Lake Agnes–Seven Utes Loop

No Name from Agnes Meadow. Climb through the trees at right. Photo by Kevin Landolt

Kevin Landolt is a skier/climber/student, based in Fort Collins, who writes the fun Alpine Ambition blog for the Mountain Shop. Here, Kevin describes a favorite midwinter ski tour near Cameron Pass offering a little of everything.

Trailhead: Lake Agnes Road, 2.5 miles west of Cameron Pass

Tour Distance: 7.3 miles

Total Vert: ca. 2,900′

Season: Midwinter to spring; two bowls prone to avalanche danger … Continue Reading

Mr. and Mrs. Mesa

The spectacular Mrs. Mesa in typical November condition. Courtesy of Douglas Lossner

Two of the wildest and most difficult water-ice pitches in the state are in plain view from Highway 50, en route to Ouray and Telluride from points north, plunging down the sheer face of Grand Mesa. Yet few people notice them, and far fewer have climbed them. The routes are tough, to be sure, but the main obstacle is the approach: Once the snow flies, they are at least 8.5 miles from the car.

Douglas Lossner probably did the first ascent of both routes. First up was Mrs. Mesa. “I moved to Delta back in 1997, and I was up exploring the Grand Mesa that summer when I came across that waterfall,” he said in an email. “It can’t be seen from the [Land's End] road even though you are within 100 feet of it. I figured that Coal Creek going under Land’s End Road had to go over the rim, so I checked it out. That November, I drove up there with a coworker of mine [John Rybal] and climbed it…. I’ve done that three times, and it is awsome.” … Continue Reading

East Ridge of Mt. Bancroft

Bancroft's east ridge curving up from the left, as seen from the the slopes of James Peak. The direct start climbs the broken wall in lower left.

Mt. Bancroft’s rocky east ridge is a terrific mountaineering adventure for Front Range climbers, beginning less than an hour from Denver. The 13,250-foot peak is relatively close to the road, and avalanche danger can be easily managed, making this perhaps the most accessible technical winter summit on the entire Front Range. The east ridge offers knife-edge snow ridges, much third-class scrambling, a rappel into a notch, and a very short fifth-class wall to surmount. Superb!

Length: About 8 miles round-trip
Elevation gain: 3,000 feet
Season: Year-round
Trailhead: Take the Fall River Road exit off I-70 (toward St. Mary’s Glacier), and turn left into the hamlet of Alice after about 8.25 miles. Drive one mile and look for Stewart Road (aka Loch Lomond Road) on the right. This road is not plowed in winter. … Continue Reading

The Redline

Michael Barton about to drop into Champion Gulch. Courtesy of Mountain Goat Ski Guides

Michael Barton of Mountain Goat Ski Guides in Silverton offers up this classic route off Red Mountain Pass. It’s more of an early-spring route than a midwinter tour, but now you can put it on the hit list. How good is this route? Says Barton: It’s out of my permit boundary, so I don’t even guide it, but it’s one of the best.” Here’s his description:

Length: 7 to 9 miles
Elevation gain: 3,500 feet
Elevation drop: 4,700 feet
Season: Best bet is late March or early April, as you need both stable snow and good coverage down to 9,800 feet.
Shuttle: Stash one car at the south end of Ironton Park, where Corkscrew Gulch meets Red Mountain Creek, or plan to hitch at the end of the day.
Map: Ironton Quadrangle

Tour highlights: Skin on southies, ski on northies; more skiing than skinning; views of Silverton Mountain; neat mining buildings and waterfalls.

Tour hazards: Massive avalanches, cornices, remoteness, sunburn, abandoned mines, nasty death-trap ravines. … Continue Reading

Crested Butte’s Red Lady Bowl

"Straight down the gut of the mountain." CrestedButteGuides.com photo

Jayson Simons-Jones, owner and lead guide of Crested Butte Mountain Guides, sent us this description of a favorite local stash: the Red Lady Bowl. “You can see tracks on it from anywhere in town, so it’s no secret,” Simons-Jones said. However, he added, “There are a half-dozen other, lesser-known routes up there that I won’t divulge unless I’m hired as a guide.”

If you visit Crested Butte and only have time for one backcountry ski tour, this is the one to do. A locals’ favorite for decades now, 12,392-foot Mt. Emmons, with its broad, flat summit and eye-catching, southeast-facing bowl, towers above this tiny ski town. A fiercely special peak in the hearts of this small local mountain community, Red Lady has been the target of one of the longest-running mining vs. preservation battles in the country.

… Continue Reading

Jagged Mountain

Why do you think they call it Jagged Mountain?

As one of Colorado’s few high peaks with mandatory technical climbing, plus a splendid setting deep in the Weminuche Wilderness, 13,824-foot Jagged Mountain is as coveted as they get—it’s even a centennial (100 highest) 13er. Jagged’s isolation is part of the appeal. Most aspirants take the Durango & Silverton Railroad to Needleton ($89 round-trip, including a $10 charge for loading your pack into a boxcar). From there, it’s about 7.5 miles up a faint, often rugged trail along the Animas River and No Name Creek to reach high camp.

Jagged's north face.

In the morning, you climb to 13,020-foot Jagged Pass, with superb views of the surrounding 13ers and 14ers, and then the real fun begins. Jagged’s eponymous summit ridge is a 500-foot-high turreted fin, cresting on one spire at 13,824 feet. After traversing steep, grassy slopes to the base of the north face, you wind up a circuitous route along ledges, gullies, and chimneys. The rock climbing on this route is rated 5.0 to 5.2, but in dry conditions many experienced scramblers don’t bother with a rope for the short boulder-problem cruxes.

Easy rock climbing just below Jagged's summit.

If you’d feel more comfortable tied in, a 120-foot length of rope (much lighter than a full climbing rope) and a small selection of wired nuts and hexes is plenty; a 120-foot rope also is perfectly fine for the three short rappels that bypass the crux  sections on the way down.

Short rappels bypass cruxes during the descent. Jagged Pass in background.

Near the top, the route crosses to Jagged’s south side and then climbs a steep chimney to an airy summit perch with extraordinary views, including the nearby fourteeners Sunlight, Windom, and Eolus. For a bonus wilderness adventure, return to Needleton by crossing the high pass into the Ruby Creek drainage, one of Colorado’s most beautiful spots.

Guidebook: Colorado’s Thirteeners, by Gerry and Jennifer Roach

On the web: Summit Post