From the depths of the Himalaya with Dave Watson, Karhu friend Brian Mohr switches gears for some more summer turns in the Rockies…
Skiing Elbert
by Brian Mohr/EmberPhoto
It’s been over a month now since we climbed and skied Colorado’s highest 14er, Mount Elbert, a peak Emily and I hadn’t skied since the late 90s when we still lived in Colorado. Elbert’s north facing drainage is a classic and relatively straight-forward descent, and it tends to hold a long, skiable line well into July. So back in late June, while traveling the scenic route from the Front Range to a wedding in Paonia, we couldn’t resist the idea of skiing Elbert again. Driving through Leadville at sunrise, we scouted Elbert’s north side from a distance. It appeared that there was just barely enough snow to string together a solid descent from the very summit, down along the summit ridge, and over into the depths of the mountain’s north facing drainage.
With sneakers on our feet and our skis on our backs, we cruised up the mountain via the well-worn trail that climbs away from Half Moon Creek, and by late morning, we were on the summit. We figured we had at least an hour to spare before thunderstorms would become a threat, so we soaked up the clear views across the heart of Colorado’s mountain country.
A sandwich and then a few passing rain drops had us swapping sneakers for ski boots, and for the next thirty minutes, we savored what would turn out to be our last ski descent of the season. Incredibly, the snow burned out along only one 50m stretch below the summit ridge, and we were able to ski a beautiful line nearly to treeline.
Think snow.
-Brian
Tags: EmberPhoto