Buddies Sandy and Bob met Cheryl and Tom at the CMC at 7:30, then it was off to Rocky Mountain National Park to meet up with Chris at the Beaver Meadows visitor center. Even then, we wondered what our destination would be as Trail Ridge Road was still in overnight closure at 9:15. Finally we heard that they had just opened the gate, so we combined into one car and headed to Sundance after a stop at the toll gate to get my $10 lifetime pass.
The snow coverage above treeline along Trail Ridge Road was simply amazing. There were towering snow cuts through the drifts, and practically no bare spots. The Rock Cut parking area by the outhouses was almost empty, and snow covered the fence and trail into the bowl. Temperatures were in the 40s with light winds which increased to 10-20 mph at higher elevations.
Start skiing at the car!
The fence is mostly buried.
We skinned from the car through about half an inch of fresh powder over a firm but forgiving crust. We skied to the first rock formation, only to see that the usual de-skinning area at the 12,310' point was off in the distance. We continued on to the 12,310' point, and were amazed to see that Sundance Mountain was totally covered in snow. Fresh tracks prompted us to ski down into the gully and up the slope to one of the peaks along the Sundance ridge to top out at 12,400'.
From there we de-skinned and headed down the long slope to about 11,500'.
As usual, we were down before we knew it, and it was time to skin up the long, long slope to get back to the top.
We did 1-2 more runs, then climbed up the usual route to return to the 12.301' point. With some kick and glide, we were able to make a couple turns and ski down to the car.
After dropping Chris off at Beaver Meadows Visitor Center, we headed back to Golden with a stop at Tibet Kitchen for momo dumplings and noodle soup.
2-3 runs / 2000' - 2900' / 6 hrs
Route in red shows Saturday's trip.
Blue route is an old trip.
Pictures:
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