Mt. Sherman Trip Report 04/08/2009

Peak(s):	Mt. Sherman - 14,043 feet
Date Posted:	04/08/2009
Date Climbed:	04/06/2009
Author:	fox_inthesnow

snowblind on Sherman
I was hoping to attempt Decalibron on Monday but decided last minute to go try Sherman. I arrived around 8:15am at the normal winter closure(about 1 mile below Leavick). I was surprised how much snow was still on the road from the previous weeks worth of storms. I had attempted Sherman in January and there was much less snow then! I had considered renting some snowshoes for the trip but ended up decided against it, figuring they would only be needed occasionally. In retrospect this was a mistake. The entire first mile up to Leavick was breaking trail through crusty snow 6"-18" deep. I set a good pace and didn't get overly tired but it still sapped quite a bit of energy. The second mistake, an seemingly innocuous one at the time, was that I forgot my sunglasses. Now I've done several long winter hikes without them in the past, but this time it would prove to be a big mistake...but more on that to come Leavick and Horshoe Mountain I made good time up past Leavick, with the snow conditions a mix of powder and crust. There were a few places where the road was without snow, but for the most part the snow was consistent. The wind was really howling that morning, but as I continued up the road it began to die down, and by 11am it was probably only gusting up to 15-20mph at most. When my altimeter read about 12,000 feet I turned off the main road and headed up the talus of the southern slope. On my previous attempt I had followed the road to the Hilltop mine but this time I knew better and I had a couple old snowshoe tracks I could follow up the snow route on the southern slope. My route was inexact as I tried to avoid postholing at all costs, which worked at times, and other times put me in knee deep drifts. Heading up the slope Taking a break White Ridge as I head up the southern slope Approximate route javascript:emoticon('') My inital thought was to meet up with the White Ridge - Sherman saddle but as I headed up I simply followed the drainage. I stayed out of the drainage and followed a higher line on the talus about 50 ft. northeast. I was in more of a scrambling mood at that point rather than kicking steps in the snow. I joined the saddle not more than a few hundred feet below summit, and pushed on from there. I reached the summit at 12:45, about 4 hours after I set off from the winter road closure. I had to excavate the register as it was buried in solid snow/ice. I spent about 20 minutes on the summit where my temp. gauge read 27 degrees, and the sun shone through cobalt blue skies. Excavating the register Summit Ninja! no sunglasses javascript:emoticon('') Jet trail over summit On a sidenote: I picked up this Highgear Axis watch on Steep and Cheap a couple weeks ago for 23 bucks. I really just wanted a temp gauge and altimeter so when this came up I jumped on it. Some of the reviews were mixed, but I found it to perform quite well. I calibrated it in Colorado Springs only once that morning and by the time I was on the summit it was only 25 ft. off! Granted, the weather was fairly stable but it seemed to work great. As I headed down from the summit the I had the sun in my face and the snow softened up quite a bit. I plunge stepped my way down and quickly arrived down at the road in about 40 minutes or so. By the temperature had risen to nearly 40 degrees and the snow had turned heavy and wet. The rest of the way back was a tiring slog that made me yearn for summer, or at the very least, snowshoes. I arrived back at the car a little after 3pm for a roundtrip of about 6.5 hours. There and back again After my drive back to Colorado Springs, I noticed my eyes becoming irritated. I didn't think much of it until I woke up at 1am that night with my eyes burning! I contemplated driving to Walmart for some Visine, but my vision was too blurred to do anything. I downed some Ibuprofen and eventually fell asleep, but I awoke to similiar pain and swelling. I was able to make it to the opthamologist that afternoon where he diagnosed me with UV keratitis aka Snow Blindness, and hooked me up with some steroid eyedrops. As of today, with still swollen eyes, I'm feeling much improved and able to view a computer monitor in focus! Perfect time for a trip report.... So lesson learned: Wear UV eye protection!

snowblind on Sherman

I was hoping to attempt Decalibron on Monday but decided last minute to go try Sherman. I arrived around 8:15am at the normal winter closure(about 1 mile below Leavick). I was surprised how much snow was still on the road from the previous weeks worth of storms. I had attempted Sherman in January and there was much less snow then!

I had considered renting some snowshoes for the trip but ended up decided against it, figuring they would only be needed occasionally. In retrospect this was a mistake. The entire first mile up to Leavick was breaking trail through crusty snow 6"-18" deep. I set a good pace and didn't get overly tired but it still sapped quite a bit of energy.
The second mistake, an seemingly innocuous one at the time, was that I forgot my sunglasses. Now I've done several long winter hikes without them in the past, but this time it would prove to be a big mistake...but more on that to come

Leavick and Horshoe Mountain

I made good time up past Leavick, with the snow conditions a mix of powder and crust. There were a few places where the road was without snow, but for the most part the snow was consistent. The wind was really howling that morning, but as I continued up the road it began to die down, and by 11am it was probably only gusting up to 15-20mph at most. When my altimeter read about 12,000 feet I turned off the main road and headed up the talus of the southern slope. On my previous attempt I had followed the road to the Hilltop mine but this time I knew better and I had a couple old snowshoe tracks I could follow up the snow route on the southern slope. My route was inexact as I tried to avoid postholing at all costs, which worked at times, and other times put me in knee deep drifts.

