– The Backcountry Ski Touring Blog
  • Avalanches
  • Gear Reviews
    • Ski Reviews
    • Boot Reviews
    • Binding Reviews
    • Snowboard Splitboard
    • Book Reviews
    • Avalanche Beacon Reviews
    • Airbag Backpacks
    • Backcountry Electronics
    • Misc Gear Reviews
  • Podcast
  • Tips & Tricks
    • Ski Touring Basics
    • Boot Fitting
    • Fitness & Health
    • Gear Mods
  • Trip Reports
    • Fourteeners
    • Huts – Cabins – Lodges
    • Denali McKinley
    • 8,000 Meter Skiing
  • Stories
    • History
    • Humor
    • Land Use Issues
    • Evergreen Ski Touring
    • Poetry
  • Resources
    • All Posts Listed
    • 100 Recent Comments
    • Backcountry Skiing & Ski Touring Webcams
    • Ski Weights Comparison
    • Archives of WildSnow.com
    • Authors Page
    • Ski Touring Bindings
      • Trab TR2 Index and FAQ
      • Salomon Guardian & Tracker
      • Naxo Backcountry Skiing Bindings – Info Index
      • Silvretta Pure Backcountry Skiing Bindings – Info Index
      • Marker F10-12 Duke Baron
      • G3 Onyx Ski Binding FAQ
      • G3 ION Ski Touring Binding
      • Fritschi Backcountry Skiing Bindings – Info Index
      • Fritschi Diamir Frame Bindings Mount DIY
      • Fritschi Diamir Bindings FAQ
      • Fritschi Tecton FAQ
      • Atomic Salomon Backland MTN
      • Dynafit Tri-Step Binding 2001-2003
      • Naxo randonnee alpine touring AT ski binding FAQ
      • Dynafit Skiing Bindings – Info Index
      • Dynafit Binding Frequently Asked Questions FAQ
      • Dynafit Beast 16 FAQ Review 1
      • Dynafit Beast 16 FAQ Page Two
    • History
      • Ski Touring Binding Museum
      • Trooper Traverse Intro & Index
      • Randonnee Ski Touring “AT” ski gear — What is Hip?
      • Chronology
    • Backcountry Skiing Core Glossary
    • Gear Review Policy & Disclosures

– The Backcountry Ski Touring Blog

Banner
  • Avalanches
  • Gear Reviews
    • Ski Reviews
    • Boot Reviews
    • Binding Reviews
    • Snowboard Splitboard
    • Book Reviews
    • Avalanche Beacon Reviews
    • Airbag Backpacks
    • Backcountry Electronics
    • Misc Gear Reviews
  • Podcast
  • Tips & Tricks
    • Ski Touring Basics
    • Boot Fitting
    • Fitness & Health
    • Gear Mods
  • Trip Reports
    • Fourteeners
    • Huts – Cabins – Lodges
    • Denali McKinley
    • 8,000 Meter Skiing
  • Stories
    • History
    • Humor
    • Land Use Issues
    • Evergreen Ski Touring
    • Poetry
  • Resources
    • All Posts Listed
    • 100 Recent Comments
    • Backcountry Skiing & Ski Touring Webcams
    • Ski Weights Comparison
    • Archives of WildSnow.com
    • Authors Page
    • Ski Touring Bindings
      • Trab TR2 Index and FAQ
      • Salomon Guardian & Tracker
      • Naxo Backcountry Skiing Bindings – Info Index
      • Silvretta Pure Backcountry Skiing Bindings – Info Index
      • Marker F10-12 Duke Baron
      • G3 Onyx Ski Binding FAQ
      • G3 ION Ski Touring Binding
      • Fritschi Backcountry Skiing Bindings – Info Index
      • Fritschi Diamir Frame Bindings Mount DIY
      • Fritschi Diamir Bindings FAQ
      • Fritschi Tecton FAQ
      • Atomic Salomon Backland MTN
      • Dynafit Tri-Step Binding 2001-2003
      • Naxo randonnee alpine touring AT ski binding FAQ
      • Dynafit Skiing Bindings – Info Index
      • Dynafit Binding Frequently Asked Questions FAQ
      • Dynafit Beast 16 FAQ Review 1
      • Dynafit Beast 16 FAQ Page Two
    • History
      • Ski Touring Binding Museum
      • Trooper Traverse Intro & Index
      • Randonnee Ski Touring “AT” ski gear — What is Hip?
      • Chronology
    • Backcountry Skiing Core Glossary
    • Gear Review Policy & Disclosures
   

Summertime Skiing in Holy Cross Wilderness

by Dr Alex Lee July 24, 2015
written by Dr Alex Lee July 24, 2015
July turns at 13,000 ft on Notch Mountain, Colorado.

