Rollins Pass 080611

It was another beautiful day on the slopes as we got in our August ski trip.

Bob, Phil, and Cathy ascend the King Lake snowfield.

After the sweltering days of July, we were ready for some cool-down activities, so I gathered the usual suspects Cathy, Bob, and Phil at the Woolly Mammoth park and ride at 7:00. We crammed all our gear into the 4Runner and made our way to Winter Park, with a stop at Berthoud Pass to inspect the facilities. We missed the turnoff for Corona Pass at first because the intersection was just too well marked. My memories go back to when it was a dirt intersection diagonal off the highway, but now the intersection is signed and paved.  After a quick U-turn we made it onto dirt and bumped our way up to the pass. Along the way we saw the massive logging efforts to clear the beetle kill. These should make some good runs next winter. 

We made a couple of brief stops at the trestle and the last trees before pulling into the parking lot at the top. As we strapped on our gear we noticed another couple of people were getting their skis and snowboards ready.

I was surprised to see that the Corona snowfield covered the road east of the parking lot. We headed for this snowfield first. A brief stroll got us to the top of the snow patch, where we unstrapped the skis and headed down the gentle slope.

Phil climbs the Corona snowfield.

Unstrapping the skis from the packs at the top of the first snowfield.
Photo by Phil.

It was about 9:00 and the snow had softened a bit, but not as much as I would have liked. I was slow to get my tele legs back in gear. Below the road, the slope was flat on top, and steeply dipping below.  Cathy and I stayed high, Phil went halfway down, and Bob took it all the way down. 

First run with a look back to the snowfield crossing the road.

Bob makes his way up from the bottom of the snowfield.
Photo by Phil.

While waiting for Bob to climb the steep slopes back to the road, we took several mini-laps on the flats. Finally my legs started to regain the muscle memory they had so easily forgotten. This section lived up to its reputation gained on an old trip report from last July.

From here, we strapped on the skis for the hike towards King Lake. We hiked out to the point jutting out to the north to try to get a sense of the slopes at the King Lake snowfield, then headed over to the high point of the snow.

View to the northwest showing the point.
The King Lake snowfield is between the point and the ridge.

View at the top of the King Lake snowfield.

King Lake from the top of the snowfield.

Phil had to be discouraged from dropping off the steepest part. I invited him to try it on someone else's trip and opted for the safe route down the flat top part of the snowfield, then a traverse back under the steeps. 

Phil had to be discouraged from doing this drop down the steeps.
Photo by Phil.

The lower part of the snowfield gradually got less steep, but we were always conscious of the consequences of a missed step or dropped equipment. Bob reminded us of the importance of self-arrest techniques.

Traversing along the slightly less steep part of the slope.

After the traverse, we skied a few runs on the lower part of the slopes.  The slope angle made for softer snow as the day went on.

Bob and Phil ski down to Cathy.

Phil and Cathy get ready to ski down.

Bob, Cathy, and Phil on their way down.

 We had our spectators, of the 2-legged and 4-legged kind, though the 4-legged seemed more interested in unattended packs than our tele technique.

Are you going to finish that sandwich?

Eventually we had enough and climbed up the snow to the trail.

Back on top, we watched the AT skier and snowboarder drop off Phil's precipice, then made our way back to the cars.

Group photo at the top.

On the way out of Winter Park, traffic stopped to gawk at the moose on the side of the road.  So did we.

The wildlife of highway US40.

Stats: 3-4 runs / 3 miles / 1000'.

Track map with slopes, topo, and air photo.