Though we received reports of corn before this weekend, this was our first taste of the maizey goodness of spring.
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| Cheryl and Sandy gaze at the cornices sluffing. |
Cathy herded the entire group into her car at Woolly Mammoth HH, including Cheryl, Sandy, and Norm. There's nothing like the middle day of a three-day weekend to thin the traffic to a trickle. At the Downieville stop, we saw mostly shorts-clad travelers, and not a mountain goat or sheep to be found. It was totally dry in Empire, and we marveled at the avalanche debris found on the sides of US 40 on the way to Berthoud Pass. At the top, those in the good seats were able see the sluffing off the cliffs on the west side of the pass, then further down the road we saw it on the east side as well. We arrived at the trailhead at a leisurely 9:30, unloaded the gear and hiked across the mostly dry parking lot over the greatly diminished snow banks to strap on the skis for the climb under perfect bluebird skies and extremely warm temperatures in the 50's.
We took a circuitous route up through Perfect Trees to stay off the already softened aspects where the slope angle was over 30°, and made our way to the top of 11,721'. Up higher the wind was whipping our skins and other assorted gear, but none of the gear managed to escape. Is it just a coincidence that corn and cornices go together? We saw plenty of both from our vantage point at the top.
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| Second Creek cornices. |
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| Current Creek cornices. |
The corn was a couple inches deep on top, a perfect balance between hot sun and cool winds. As we reached the steeper slopes by the aqueduct, the corn got lots deeper, protected from the winds or angled more directly into the sun. We plowed our furrows ever deeper as we descended about 500' from the top. Norm and I descended an extra 50' above the 120's, then we skinned up and met the rest of the group for the climb. The temperature made the slog grueling at times, especially covered up against the broiling UV rays, then a blast of wind would bring welcome relief. Towards the top, the wind reigned supreme, and it was time for a shell and a bite to eat in the trees. On the second run we stuck a bit closer to the trees.
At the bottom, it was time to skin up and climb up again. At the top, we got a good look at the additional cornice sluffing that had occurred, as well as the building clouds that gratefully never developed into thunderstorms or rain.
We made our way back down through the Perfect Trees, giving the steeper slopes a wide berth. However, our route took us down a slope where I discovered at least one rock lurking below the surface, causing an especially picturesque fall. Despite this mishap, we all made it down to the trailhead in one piece. After clambering out of our bindings, we made our way over the snowbank to the car, then onward to Tommyknockers.
Except for that one rock, we found plenty of snow for skiing. The depths are amazing for this time of year.
3 runs / 4 miles / 2100'
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| Track superimposed on slope and avalanche map. |
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