Blogs

Front Range Colorado
10.26.06-10.29.06
JP, iskibc, kya, D-Side11

PHOTOG/Trip Report by: iskibc
Shot w/ Olympus E300 D-SLR (wide and telephoto lens)

iskibc's TGR Report

Colorado or Mars?

A wet and heavy storm dropped 2' of new snow and blanketed most of the northern and central mountains. The storm checked-in and checked-out rather quickly, dumping anywhere from 24"-33" along the front range mountains. Throw in some high winds and varying temps and you got yourself a rather tricky snowpack.

Early morning light from 12K:

jonpierre waking up:

Indian Peaks waking up:

Waiting for the sun:

The Tale of 'The Storm' - 30" in 24 Hrs.
SurfTheEarth, jonpierre, snowfire, GFP, Alex, iskibc
by: iskibc
10.21.06

(you can 'right click - view image' to see full size picture)

7:45 AM, Friday
10.20.06

The early morning light vanishes as blue sky is overcome by dark-grey clouds and fierce NW winds. The first few flakes begin to drop from the sky, thus marking the beginning of ‘The Storm’.

9:50 AM, Friday
10.20.06

1 in 2. The winds pick up, the temperature drops, and the snowfall increases.

12:10 PM, Friday
10.20.06

“SLAM!!”, the door shuts forcibly behind me as I step out of my office and say goodbye to another hectic work week. By the time I reach the parking lot and climb into my truck, the stresses from the week begin to slowly subside. Looking to the west I can see The Storm has begun up high and the peaks are no longer visible.

12:55 PM, Friday
10.20.06

Castle Peak - North Couloir

Kya, jonpierre, SurfTheEarth, FigureEleven, iskibc
10.14.06 - Castle Peak - 14,265ft
photos by: iskibc

iskibc's TGR report (click here)

The crew started off another adventure 1:00am Saturday morning. After gathering everyone and making the early drive to Aspen we were hiking by 6:30am with bluebird skies. That quickly changed as snow moved in from the south west making visibility near zero on the top of Castle Peak. The North Couloir off of Castle Peak was the target and big line of the day.

Update (10.16.06): A number of you guys asked about snow conditions in the Elk Mountain area. Here is a brain dump from myself and iskibc.

"This time of year really exemplifies how location, elevation, and terrain enhanced weather really play a role in the snow depth across the state. Some high mountain areas have seen rain while others have been getting hammered by heavy snowfall. Some mountain areas (mostly northern mountains) have no snow on the ground, while other areas (Elks, San Juans) have several feet of accumulation." --iskibc

"Underneath the wind slabs we found some faceted snow about 12" deep on top of rock. Not looking good at all. This was the point where the weather went from overcast to downright white room where you couldn't see 15' down the slope. All in the matter of a couple of minutes. The decision to bail on this line came quick and we decided to head over to the north couloir and give that line a try.

The snow in the north couloir was still slabby, but it had been cut up from the previous day and there wasn't that hollow-like feel to the upper layer. After a few ski cuts on the upper half we deemed it safe enough to head down slowly and work from safe zone to safe zone." --iskibc