Trip Date: 12/13/2008
Peak: Quandary Peak, Elevation: 14,265'
Route: East Ridge (Standard route) - 3,450' gain
Difficulty: Class 1 (R-i-i-i-i-g-h-t)
The Suspects: Javier (AKA: El Conejo)
Nick (AKA: The Wyoming Kid)
Chad (AKA: Bodhi)


A Meeting With Strangers?
As I cruised out to make an early 4:45 AM showing to meet Javier (Javy20040) and Nick (bigmac) at the I-70/Morrison exit, I wondered about what my hiking buddies for the day were like. It's nigh on impossible to get a feeling for a person via a handful of thread posts on a forum. Our seemingly inescapable tendency is to immediately label people based on limited information and in my experience, my first impressions are sometimes close...but most often wrong. I do most of my hiking solo for a multitude of reasons and so I think it's fair to say I was stepping out of my comfort zone to hike with a couple people I didn't know.

When I pulled into the parking lot Nick was already there cooking up some breakfast. He had traveled down from Laramie, WY the day before and had the unique pleasure of residing in a youth hostel that night. I'll paraphrase his comments by saying that a downtown Denver youth hostel is an "interesting" experience. I parked my Trooper and walked over and introduced myself. I was greeted by a firm handshake from a confident young man who held himself in a manner I thought was beyond his years. Judging from the load of gear in the back of his truck he obviously came prepared and had some experience. "Cool," I thought...I was really hoping to be able to glean some tips from a couple of experienced guys. I later learned that he was, in fact, experienced as his job offered him the chance to hike around the hills of Wyoming all day long. Nick was busy preparing his pack and organizing his gear when Javier arrived.

Javier (or "El Conejo" as I now call him) pulled into the lot beside us and amicably agreed to drive. A native of Argentina, Javier had just a few years earlier decided that 14ers were his thing after a short hike left him breathless...and wanting more. Like me, climbing these mountains was the impetus for him to quit smoking. 50 peaks and many repeat summits later, Javy is only a few away from experiencing them all. I was surprised to learn that he had been up Mt. Bierstadt a dozen times...and Quandary peak four times. This was good news for me as well as this was my first winter ascent and I wanted to be in the company of experience.

As Javier piloted us over mostly benign roads, we passed the miles in conversation about mountains and gear and climbing grades and past experiences. These are subjects I could talk about and listen to all day...and I was really enjoying it. Snow and wind were building as we approached Eisenhower tunnel and I thought we might be in for a rough day given the weather report. We later discovered just how windy it was. A pit stop and 45 minutes of conversation found us at the TH a few miles south of Breck, the second group to have parked there that morning. By this time I had completely forgotten about my initial anxieties regarding these two guys. It's amazing how a simple like-minded goal and similar desires congeal three guys that were, just an hour and half prior, 'strangers.'

Ummm...Javier...Can you slow down?
Stepping out of the SUV into the cold air, I felt that familiar high coming on that always accompanies a pending hike. I quickly realized how important preparation is when doing a winter ascent: Javy and Nick were ready to roll in about 10 minutes and I was still fiddling with my gear, repacking my bag, adjusting my snowshoes, double-checking my food/water supply and basically pissing about with things that should have been done at home. (Thanks guys for being so patient with me!). By 7:15 AM we were off and trying to keep step with Javy's painful pace. The trail was in great shape and the couple before us had already stomped what new snow there was into a snow-paved track. Nick and I realized within 5 minutes that we were overdressed. Thank goodness...a perfect excuse to stop! I knew from cycling that my body at this age takes about 20 minutes to really get going and for my lungs and legs and mind to find a sort of rhythm. Javier's apparently didn't take that long. After shedding a few layers I felt rejuvenated and we continued up the great trail until the trees began to thin. I remembered that I had my camera and snapped a pic:

Nick and Javier

Looking back

Continuing our conversation about gear and peaks, we plodded along until trees yielded to shrubs which then yielded only to rock and the windblown East Ridge. I remembered from my ascent two summers ago that this was where the work would begin. This is also where the wind would begin. At around 12,600' or so we decided to take a small break, throw on balaclavas, grab a quick bite/drink and prepare for the push ahead. This is where I made my first novice mistake. I naively took my gloves (Seirus Water/Windproof gloves) off and pinned them against my snowshoes for a few minutes to dig around in my pack. By the time I put them back on my fingers were frozen and simply didn't have enough warmth to heat now frozen gloves. I hiked on but they were hurting so much I decided I better stop and warm them up. I couldn't find my snowboarding gloves in my pack (of course, when I got home and unpacked...they were all the way at the bottom of my pack) and was getting worried. Luckily, Javier had an extra set of mitts that he let me borrow. From that point on, it was summer for my hands. Lesson learned: If you take your gloves off in 50 mph winds and negative temps, put them inside your coat against your body to keep them warm. I now have my eye on a set of Mountain Hardware Absolute Zeros!

