| Dropping Deming Drop Trip Report |
Geography Parents  Loading... Trip Reports
| Dropping Deming Drop   | 
| Page Type: Trip Report Location: Colorado, United States, North America Date Climbed/Hiked: Jun 5, 2011 Activities: Mountaineering, Skiing Season: Spring | Page By: benners Created/Edited: Sep 17, 2011 / Sep 17, 2011 Object ID: 746900 Hits: 241 Loading... Page Score: 86.61% - 4 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
Deming Peak Ski Descent 6.5.11
Well my buddy Brian managed to do it again...talk me into another line in the Gores that is. For the past several months he has been slowly but surely convincing me to stop focusing so intently on skiing 14ers, and start focusing more on skiing obscure, aesthetic lines in placed I've never explored. Brian has never been a list ticker; in fact he detests the concept. He argues that "the list" cheapens the true (and also healthy) spirit behind mountaineering by causing one to become a slave (of sorts) to a predetermined set of objectives. One of the dangers, Brian claims, inherent to this type of list ticking mentality is that it can force one to pursue objectives they otherwise would logically never pursue. Another danger is that list ticking can cause one to trade other interesting, sometimes even more worthwhile and original objectives for the temporary satisfaction of "getting another one dun". I must admit I feel that Brian is nothing less than a voice of reason on this issue, and while the 14ers project is still a very real goal to me I can't say I necessarily disagree with his viewpoints. Therefore, I view the slowing of my progression as well as my more laid back mentality of "letting those last few 14ers come in their own time" as only healthy, and even more than that, a sign of maturity. Thank you Brian for showing me how to slow down and enjoy the journey. Anyway enough on that stuff, to make an already long story a tad shorter, Brian suggested "Deming Drop" off Deming Peak as a candidate for this past weekend's ski outing, and after taking a look at the line on StanWagon.com, I was sold.
Deming Drop is a unique line for a number of reasons. Firstly, it lies in the Eastern Gores, a true gem of a range that sees way less skier traffic than it is worthy of. Second, it's a spectacular chute that features a sustained steep pitch of 40+ degrees dropping 1,300' straight off Deming's summit. Lastly, it rarely gets skied and documented, with five recorded descents on StanWagon.com as of 2008. Mike, Rick, and I started from the TH at 4:45am under an orange sky.
Within two hours we were staring at the South Face of Deming:
We took a long break below the face and admired the Tenmile/Front Ranges to the south. Upon skinning higher we began to catch glimpses of Gore Range peaks to our north.
A sub peak of Red, that line down the center looks fun:
Brian skinning, Buffalo Mountain serves as a fine backdrop:
Getting to the summit of Deming is just a matter of putting one foot in front of the other, so I'll skip describing that part. Not to give the wrong impression however, Deming is pretty far in there; the approach/climb of the peak took us nearly 6 hours.
Skis on the summit:
From the top we got decent views of Holy Cross and the rest of the Northern Sawatch, though the Arizona smoke was inhibiting our long range visibility to the Elks. After 45 minutes of hanging out and enjoying the views/assortment of food we brought along, we finally decided to click in and check out the line.
Deming Drop:
I got to take firsts this time around, the snow was a tad soft up top but soon transitioned into perfection.
Mike dropping the Drop:
Brian:
...and Rick:
After 1,200' of superb spring skiing we found ourselves staring back up at the line.
From here, the only option for returning to the south side of Deming is climbing roughly 1,000' back over the Southeast Ridge. It was getting a little late in the day so we tried to hurry before the Southern Slopes turned to mush.
Brian and Mike on the way up:
Mike topping out:
From the top of the ridge it was a simple ski back down the way we came. Two hours after we made the ridge we were back at the car, another fine line under our belts. I like the Gores, a lot.
Images
|
|
Gore Range > Deming Mountain > Dropping Deming Drop
