Conundrum Couloir – Montezuma Basin – Colorado
Yesterday we had one of those days of ski alpinism when everything seems to go right. The goal was Montezuma Basin, the cirque on the east side of two 14,000 foot peaks (Castle and Conundrum). First order of the day was a fun drive up the 4×4 trail to the base of the snow. This is always a bit rough just after snowmelt, but nothing a well driven stock SUV or 4×4 truck can’t handle (you do need a gear low enough for crawling, so we’re talking vehicals with a two-speed transfer case). The drive is just challenging enough to keep you awake after an alpine start. Snow blocked the road at about 12,000 feet elevation so we parked and hiked from there.
We were amazed at how good the snow surface was — coated and evened out by some sleet the evening before, firm but not icy. Our first goal for backcountry skiing was the north couloir on Castle, but it was partly melted out and looked like a rockfall fest as these mountains are nothing less than gigantic rock piles. (Later in the day, we watched a loud rockfall tumble from near the summit of Castle down the couloir.) Across the cirque from Castle is another worthy ski descent, the Conundrum Couloir, which I was excited to see in near perfect condition. Since a couple of our group weren’t ready for that kind of descent we split into two groups. Luke, Louie and I did the Couloir, while Jason and Collin made a few laps on the headwall in the upper basin and worked on their tans (actually, everyone was eventually working on their tans — like I said, it was a day when everything went right.)
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| Luke in Conundrum Couloir, just above the steepest section. At about 45 degrees steep it keeps your attention, but it’s not terrifying. The walls of the couloir keep the choke in shade for most of the morning, however, so just when you hit the steepest section you’re skis are chattering on ice instead of spooning through buttered corn. That’s Collin, Jason and Louie watching from down in the basin. |
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| Louie entering Conundrum Couloir. Highly recommended. Should be good for a few more days. |
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| Conundrum Peak as viewed from Castle Peak. Snow coverage presently at about 50% of what’s shown in this photo, but Conundrum Couloir is totally in, rated Grade I D-10 R3 |
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Nice to see you guys are still getting after it. We climbed Pyramid yesterday and there is not much snow left anywhere on that mountain. Even the basin below the north face was suprisingly melted out for this time of year. Have you heard of anyone skiing the Grizzly chute recently? Wondering if it would still be good.
Yeah, the Griz has been getting hit but it’s pretty tracked up etc., dirt layer doesn’t help… that’s what I believe melted so many things out — solar gain.
There’s still plenty of snow out there. We hit the east face of castle 2 weeks ago, Elbert from the summit a week ago and had 2,000 feet of nice corn on the N face of La Plata today. Closer to (my) home, the Paradise divide area N of Crested Butte would yield some 3k descents. The top of the East face of Huron looked good from La Plata, but we couldn’t see more than 1/4 of it. Any idea what the rest of the face would look like?
All winter long I’ve noticed that the snowpack seems to vary in thickness more than normal, from region to region. That seems to still be the case, with some areas being summer dry and others holding enough snow for skiing. Perhaps satellite photos would yield the story?