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Stats/Weather:
Mountains: Mt. Sherman (14,036’)Route: Started at road closure (10,900’ approx), climbed and skied the S. Slope
Stats:
Elevation Gain - 3200’ (approx)
Roundtrip Mileage - 10 miles (approx)
Crew: Langley, Jan, Prakash
Covfrrider’s report on 14ers.com provided us with some awesome beta and it looked like a summit ski was still possible on Sherman. The forecast called for sunny weather with a max of 53F and low winds. Figuring we would need an early start to beat the wet slides, we left Boulder at 4AM. I would be on AT with Langley and Jan on Tele.
The Trail
We got to the trailhead at 6:30AM, geared up and began hiking shortly before 7. I decided to boot the packed trail with skis on my pack for a short while because I wasn’t sure the snow would be continuous all the way. Langley and Jan decided to begin skinning right away and they were right… there was a continuous line of snow on this route all the way to the Summit. Horseshoe makes an appearance…
Horseshoe makes an Appearance!Our route was identical to what covfrrider published last week so I will refrain from marking it on this picture.
Langley skins up the basin…We soon broke timber line and began ascending the gradual South slopes. It was mildly icy and our skins slipped back from time to time. The wind picked up and started being a nuisance. So much for the “low winds” forecast.
South Slopes on ShermanHere’s looking back down the S. Slopes…
Ascent RouteA view of Sheridan and the Hilltop Mine from the route we took…
Sheridan seen from our RouteAssuming the summit would be windy, we took a 15 minute snack break a little before the summit (13800’ approx). Here’s looking down the route from where we stopped.
Ascent Route from 13800'Another look at Horseshoe…
Horseshoe and Upper Sections of Boudoir CouloirSummit:
The rest of the way went pretty quick and we summitted at 10:40AM. Mysteriously the wind stopped up on the summit. Who’d have thought the summit was a fantastic wind shelter? Mountains are the supreme masters of the curveball.
Summit!Here’s looking down the summit ridge and the continuous line of snow off of it…
Sherman's Summit RidgeDecalibron...
Poach, but don't tell?We took a rather long nap on the summit while waiting for the snow to soften up. Picture of vapor trails before the camera fell from my sleepy hands…
To satisfy my obsession with Vapor Trails
Jan napsSki:
We’d have slept longer, but thankfully old man wind swung by and rudely chastised our lassitude. We began moving shortly before noon. We went down the ridge a short while to the top of the South slopes where we would begin skiing down the now softened upper portion. We should have left a half hour earlier or maybe a little more.
The Ski Begins
Snow slightly sucksSheridan, Horseshoe and the Hilltop mine below…
ScenicsHere’s what we skied down… no action shots unfortunately…
Snow too soft, too wet... a little sketchLooking down at Jan approaching the Hilltop mine… Langley did a few ski cuts heading towards the Sheridan saddle and skied down from there. The snow had softened a little too much and it was a slightly difficult ski.
Nowhere to go but Down
More Mashed Potatoes?We got lower pretty quickly however.
Down LowerLooking back up at the summit…
Last Look at the SummitWe were able to ski the whole way back down to the car. It had been a beautiful, mellow, bluebird day. We were back at the car at 1:15PM for a roundtrip time of around 6.5 hours with an hour and a half of laziness on the summit. Langley, Jan, it was good to get out with you guys. We should go ski another beast some time soon.