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Steven's Gulch Trailhead
On 5/17/10 we decided to return to Grays Peak for a ski descent. We were there on the 15th, but were turned around by bad visibility and a new snow layer that wasn't bonding well with the old. On the 15th the plan was to ski Lost Rat Couloir off the east side ridge of Grays.
As we neared the ridge a slab cut loose and took me off my feet. The fracture varied from about 8 inches to 14, and slid on a dust layer. It was a little scary considering the low visibility. I didn't know what hit me until I was on my stomach sliding downhill. The slide was about 50 feet wide and ran about 40 to 50 feet downhill onto a bench.
We decided to tuck tail at that point and ski Grays (by braille) down to the drainage.
Monday would be redemption! Or at least we hope so. I took the day off work and Kevin Webb was willing to go back and give it another try as well.
We hit Steven's Gulch road at 5am. We were able drive to within .5 mile of the summer trailhead. We were off and walking by 5:45am.
Quick note: the road is in great condition. A road crew must have been up there smoothing out the large runnels that formed last year. Once the snow melts a car should make it to the top without a problem.
Heading up....
I wanted to get a few photos of the surrounding areas as we headed up Stevens Gulch. There are quite a few possible ski descents outside of the usual Grays and Dead Dog descents that so many people do every weekend.Here are some pics:
Once we approached Kelso's southeast shoulder Dead Dog came into view. It such a sick looking line. It had quite a bit of slide debris from the adjacent cliffs shedding snow.
We skied it last year in boiler plate conditions- not fun. We will get it another year.
Here is what it looked like as we approached:
We were feeling good and both agreed to ski Kelso as well if everything went smoothly.
KW taking a break part way up Grays.
As we approached the east ridge of Grays much of the new snow from Saturday (May 15th) had either blown away or became a crust.
Switching to boot pack. The weather was calm and warm and our energy levels were high.
The summit of Grays
KW nearing the summit...
Us on top. There is still good snow coverage in the surrounding areas. The new snow has covered up much of the dust layer that blew in a month ago. Get it while it's good. Here's some scenery photos from the top:
After some good views it was time to ski off the top.
KW skiing off the top. The top few hundred feet were hard packed with a few rocks sprinkled in for fun. The last 1000 feet or so was a little crusty, but very manageable and fun.
Our tracks down Grays. KW and I both felt great, and it was still early- 10am, so we decided to ski Kelso as well.
Part two- ski Kelso's north face
The hike up Kelso's south flank was easy. The snow wasn't incredibly deep so we made fast progress.
South flank of Kelso
Climbing up:
Nice shot of KW with G ant T behind.
As we neared the summit ridge a family of mountain goats stayed just out of sight from us. We only saw a few of them until we climbed higher:
I shot a couple of photos of Grizzly Gulch:
KW nearing the summit....
Once on the summit it was time to gear up and ski the north face.
Dropping in
I didn't snap any photos from the top because we were trying to get a decent read on the conditions. It was about 11am We decided a ski cut was in order to see if anything would release. I traversed from right to left and the slope felt very solid- although I did send some rollers into the lower flanks. Kevin followed and once we were on the left side of the descent I dropped in.
The first 15 turns were near perfect snow, the next 15 turns became very crusty. I traversed back to the right into a safe zone to allow KW to catch up.
The middle section wasn't fun at all- trap crust conditions for about 400 feet. We opted to stay on our right high up the snow line until we hit corn. The lower section was soft and fun to ski fast.
The very bottom section had some wet slide debris, but nothing too bad.
All in all it was a great day and we were glad to get a second chance in the area.
Our tracks