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Colorado, New Capitol Peak Ski Line “The Plank”

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This post by WildSnow.com blogger  

This Sunday morning, June 6, prolific Colorado ski alpinist Jordan White, along with partners Colter Hinchliffe and Anton Sponar, added a new ski line to 14er Capitol Peak’s north face. On a cliff buttressed mountain once deemed unskiable, the new line makes a total of five ski routes on Capitol! All the peak’s glisse routes involve rappels or small sections of foot travel, which in view of current standards of ski alpinism are well within the realm of what constitutes a ski line. Quite exciting, kudos to White’s group.

New ski line on Capitol Peak north face, Colorado ski mountaineering.

New ski line on Capitol Peak north face. Red is ski (which also included the south and east faces from the top), green is climb up and yellow is the rappel. The rap ended up being 58 meters (190 ft) or so, done with 60 meter ropes. Click to enlarge.

As with other and more commonly used ways of skiing Capitol, the new line avoids crossing the famous Knife Ridge, which while known to be in skiable condition on occasion has fallen into disfavor because of its unreliability. Contributing to the success of Jordan and party’s endeavor was Colorado’s exceptional snowcover this spring. The crew is calling their route “The Plank” in reference to walking the proverbial narrow board leading to the unknown.

See Jordan’s complete trip report here.

Posted by Lou Dawson on June 5, 2011 | Filed Under Fourteeners, Trip Reports Backcountry 

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Comments

8 Responses to “Colorado, New Capitol Peak Ski Line “The Plank””

  1. Scott Nelson June 5th, 2011 7:05 pm

    Way to go Colter! Look forward to reading about this one.

  2. AP June 5th, 2011 7:50 pm

    Congrats guys!

  3. Eddie Liebowitz June 5th, 2011 8:46 pm

    Anton and crew,

    Congrats and Anton I thought it was mt. rescue weekend? LOL ! Huge congrats !

  4. Joe Brannan June 5th, 2011 10:06 pm

    Way to go guys! Neat to see this line skied. I remember looking down it with Jordan in 2009 and knowing someday it would get skied. Super stoked for you three!

  5. gringo June 6th, 2011 4:27 am

    58 meter rappel on a 60 meter line….walking the plank indeed. I wonder if the ropes even touched the snow without the weight of a skier hanging on the end of it…

    Anyway, nice line.

  6. john doyle June 6th, 2011 6:23 am

    Very impressive Jordan and Crew. You are really pushing the envelope. What’s next?

  7. Caleb Wray June 6th, 2011 9:13 am

    Great work guys! When I was clicking in myself yesterday morning I was thinking about your trip. Figured given the weather you were probably clicking in too. Way to get it done. Skiing into the unknown is such a unique feeling. Looks like I was off on that rap length estimate. Glad you were safe and bummed I wasn’t there with you.

  8. Nick June 6th, 2011 10:45 am

    Nice work guys! That is indeed a very close rap. Good to hear you didn’t have to put any bolts in while hanging in space after all. Jordan, you’re having quite a season.

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Welcome to Louis (Lou) Dawson's backcountry skiing information opinion website and e magazine. Lou's passion for the past 45 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 news and information here, and tons of Randonnee rando telemark info.

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