Avalanche Near A-Basin Kills Snowboarder

The Steep Gullies, about a mile west of Arapahoe Basin, in a photo from 2000; Steep Gully #1 is on the left. Photo by Bob Berwyn

By Bob Berwyn

A snowboarder died March 10 in the backcountry near Arapahoe Basin after triggering an avalanche in what’s known as the First Steep Gully, just outside the ski area boundary. It was the fourth avalanche death of the season in Colorado. On average, six people die in avalanches in the state each year.

According Dan Burnett and Becky Baylor, coordinators with the Summit County Rescue Group, the snowboarder triggered the avalanche and was swept about 1,000 feet over the steep, rocky terrain. Burnett said the snow only piled up 18 inches deep at the bottom of the avalanche, so the victim likely died of trauma suffered during the slide. Officially, the cause of death has not been announced, pending further investigation.

Read the rest of this story at Summit County Citizens Voice, the website created by longtime Colorado journalist Bob Berwyn. According to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, this slide was powerful enough that it broke trees six inches in diameter. The CAIC also reported that there was another, remotely triggered avalanche on Wednesday morning in Steep Gully #4, and a skier-triggered slide in Steep Gully #2 on Monday.

Shelf Road’s Hardest Route Climbed

Mark Anderson just below the boulder-problem crux of Carnage (5.13d). Photo by Kate Anderson

Colorado’s Shelf Road , a network of vertical limestone cliffs near Cañon City best known for sunny moderates, has a new 5.13d pitch and may soon get its first 5.14. On Sunday, March 7, Mark Anderson redpointed a striking, super-technical arête at Cactus Cliff that was bolted in the early 1990s but apparently never free-climbed. Listed in the guidebook as Wild Virus, the newly redpointed climb has been renamed Carnage (5.13d).

Carnage ascends 5.11 ground to a big rest ledge, followed by sustained 5.12 climbing up the prow, with the desperate crux coming below the eighth bolt in the form of an “ultra-subtle V10-ish boulder problem [that] slaps directly up the arête.” Anderson, an engineer who lives in Morrison, spent four days working on the route and sent on his ninth attempt. … Continue Reading

Beaver Creek Snowshoe Results

Josiah Middaugh and Keri Nelson won the men’s and women’s 10K at the Jeremy Wright North American Snowshoe Championships in Beaver Creek on Sunday. Middaugh, who won the U.S. championships in New York the day before (yes, it’s confusing), smoked the 10K course in 47:45. Simon Escorcia and Kelly Escorcia took the 5K titles. More than 300 people entered the various races.

More results after the jump. … Continue Reading

Haute Cuisine: Hut-Trip Cooking

Mmmmm...pizza! See below for a link to the recipe. Photo by Gregg Larson, HutTrip.com

By Gregg Larson

Editor’s note: Gregg Larson is the creator of HutTrip.com, a two-year-old website that offers tips and news about the 10th Mountain and other Colorado huts. This article has been adapted from a post at his site and is used with permission.

Anyone who has been doing hut trips long enough has developed a set of recipes that they take each time. I have run into just about every type of chef while visiting the huts, from freeze-dried food chefs (just add water!) to people who seem to bring up an entire fridge worth of food.

Here are a few things I have learned when planning hut-trip meals. … Continue Reading

Trip of the Week: Ski Harvard

High on Harvard, headed south. Photo by Ben Conners

Sure, we’ve already featured an ascent of Mt. Harvard this winter, but Ben Conners and Matt Kamper’s climb last Sunday was a stylish one-day ascent of Colorado’s third-highest peak, with a ski descent right from the tippy-top. Plus, we can’t get over how great the Harvard area looks in winter.

Entering the key chute below the summit. Photo by Ben Conners

Conners and Kamper climbed the south ridge of the 14,420-foot peak. The winter closure on Cottonwood Creek Road added 3.5 miles to the morning skin and yielded big numbers for the full day: 20.5 miles round trip, with 5,700 feet of vertical. Neither forecast (weather or avalanche) was perfect, but the boys got lucky with the former and carefully managed the latter, giving them a beautiful day out. Eight hours up, three hours down—you gotta love skis!

The photos here are reproduced with permission; see the full report and many more photos at 14ers.com.

Adopt-A-Peak

Peak Steward field training in June 2009. Photo by Brian Wallace

The Colorado Fourteeners Initiative is making a big push to expand its eight-year-old Peak Stewards program, in which 14er fans volunteer to spend several days educating visitors about the alpine environment, Leave No Trace practices, and peak-specific regulations. The nonprofit has added six one-day training sessions this winter and spring, hoping to more than triple its volunteer corps. We asked CFI education and outreach coordinator Brian Wallace to fill us in:

Mojo: So, briefly describe the Peak Stewards program.

Wallace: CFI’s mission statement in general is to protect and preserve the natural integrity of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks through active stewardship and public education. The Peak Stewards program exclusively focuses on the education portion. Peak Stewards receive specialized training in alpine ecology, 14er-specific Leave No Trace, Forest Service regulations, and visitor interaction techniques.

Mojo: How many volunteers do you have?

Wallace: We had 40 trained at the beginning of last summer and 30 active, completing a total of 140 days. This year I am hoping to recruit and train at least 100 more individuals, with aspirations of over 500 volunteer days on the peaks. … Continue Reading