| 3-11-07, An East Ridge of Ups & Downs Trip Report |
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| 3-11-07, An East Ridge of Ups & Downs   | 
| Page Type: Trip Report Location: Colorado, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 39.37610°N / 106.1211°W Date Climbed/Hiked: Mar 11, 2007 Activities: Mountaineering Season: Winter | Page By: altitude14er Created/Edited: Mar 16, 2007 / Mar 21, 2007 Object ID: 278290 Hits: 357 Loading... Page Score: 86.82% - 3 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
A Ridge of Ups & Downs
Above photo courtesy of Asphazell
North Star Mountain ~ 13,614ft
East Ridge, 7.8 Miles RT, 2,650ft. Elevation Gain
Featuring Altitude14er & Asphazell
Climbed 3-11-2007
I had not climbed a mountain in 5 and ½ months. I had stooped to a new low in my 4 years of climbing adventures…never had I went this long without high altitude. It was time to regain the summit and my spirit for adventure! I was a bit nervous Saturday evening when it began raining consistently and lasted for several hours in Denver. I wandered if it would be avalanche prime time the next day with me and my good friend Mark atop North Star? We discussed the avalanche danger and decided to go for it given the fact that this mountains East Ridge is usually windswept and often times climbed in the winter months.
We took I-70 from Denver to Hoosier Pass. The fresh snow on I-70 made the driving slow going. We departed from the TH at 9:30am – not exactly an alpine start! Surprisingly, the storm had dissipated and not much fresh snow had stuck to the peaks above treeline. The conditions were awesome and we swiftly ascended the East Ridge of North Star, exiting the trees with the reward of sweeping views. Some clouds clung to the peaks far to our North. It was crystal clear and a gloriously warm morning.
We ascended the first hump right above Hoosier Pass, heading in a westward direction. From here we lost a few hundred feet and looked up as the East Ridge led to a high point. The slope was mellow enough and didn’t have a dangerous amount of snow. We navigated our way along the right (north) side of the ridge through patches of barren rocks where the snow wasn’t too deep. Nevertheless, we were using (and needing) our snowshoes. We huffed and puffed our way up to about 13,200ft. on the ridge. To our right was a very significant avalanche cornice. The wind had piled snow over 25ft. high here. We nervously previewed this section and decided to bypass the cornice on the south side of the ridge. This was the only area on the ridge where we encountered avalanche danger that couldn’t be bypassed safely. We crossed one at a time with whistles around our necks in the event of a slide. If buried, the whistle can be heard through the snow. Once past this section we gained the ridge top proper at 13,300(something)ft. From here we were able to preview the long ridge of ups and downs. They were tedious and required much effort given my heavy pack. The snow was shallow enough on the ridge that we took off our snowshoes. Yet we found ourselves picking our way through rocks and snow, sinking waist deep in occasions.
It was a tiring effort. We took our time on the ridge and reached the summit at about 3:30pm. It felt great reaching the high peaks again. The weather was great and crystal clear. The wind was mild and the day felt much more like spring than winter. The views were well worth the effort.
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Tenmile Range
