Greetings Friends,
June came in with sweltering temperatures on the plains, but good skiing at Sundance Mountain.
June came in with sweltering temperatures on the plains, but good skiing at Sundance Mountain.
Naoki, Cheryl, Tom, Diane, Judi, and Cathy hike up to the snow.
After a holiday break in Canyonlands, Cheryl and I were ready to return to the ski slopes, and Naoki graciously showed us another great spot in RMNP. Cathy, Cheryl, and I met at 6:15 at 4th and Union, and we made the trek to Boulder where we met Diane, Judi, and Naoki. After many comments regarding the early start for Denverites and the late sleep-in for Boulderites, Naoki led us to Estes Park and on to the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center. After a refreshing stop we headed up to the toll booths, where we blew through without stopping. Somehow RMNP must have known that I bought a pass, because it was free entry all weekend. We drove up Trail Ridge Rd past lower and upper Hidden Valley, around Rainbow Curve, past the Canyon Overlook at 11,716', then stopped at a wide spot in the road at about 12,000', where we had hoped to try some southwest facing slopes that look down on the Big Thompson River valley. As you might have guessed, these south facing slopes were already melted off, so we drove on a little further past Rock Cut to the parking area for the Toll Memorial trial head.
Naoki, Cathy, Diane, and Judi strap on the skis.
Cathy and Judi are ready to go.
Tom, Cheryl, and Naoki prepare for the hike.
We found plenty of parking, though skiers ahead of us were already strapping boards to their packs. Once again we were greeted with strong winds from the southwest. With our skis on our packs, the wind threatened to topple us more than once, but we maintained our footing as we walked up the gentle south-facing paved trail. It was mostly melted off, with a couple of patches of snow to posthole through. We topped out at 12,300' to reach the north facing slopes. The slight gully must catch a lot of wind deposited snow, because the coverage was great with only a couple patches of rocks. We transferred skis from packs to boots at the congested starting point, and quickly spread out to enjoy the slopes.
Naoki demonstrates his smooth style.
The well established dust layer proved a little grabby for some of us, but we uncovered white unblemished snow with each turn. Although it is theoretically possible to drop 2000' to the Fall River valley, we stopped after a 700' descent to stay on slopes less than 30 degrees. The turn-around point came all too soon, and we opted to boot pack and carry the skis to the top.
Cheryl hikes to the top.
Naoki, Cheryl, and Diane head up.
Soon enough we had skis beneath our feet and the turns resumed in earnest. The skies were darkening with the increasing cloud cover, but we were glad that the clouds were moving too fast to build into thunderheads. The second run was a near repeat of the first, ending all too quickly at nearly the same turn-around point.
Diane, Cheryl, and Tom head down.
Afterwards, we stopped at the parking lot by the lake in Estes Park and walked up the river walk to a Mexican restaurant for a snack and beverage.
Stats: 3.4 mi / 1500' / 2 runs / 4 hrs.
Trip map with route in red, slopes in blue (25°), orange (30°), red (35°).
3D view facing south (from Google Earth).
3D view facing south (from Google Earth).
Next weekend we may take a look at Mt Evans. Some posts from last week report that there may be thinner snow coverage where I was thinking of going, but I'll keep looking.
Thanks,
Tom
Tom
