really not being able to see anything, the weather was pretty awesome. It was perfect temps with little wind, so we had to do a bit of de-layering while we crossed the talus field. Once we got to the notch in the ridge we got a good look at the drainage you usually use to approach the climb, and I felt justified in the way that we took (despite the additional vert you have to gain), since the top portion was full of snow and had a pretty nasty wind layer on top of it.. The sky was clearing up just enough for us to see the route that lie ahead of us, making for some dramatic photos.

Now the part where we had to grind out all the vert to 14k feet. The very beginning of the ridge had some interesting snow crossings above some decent exposure, but it soon just turned into a trail with a bunch of switchbacks. We left crampons on for the entirety of this trail, though not actually necessary we were just too lazy to transition. It really is a long way until anything even resembles Class 3 on this ridge.

At the end of the trail we finally got to the spicy part. The ridge started to narrow and steepen, and we got to do a bit of scrambling and ridge-walking to warm us up to the actual cruxes. There were several spots that were definitely Class 3, but I can't recall every single one. What I do remember was that we went pretty fast up until the wide crack that has to be climbed, then even slower for the remainder of the ridge. The downclimb right before the final crux headwall was definitely the crux, we decided, since it was snow-covered and SUPER exposed. I think my variation might have been Class 4. The actual headwall was just as easy in the winter as it had been in the summer, and once through it we were finally at the summit, pretty much.

A quick walk up and we had the summit to ourselves! I finished up my cold, stale tortillas and drank some water, then we put on skis and started east down the ridge. The snow up top was windblown crap with a few sharks, and remained that way through the entire upper bowl. We basically stuck to the summer trail due to exposed rocks. Once in the lower bowl I of course made the mistake of saying we could ski northeast, forgetting (yet again) that then you have to skate back up the McCullough Gulch Road, a miserable experience after a long day on a fourteener. Regardless we took our time on the road and did eventually make it back to the car, all in one piece.