Heading up the slope

Taking a break

White Ridge as I head up the southern slope

Approximate route javascript:emoticon('

My inital thought was to meet up with the White Ridge - Sherman saddle but as I headed up I simply followed the drainage. I stayed out of the drainage and followed a higher line on the talus about 50 ft. northeast. I was in more of a scrambling mood at that point rather than kicking steps in the snow. I joined the saddle not more than a few hundred feet below summit, and pushed on from there. I reached the summit at 12:45, about 4 hours after I set off from the winter road closure. I had to excavate the register as it was buried in solid snow/ice. I spent about 20 minutes on the summit where my temp. gauge read 27 degrees, and the sun shone through cobalt blue skies.

Excavating the register

Summit Ninja! no sunglasses javascript:emoticon('

Jet trail over summit

On a sidenote:
I picked up this Highgear Axis watch on Steep and Cheap a couple weeks ago for 23 bucks. I really just wanted a temp gauge and altimeter so when this came up I jumped on it. Some of the reviews were mixed, but I found it to perform quite well. I calibrated it in Colorado Springs only once that morning and by the time I was on the summit it was only 25 ft. off! Granted, the weather was fairly stable but it seemed to work great.

As I headed down from the summit the I had the sun in my face and the snow softened up quite a bit. I plunge stepped my way down and quickly arrived down at the road in about 40 minutes or so. By the temperature had risen to nearly 40 degrees and the snow had turned heavy and wet. The rest of the way back was a tiring slog that made me yearn for summer, or at the very least, snowshoes. I arrived back at the car a little after 3pm for a roundtrip of about 6.5 hours.

There and back again

After my drive back to Colorado Springs, I noticed my eyes becoming irritated. I didn't think much of it until I woke up at 1am that night with my eyes burning! I contemplated driving to Walmart for some Visine, but my vision was too blurred to do anything. I downed some Ibuprofen and eventually fell asleep, but I awoke to similiar pain and swelling. I was able to make it to the opthamologist that afternoon where he diagnosed me with UV keratitis aka Snow Blindness, and hooked me up with some steroid eyedrops. As of today, with still swollen eyes, I'm feeling much improved and able to view a computer monitor in focus! Perfect time for a trip report....

So lesson learned:
Wear UV eye protection!

Comments or Questions

MikeyC	Good lesson learned 4/8/2009 9:51pm about the sunglasses. I learned the hard way with sunscreen. It looks like your ice axe stillhas the point protector on the pick. You may want to take it off during the hike. Looks like an amazing day to be out! Thanks for the trip report!
fox_inthesnow	ice axe newbie 4/8/2009 9:57pm Yeah you can tell i‘m still pretty new to the whole ice axe thing... It stayed on for several long glissades though!
fox_inthesnow	No sunglasses 4/8/2009 11:00pm I was without them the whole day. Never had a problem before, but I‘ve probably never been exposed to that much UV
BillMiddlebrook	Are you high, son?!? 4/8/2009 11:08pm That last photo looks like something from my college days. Glad to hear your on the mend.
fox_inthesnow	High? 4/8/2009 11:19pm Hey its medicinal!
BAUMGARA	Just so I know 4/9/2009 12:39am Did you spend the entire day not wearing sun glasses, or just the summit?
BAUMGARA	OH YOU‘RE THAT GUY 4/9/2009 12:43am I helped you push the subaru out back on MLK day. Glad to see you didn‘t go any farther this time, and good to see that to made the summit.
Roald	Burn vs cold 4/9/2009 2:21am That UV burn makes the well below zero wind chills we had on Quandary back in February look like a cake walk. Good job making the Sherman summit though.
DHatfield	Lesson learned 4/9/2009 12:18pm Congrats on your summit. Glad to hear you are getting better. I learned the same hard way (I learned a lot by the school of hard knocks) by getting a very bad case of wind burn/snow blindness when I did my first 14er in the winter with any eye protection.
Flying_Squirrel	Mt Sherman=Snowblindness 5/4/2009 12:04pm I spontaneously decided to ski up Sherman on Arpil 21, my 1st solo 14er, my 1st skiied 14er. Also forgot the shades in the car. Eyes swelled shut, couldn‘t see for 2 days. I wish I would have checked your trip report before I went.

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