July turns at 13,000 ft on Notch Mountain, Colorado. Click images to enlarge.

What could be more ridiculous than a ski report in late July?! Okay, here goes…

Mount of the Holy Cross sits picturesque above Eagle Valley, a paragon of the Colorado 14er. Visible from Vail ski resort, namesake Cross Couloir (along with well known Angelica Couloir) is the ski mountaineering prize of Holy Cross. However, stretching south from there and once a national monument, the Holy Cross Wilderness holds many wonders of the Northern Sawatch. This range, shorter and sharper than typical in the Sawatch, stretches from Holy Cross to Mount Massive. Couloir skiing at its finest.

Gotta keep those skis tuned for summer turns.

Gotta keep those skis tuned for summer turns.

Whenever my alarm clock goes off before 5am it seems to do so with a grin. July 19th the bells rang gleefully at 4 and I was out the door, skis in hand. I picked up Tom Judge and drove out Turquoise Lake Road in Leadville, Colorado to the base of Galena Mountain.

I was a bit surprised the day before when Tom didn’t think I was crazy for suggesting a ski, so up we went.

I’ll get back to that silliness in a minute, but first, my hopes for Galena were inflated by a superb day of skiing a week back with my friend Nick Vincent. Vince and I headed up Notch Mountain, the southerly neighbor to Mount of the Holy Cross.

Driving towards Tennessee Pass from Minturn, Colorado there are no views of Holy Cross; instead, Notch Mountain, rising to 13,237ft, impresses upon the valley. Our line was the obvious shot off of the left shoulder.

Driving towards Tennessee Pass from Minturn, Colorado there are no views of Holy Cross. Instead, Notch Mountain, rising to 13,237ft, impresses upon the valley. Our line was the obvious shot off of the left shoulder.

Much of the Holy Cross Wilderness is a lesser-traveled gem in heart of Colorado.

Much of Holy Cross Wilderness is a lesser-traveled gem in the heart of Colorado.

Notch Couloir for which the mountain is known, splits the northeast face offering a popular ski mountaineering objective in the area. This melted out back in June. However the Northeast Couloir, a narrow inset cleft on the mountain’s shoulder, was in shockingly fine shape.

40-degree corn snow with very few rocks or runnels made for an awesome outing.

40-degree corn snow with very few rocks or runnels made for an awesome outing.

A couple hours up the trail, we dropped over the shoulder of Notch and found ourselves skiing down the mountain, ear-to-ear grins all the way.

Type-1-fun skiing on Notch gave me high hopes for another outing into the Holy Cross Range.

Type-1-fun skiing on Notch gave me high hopes for another outing into the Holy Cross Range.

So, after such unexpected success, I figured the storage wax could wait.

Galena stands guard over the head of the Arkansas River Valley at only 12,893ft, relatively short given its neighborhood. Nonetheless this proud peak maintains a sufficient degree of grandeur, rising steeply from the valley below in an uncharacteristically craggy fashion.

This is the southern end of the Holy Cross Wilderness. A view known well to anyone who has visited Uncle Bud’s Hut; the east face of Galena houses several steep couloirs strikingly visible from Colorado Highway 24 as well.

The most commanding line splits the face from near the peak’s summit down to St. Kevin’s Lake. It is known as Rabbit Ears Couloir (along with a second branch, the couloir forms the shape of a rabbit’s ears).

The most commanding line splits the face from near the peak’s summit down to St. Kevin’s Lake. It is known as Rabbit Ears Couloir (along with a second branch, the couloir forms the shape of a rabbit’s ears).

Because of its prominence above the valley, Rabbit Ears Couloir makes for what I like to call a ‘town line.’ Sitting in Leadville drinking coffee, eating pizza, or admiring the high peaks’ sunset, this line immediately catches one’s eye; it has been on my list for some time, and though Galena looks quite dry these days, a squiggle of silliness remains.

The line is southeast facing, so by all accounts it should have melted out months ago. Somehow it has held a diminutive grip on the inset, narrow, upper section of the route.

The line is southeast facing, so by all accounts it should have melted out months ago. Somehow it has held a diminutive grip on the inset, narrow, upper section of the route.

The hike into St. Kevin’s was a beautiful meander up an unmarked trail to an all-but-forgotten alpine lake that only took an hour from the summer trailhead. Another hour and a half and we were on top of Galena.