With a new faith brought about by warm fingers I was now super comfy and we continued along the ridge. By now, the wind was absolutely screaming with consistent speed and gusts somewhere in the neighborhood of 50-60 mph. I could feel the very small sections of exposed skin (tip of my nose, small area on my cheeks) begin to get cold. Javier had a nice full balaclava but Nick couldn't find his and trooped along with only his sunglasses, hoodie closed tight and hardshell hood over that. His face looked like it was starting to get beat up by the sandblasting action of the wind and snow. Not guys to give up though, we continued on, stopping frequently to bear the wind, adjust equipment or to simply breathe. At around 13,200' we cached our snowshoes and began to get after the last 1,000' of our goal. I used to have a habit of going too hard when it gets steep and so I've begun to step in cadence with my breathing and adjust how many steps I take for each breath depending on the difficulty. What began as several steps per breath now turned into an in-breath for the left foot...and out-breath for the right foot...then a full in & out for each step. I love the meditative feel of this approach. Nick mentioned that he used this method as well when the terrain got steep. At our last stop together I snapped another pic:

With hundreds of feet of elevation to go the wind was beginning to take its toll. I got lost in my breathing/stepping and before I knew it had created too much distance between myself and the other guys. I could see they were still climbing and so I continued on, but the wind really started picking up and visibility was decreasing quickly. This is where I made my second mistake by getting out of touch with my climbing partners.

Nick? Javier? Anybody? H-E-L-L-O-Oooooo?
The wind was incredible now. As I neared the final few hundred yards I could see the couple that had gone before us coming back down...with a quickness. We stopped briefly as we met but they were in a real hurry to get off of there. The mentioned that they had to crouch down several times to wait out the intense gusts. So with a hasty "Be safe!" we headed in our own directions. About 5 minutes later I reached the summit.

I let out a nice long summit WooHoo! and set my bag down to dig around for some now frozen food and a drink. After signing the register I sat down (something I hadn't done since we started) and stretched the legs and hips. I heard somebody yell from below and assumed that Javier and Nick were reaching the top. So I waited...and waited. After 15-20 minutes or so I started to get worried because I didn't think they were that far behind me. Mistake #3.

Leaving my poles next to the register, I thought I'd take a quick little peek over the edge to see if I could see them. Visibility was nada and so I kept walking down until I found them a few hundred feet below. "Crap!" I thought..."I hope nothing's wrong." When I reached them I found that Nick was just getting too pelted by the wind and snow and they had decided to turn around. We agreed to start heading back down when I remembered that I left my poles on top. Great. Already a little drained I headed back up and had to rest more often than I should. Never underestimate the draining effect of cold, windy conditions. I considered leaving them up there but knew I could get back up, grab a little snack and head back down. Javier and Nick later had a laugh that I mentioned to them that I was going to hang out for a few minutes on the re-summit and take time to eat. I think they thought I was a little crazy.

Poles in hand, pack on back and yummy in tummy I caught back up with the guys, had a little giggle about how stupid I am and took another pic:

Once off the ridge and then into the trees the weather improved, the wind subsided and it became very pleasant. Javier stopped, laid on his back and said, "Look at the snow." We all kicked back for a few minutes, witnessing the snow flakes and the last few seconds of their own descent before finding a resting place on the floor of the forest.

By 2:45 we were back on the road just a few hundred yards from the warmth of the SUV. Burgers and beers (both the root- and malted varieties) awaited us in Breck...

Why do we do this?
In retrospect, this was one of the most enjoyable outings I've had in the past few years...a combination of challenge, good company and the grace of nature. Like Javier said, "I just like to be out there." Thanks guys for another awesome day in the mountains of Colorado...and another opportunity to look at the snow.