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Ski Hayden — Classic Colorado Peak Descent

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About five AM, headed upvalley toward Aspen, halfmoon dancing in the sky, deserted highway. Making good time. Meet Brad Knotts and Peter Kelley up Castle Creek. Still making time. Up Hayden Peak in 3 1/2 hours (good stat for three 50-something guys, with a bit of moderate trail breaking). Perfect conditions. More than dust on crust; try powder on firm, cool air, sublime clouds moving over the sun. Thought about lapping the upper part, but knew the base at lower elevations would soften if we took too long — so we enjoyed one perfect run.


Backcountry skiing Hayden Peak.
Brad Knotts today on Hayden Peak, Colorado. Click photo to enlarge.


Backcountry skiing Hayden Peak
Peter at the summit of Ski Hayden. He and I have been backcountry skiing this peak together for about 30 years (with a few years off now and then). Nice to be up there with he and Brad today. Good skiers, good guys to be with in the mountains. Peter had a pair of BD Verdicts that worked quite well (mounted with Dynafit, of course). Click photo to enlarge.


Backcountry skiing on Hayden Peak
Looking back at our tracks from an area known as the “lunch spot.” In the old days, when we’d take all day to climb (we were slower then), this was the traditional spot for a snack. Now we’re millennium skiers and stop for nothing but photos.

Recent cold front with a few inches of fresh snow made for terrific conditions. Probably back to variable by tomorrow at all but highest areas, but depends on cloud cover this afternoon and how cold the night is. Should become a nice corn surface in a few days unless we get more storm.

Climbing Ski Hayden Peak
Today on Ski Hayden.

Skiing Hayden Peak
Peter today on Ski Hayden.

Posted by Lou on April 19, 2006 | Filed Under Trip Reports 

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Comments

5 Responses to “Ski Hayden — Classic Colorado Peak Descent”

  1. Ricky Agostin April 19th, 2006 9:37 pm

    I must say those are some amazing photos. I couldn’t resist commenting on them! Keep up the great work!

  2. Hamish Gowans April 19th, 2006 11:13 pm

    That’s a beautiful pic, Lou.

  3. Michael Kennedy April 20th, 2006 8:04 am

    Really great photos, Lou. Hayden is still one of the best, especially if you hit it just right like you guys did. Pure fun.

  4. Mark April 20th, 2006 11:03 am

    Cool. Remember, Verdicts are for straightlining. Oh, and the shots are great. Please show us more.

    Mark

  5. Lou April 20th, 2006 3:52 pm

    I’m really having fun with photography these days, wish I had more time while speed blogging to play around with color correction, but I like the overall look I’m getting. My Canon Powershot A620 seems to have a problem with tone separation in the snow highlights. I’d rather sacrifice some shadow detail so I think I’ll shoot things slightly darker then lighten in P-shop, that way I’ll get more tones in the snow. Fun to experiment and wring out the little point-and-shoot. Can’t wait for the next generation of Powershots.

    Aha, Verdicts were designed for not turning, I’ll have to tell Peter that.

Welcome to Louis (Lou) Dawson's backcountry skiing information and opinion website. Lou's passion for the past forty years has been alpinism, climbing, mountaineering and skiing -- along with all manner of outdoor recreation. He has authored numerous books and articles about backcountry skiing and is well known as the first person to ski down all 54 of Colorado's 14,000-foot peaks, otherwise known as the Fourteeners! Books and free back country information here, and tons of Randonnee rando telemark info.

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