| Sit on the Summit or Ski Descent? Trip Report |
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| Sit on the Summit or Ski Descent?   | 
| Page Type: Trip Report Location: Colorado, United States, North America Date Climbed/Hiked: Apr 30, 2006 Activities: Skiing Season: Spring | Page By: COTrekker02 Created/Edited: May 14, 2006 / May 14, 2006 Object ID: 193916 Hits: 728 Loading... Page Score: 85.92% - 1 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
A Fast Start Confident after my successful summit bid on Humboldt with my wife the weekend before, I asked my friend, Chad, if he was up for a summit bid of Princeton the next weekend. Chad was, and we began making plans during the week. I saw via another trip report that a duo had climbed and skied via a great line on the east face the weekend before, so I emailed it to Chad and we agreed that bringing the skis for a possible ski descent had to be done. Also, I was fairly confident that the east ridge trail (standard ascent) was relatively snow-free except a couple of snowfields.
Chad and I met in Buena Vist on Saturday, 04/29 at about 6:30pm. We rendezvoused at the City Market and then got some pasta and a beer at a local restaurant. At about 7:30 we finished our dinner and headed up the Mount Princeton Road, hoping to make it to the radio towers at 10,800 feet and camp in my car. We spied the east ridge while approaching the mountain and saw that the mountain had definitely received new snow in the last 24 hours. How this would affect our trip, we were uncertain. While the road was steep and exposed at spots, we didn't encounter any snow, and made it to the towers as planned at 8:30 or so, in the dark. We organized the car for sleeping, chatted about the next day's adventure, and were asleep by 10.
We awoke at 6am and fired up the car for heat. We got dressed and chowed sandwiches and O.J. purchased from City Market the night before. We loaded our packs and donned our avalanche beacons at the car. We had our skis lashed to our packs and embarked from the car at 7:10 am. Chad wore his randonee boots and I wore my backpacking boots and carried my alpine boots on my pack. Our footwear would both help and hurt us at opposing times throughout the day. We made good time up the road and stopped to eye the ridge, trail and summit several times before heading south and then west around the lower east ridge shoulder of Princeton. We spied the trail where it headed north from the road and gained the ridge. We were quickly on the ridge at about 8:30 am. I was confident of a 10am summit cap... We quickly aborted gaining the ridge and traversing that and opted for the summer trail which traverses the ridge about 1/2 up the giant shoulder, slowly gaining altitude toward the summit. It was more or less snow free at first, but the new snow had made the scree slippery and there were still several snowfields we would have to cross. We set out among high winds and blue sky marred by high, white clouds.Endless Snowfields We made short work of the trail section before encountering the first snowfield but then our pace slowed substantially. Since it was early and we knew this snow was relatively compact, we decided to go, and I lead across the first two snowfields. The top snow layer measured two or three inches of wind-compacted sugar snow, with a very hard layer underneath, and yet more faceted sugar snow under that. I made slow but steady progress in my backpack boots, usually gaining purchase with one big kick step. Every once in a while, though, I found the second layer of hard pack hard to gain purchase, and this required several kick steps. While I crossed, Chad waited safely on the other side among the rocks, and crossed when I was safely across.
Chad led the third snowfield as I waited and watched 10:00 am hit on my watch. Our time was a lot slower than my expectations, and our energy level was dropping, with the summit still looming far in the distance, and 2,000 vertical feet above us.
We switched and I lead across a double snowfield that was a couple hundred yards long. I crossed the first one ok and then on the second about 3/4 across, I ran into an ice layer below the new snow that I could not kick step into. I tried several times to no avail. I tried to kick step downward and the ice extended under this as well. After 15 minutes of standing there contemplating my next move, Chad yelled was I ok? I said yes, but that I didn't have good purchase on my current standing and didn't want to make a move until I was certain I could rest my weight on it. A slip here meant a gavity-pulling fall of about 1,000 feet down the snow gully to the basin below. This would not be fun and without an ice axe, I wasn't going to take chances. The akward weight of my skis and boots on my back thwarted my balance attempts and I slipped twice, tensing every muscle in my body to stop on top of the snow and replace my current foothold. Finally, after 20 minutes or so, a surge of adrenalin found me kick stepping hard straight up the slope about 20-30 feet and then over to the safety of the rocks. My heart was racing and my breath so fast and deep that I was dizzy at times. This stupid event had drained a lot of my energy. With crampons, it would have been a non event.
Chad crossed and then led the next one at my urging and pleading. I was happy to follow him and he easily gained purchase in his randonee boots. I hit ice once again and he had to come back to kick step steps for me to follow. We continued over ice covered rocks at a slow pace.
A Ridge Decision After the last snowfield, I decided I'd had enough of the snowfields. It was getting late and they were taking a toll on our mental and physical energy. We began climbing the scree fields, open tundra and occasional snow to the ridge top. This was much easier for me, but harder for Chad in his stiffer boots. We gained the ridge top at last and eyed Antero to the south. We pulled out our lunches and hid behind rocks below the ridge and ate in silence at about 13,250. We were both thinking that we still had 1,000 vertical feet of climbing over loose rock and scree to the summit and then had to traverse the ridge down to the line we intended to ski. All that before we clicked into our skis and descended.
Chad said we could ski from right were we were, all the way down to the basin and then traverse up back to the trail. I immediately dismissed this as a summit bid was my first priority, but a ski descent his. I took stock of our situation one more time and then conceded out loud that skiing from there would still be a fun ending to our day. We agreed and Chad eagerly sad he'd return with me in the summer to bag the peak. We both knew our energy levels would be dangerously low by the time we summited and got ready to ski, making injury more probable. So, with that decision behind us, we clicked in, just as a man approached and asked us several questions...it was 1:00pm. Chad and I weren't in the mood to talk to anyone other than each other, so he qickly left us and headed for the summit, with no pack, jacket, boots, or visible water...
The Short Ski We dug a couple rudimentiary snow pits and decided that it was ok to ski. All of our work on the snowfields on similar aspects told us this was compact snow. Chad skied the first 10 turns or so and then I followed, once he was safely to the side. The skiing was akward, as the howling winds had created a hard back crust that was tough to break through. Below it was sugary snow, that alternated between hard and soft. We slowly picked our way around the rocks and down the slope, stopping to discuss our next moves. We had to remove skis and traverse a small rock area to ski again, and then had skiing all the way to the bottom of the gully. Towards the bottom 1/3 of the line the snow had soften and actually became fun to ski. We ripped a few linked turns in the softer snow and then came to the end of the line. We shot some pictures and marveled how we had made it back to a spot in 25 minutes that had taken 3-4 hours to go coming in, yet we were 1,000 feet below the trail.
We removed our skis and then traversed the talus and snow back to the east ridge shoulder and the trail. This was easier for me because of my backpack boots, but Chad did well in his randonee boots. We headed back down the trail to the road and slogged back to our cars, getting there at about 3:45 pm. We loaded up and then headed back to town, after drinking a cold 'Skinny Dip' lager.
We were both satisfied with our day, even though we hadn't summited the peak or skied our intended line from the exact summit. Two friends had shared their passion for the mountains by testing their physical and mental strength, and enjoying a decent backcountry ski line together. We knew this would be the first of many bc ski days and talked about the other mountains we would conquer in the future. Well, hopefully conquer. It always looks easier on paper, we conceded, as we hit the floor of the Arkansas Valley and pointed back to Buena Vista, noticing a snow squall on Princeton behind us. Images
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Sawatch Range
