Looking down the last pitch of Brain Freeze, with Zowie behind. Photo by Dougald MacDonald

In the heart of Rocky Mountain National Park, a granite spindle called Zowie protrudes from the convoluted south face of Mt. Otis. Just to Zowie’s left is a zigzagging chimney and gully system that holds an unlikely mixed-climbing gem. Brain Freeze was discovered very recently (early 2008) by Andy Grauch and Chris Sheridan. Several parties quickly repeated the route and confirmed its neoclassic status—it’s perhaps the best of the Park’s recent “it doesn’t have to be in to be in” climbs.

What makes Brain Freeze so good? First is variety: The route climbs face, chimneys, and giant chockstones, and it even has a nearly pure ice pitch (rare for long alpine routes in the Park). The difficulty is continuous but never extreme, protection is adequate, and the views are memorable: intimidating from under the crux chockstone, and simply lovely from the top, down past a snow arête and over Zowie’s summit blade. And Brain Freeze has a surprisingly long season. It’s south-facing, so melt-freeze often keeps the ice pitch in good shape from January through April, and yet much of the route is shaded by Zowie and the deep chimneys. Spindrift is a frequent hazard, however. (The route is called Brain Freeze after the intense ice cream headaches caused by spindrift during the first ascent.) And beware wet-snow avalanches and rockfall on warm spring days.

South Face of Mt. Otis. Both gullies to the right of Brain Freeze have now been climbed. Photo by Dougald MacDonald

Keep in mind that “good” is relative—this is a route that only will appeal to fans of scratching on snowed-up granite, and such climbers are fairly uncommon. The climbing can feel grovelly and insecure. But it is guaranteed to be memorable.

Length: 5 to 7 pitches

Difficulty: WI3 M5+

Season: January to April

Approach: Snowshoe or ski from the Glacier Gorge trailhead to the Loch, then follow the Andrews Glacier Trail until it’s obvious to head up right toward the Zowie spire. Skirt the base far to the left, past the first big chimney system, to reach a gully that dead-ends in a steep headwall. 2–3 hours.

Gear: 2 or 3 short screws, several pitons, and a healthy rack of nuts and cams up to #3. A #10 or #11 hexentric protects the big roof on pitch 5. Don’t leave home without it.

The beautiful Changing Gullies Pitch. Photo by Dougald MacDonald

1. Diagonal up and right under a large roof (M4) to the foot of a snow gully. Or start about 50 feet to the right, climb a short snowy wall, and traverse left on a ledge system to the snow (M3).

2. Easy snow for more than a rope length. Belay at the mouth of an ice-filled slot/gully that diagonals left.

3. Climb the icy slot, the superb Changing Gullies Pitch, to reach a hidden chimney system. Continue up, passing the foot of a vertical ice pillar, to a stance. WI3 M4+.

4. Continue up the narrow, sketchy chimney to a great cave belay below the big chockstone. M5.

Jack Roberts relaxes at the lip of the big chockstone cave. Photo by Dougald MacDonald

5. Climb the right wall of the cave (looking in), find good gear near the top, and pull the wild lip. Continue up the steep gully slot to a stance below another chockstone. M5+

6. Bridge up over the chockstone and continue straight up to a rock band with a slot that can be climbed on its left or right; the right side is steep but has good pro. M5+

Some pitches might be combined. The first-ascent party angled left above the upper chockstone and climbed a bigger headwall (M5+), but subsequent teams have climbed straight up as described.

Rappel the route with double ropes, starting from a boulder above the final rock band.

Proof that decent skiing can be found in Rocky Mountain National Park during this low-snow year. Eli Helmuth filmed this recent descent of the Corral Couloir, the south-facing chute that drops into Tyndall Gorge from near the summit of Flattop Mountain.

By Eli Helmuth

Those backcountry travelers who have visited Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) in the wintertime will understand why locals refer to it as the Patagonia Training Center or Windy Mountain N.P. Although this area is known for its outstanding summer and autumn alpine climbing, along with a few winter ice and mixed testpieces, only in recent years has the backcountry skiing of RMNP been truly realized.

Is this wind-blasted Rocky Mountain National Park? Yup. Courtesy of ClimbingLife Guides

Spring and early summer are typically the best seasons for ski mountaineering in RMNP, with countless couloirs and open slopes dropping off the Continental Divide. During midwinter, when the snowpack is less stable for above-treeline skiing and the wind often prohibitive, the key to a fun powder day in the Front Range is knowing where the snow lands once grabbed by the wind—areas like the Terrain Park are the sweet spots of RMNP. 

The Terrain Park describes the area at and below treeline between the Loch Vale drainage to the south and Tyndall Gorge to the north, encompassing the Glacier Knobs and a variety of relatively steep terrain (25–50° degree) on the east ridges of Otis and Hallett Peaks. Estes Park locals have known for a while that this is the lee “catch” where wind loading can double or quadruple snow depths—and that’s necessary to completely cover the bouldery terrain that defines Rocky. So far this year, the snow hasn’t filled in quite enough for good skiing in the Terrain Park, but one good storm is all it will take.

Overview of the Nymph Lake area. Green lines are most commonly skied. The yellow lines are somewhat more aggressive and avalanche-prone. In the video above: Steeps above Dream Lake. Courtesy of ClimbingLife.com

Although these are relatively short runs (300′-500′ vertical), the deep powder, wind protection, and interesting terrain make this a fun spot. Be aware that, despite all the trees, the Terrain Park can be prone to soft slab avalanches due to wind loading and above-average angles (upper 30s), and trees and cliffs create hazardous terrain traps.

Access to the Terrain Park is quick, with all runs accessible within an hour of the trailhead. Skiers typically run many laps on the best runs or do a loop that encompasses different runs. The Bear Lake Trailhead (9,520′) is the standard starting point, and with a little creativity and map-reading skills, there are numerous possibilities for linking a big powder day away from the crazy winds of RMNP.

Internationally certified mountain guide Eli Helmuth is the founder of ClimbingLife Guides, based on Estes Park, at the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. Click here for much more info about the Terrain Park and other backcountry skiing in RMNP.

Taylor Peak’s east face is one of Rocky Mountain National Park’s most imposing walls, but it’s not nearly as famous as the clean rock climbs of the Diamond or Chiefshead, in part because it’s only in decent climbing condition in winter and spring—it’s a proper alpine wall, in other words. Any winter ascent of the biggest face on this 13,153-foot peak is a major undertaking, always beginning before dawn and often ending long after dark. During an attempt this month on the face’s right side, CSU graduate student Doug Shepherd saw two dawns:

I thought to myself, “What if I combine [a] shoulder shrug to warm up my hands with running in place? That will displace less snow than jumping jacks and should keep me warm!” Some unknown amount of time later, my feet were warm again and my hands had finally warmed up. “I’m a genius!” I thought, followed by, “Genius, huh? That’s why you’re about to crawl back underneath a snowy boulder and repeat this process in another thirty minutes?”

I wiped the snow off the rope and tiny foam pad next to my partner, who was passed out under his space blanket and big-ass down jacket. I quickly realized he was the genius, because he hadn’t had to get up once to warm up, whereas I wasn’t even sure how many times I had crawled out and invented new and amusing ways to return blood to my extremities….

Read the rest of Shepherd’s amusing account and see photos and video at his blog.