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Castle Peak, Colorado Ski Descent (01-24-2005)

Bookmark and Share            By Lou

It’s always fascinated me the way every region of North America has its pros and cons for backcountry skiing. Pacific Northwest and Canadian coastal regions yield late season snow and big mountains — but sometimes wet weather gets in the way. Northeast U.S. is classy, but sometimes a bit light on snow (not today?). Mid continent regions can have tricky avalanche conditions for most of the winter…

Colorado just went through one of those tricky periods for backcountry skiing. Some hang-fire may still be out there, but you can find the goods if you do a little shopping. Report from Sean Crossen, who’s seeking to do ski descents of all 54 of Colorado’s 14,000 foot peaks:

“Pete Sowar and I arrived in Ashcroft Jan 20th at around 8 am. We
then snowmobiled up to the Y in the road around 11,000 ft. We then skinned up Montezuma Basin to the North Couloir [editor's note: see trip report from same route here]. From here the fun began and we boot hiked with our crampons on to the summit . The weather was perfect; sunny and calm. We reached the summit at 1:45, then enjoyed the summit and its many views before we skied off the exact summit, down the top of the east face, then the North Couloir. The snow was solid with grippy powder on top. We made it back to Ashcroft around 2:45 P.M. — what great ski!! Now on to my last seven peaks in what ever order they will hopefully come! Have a great day, Sean”

Posted by Lou on January 24, 2005 | Filed Under Fourteeners, Trip Reports, avalanches 

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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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