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Grand Central Couloir conditions

PostPosted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 7:17 am
by spiritualspatula
ETA: When I wrote this up I couldn't remember which was Grand and which was Nokhuloir, but I did Grand. Nokhuloir conditions looked the same, however.

Not really a popular climb, but figured I'd update. I did this last Friday. Weather was sub freezing at night, but between 3am and 5am, it dropped a few inches of powder. Snow was decent for much, but alternated between good styrofoam snow and a very hard top layer of crust with sugar below (which you would encounter as you placed kick stepped). Sun was light during the morning due to cloud cover (falling snow). During ascent, the usual Nokhu chunks rained down, be aware of them. High winds on the sides of the basin, causing small snowballs that were kicked up by small snowdevils were not caused by wet conditions but rather wind. No cornice at the top. It appears I was the first to climb this in a good bit, no evidence of steps. Summit was as good as it gets, no postholing like last time I climbed it a couple years ago.
Be aware that the remaining snow on Michigan Ditch road degrades heavily as time goes on and becomes extremely annoying. Even with snowshoes, you break through the crust into sugar, making your trip out much longer than your trip in. They do plough the road further as time goes on, but as of now, it's a relatively frustrating experience. Follow my tracks I guess.

Of note- mid afternoon, during snow melting, there was a naturally triggered small slide on the north aspect of the ridge between Static and Nokhu. Slide was small, very slow, but of note.

In all, a good climb in good conditions.

Re: Nokhuloir conditions

PostPosted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 3:14 am
by ashish
Thanks! I am looking to do some moderate couloirs in front range. Any idea on lost rat, edwardian, apache or christo conditions? It will be of great help.

Re: Nokhuloir conditions

PostPosted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 4:40 am
by thatnissanguy
Thanks for the update! This one is on my to-do list, carried over from last year. The Never Summers always have different snow conditions than the rest of the Front Range, so it's hard to tell when the (3 hour) drive is worth it!

Apache Couloir is IN and the basin is patchy, the road to Brainard Lake is dry and can be biked. Three weeks ago the lakes on the approach were getting sketchy, I'm sure the ice is very thin by now so be careful.

Cristo is OUT due to lack of significant snowfall.

May I suggest Dead Dog Couloir? It is IN and FAT as usual.

Re: Nokhuloir conditions

PostPosted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 4:52 pm
by ashish
Thanks for the info thatnissanguy! Lot of other people are suggesting DD as well...so I will pick that.