The snow climb was in perfect shape in the partly cloudy cool morning air.

The snow climb was in perfect shape in the partly cloudy cool morning air.

I was increasingly skeptical of the descent the higher we got.

I generally assume that any line of snow I can spy from a good distance grows with proximity. Rabbit Ears did not. In fact it seemed to shrink the closer we got.

The upper pinch in the line held plenty of snow, as was made very visible from the 20+ ft deep melt crack bordering one edge of the couloir. The problem was not in depth, but in width. I was on a pair of 176cm Black Diamond Carbon Aspects, and at its narrowest point I would say the couloir was 175cm wide at best. This made for a very scary bit of skiing.

Ice axe in hand I slid, managing only to make the occasional jump turn down the narrows of the Rabbit Ears. How Tom managed to slide through on a split board, I don’t know.

Ice axe in hand I slid, managing only to make the occasional jump turn down the narrows of Rabbit Ears. How Tom managed to slide through on a split board, I don’t know.

The line itself was super cool, with epic views of Leadville and the upper Ark, though after wiggling down the 400 or so vert that still held snow, I would not say the line was ‘in’.

Tom and I decided the day’s adventure was the best type of bad idea.

Skiing, like most recreational activities, is a useless pursuit. But, therein lies its beauty. To slide down mountains with boards strapped to our feet is freedom, fun, and fantastical. Why restrict such silliness to ‘ski season’?

I figure winter is primarily a state of mind, so might as well keep those edges sharp and glisse on.

(WildSnow.com Guest Blogger Alex Lee lives in Leadville, Colorado in the winter and Denali, Alaska in the summer. He is currently working towards a Ph.D. in the ethics of conservation at the University of Colorado. He works part-time as a naturalist in Alaska and as a ski guide and photographer in the Colorado Rockies. Like his pictures? Check out more at his website, MountainDinosaur.com.)

1 comment
0
FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
previous post
Backcountry Skiing and Ski Touring News Roundup
next post
Construction Jungle or Ski Touring HQ?

1 comment

Bobby July 24, 2015 - 8:11 pm

Prost!

Comments are closed.

Recent Comments

  • Lou Dawson 2 on Totally Deep Podcast 85 — Serious Powder Talk with Doug & Randy
  • Idaho Dawg on Totally Deep Podcast 85 — Serious Powder Talk with Doug & Randy
  • VTskier on Making Turns and Skintracks at Bluebird Backcountry
  • Zach on Making Turns and Skintracks at Bluebird Backcountry
  • Ted D on Light(ish) & Robust — 2021/22 Fischer Transalp First Look

Gear Reviews

  • Skis From the Future — 2021/22 Is All About the Freeride

    February 11, 2021
  • An Education on the Ephemeral Glide — Bases, Wax and DPS Phantom

    February 4, 2021
  • A Carbon Fibre Freeride Boot? — Pierre Gignoux Mountain Review

    February 1, 2021

Trip Reports

  • Celebrating the Low Danger, Low Angle Ski Tour

    February 16, 2021
  • Cooke City in Photos — Montana Trip Report

    January 29, 2021
  • Six Who Dared — Elk Mountains Traverse & Richard Compton Tribute

    January 7, 2021

Totally Deep Podcast

  • Drinking Beer with the Bench Girls — Totally Deep Podcast 84

    February 12, 2021
  • Griffin Post Stays Home — Totally Deep Podcast 83

    January 10, 2021
  • Risky Business — Zahan Billimoria on Solving for Z

    December 14, 2020

Tips & Tricks

  • Warm Toes for Cold Smoke — Tips To Keep Your Feet Toasty

    February 8, 2021
  • The Five Pillars of Skintrack Wisdom

    December 17, 2020
  • 10 Essential Mistakes for the Backcountry Ski Touring Beginner

    December 2, 2020

Ski Touring Stories

  • Envisioning a Friendly, Busier Backcountry — Shaun Deutschlander Q&A

    January 18, 2021
  • Giving Myself the Gift of Backcountry

    January 15, 2021
  • Six Who Dared — Elk Mountains Traverse & Richard Compton Tribute

    January 7, 2021

Newsletter Sign-Up

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • About Lou Dawson
  • Authors Page
  • About
  • Contact
  • Copyright & Legal
  • Website Security

@2020 - All Rights Reserved. Designed and Developed by WildSnow


Back To Top

Read alsox

Totally Deep Podcast 85 — Serious...

February 25, 2021

Making Turns and Skintracks at Bluebird...

February 24, 2021

Light(ish) & Robust — 2021/22 Fischer...

February 18, 2021