I’m getting ready for a two week vacation on the east
coast with Katie and the kids starting this Saturday – family visiting and a
week on the beach. As much fun as this will be, it equates to no mountains, no
snow, no skiing. I needed to sneak in a few more turns before the mountains
melt out while I’m gone. Sean called me a few days ago to ask about a day trip
on Pikes Peak before my trip. I originally told him no because I have meetings
stacked on top of meetings this week. After a few minutes I called him back to
change my answer.
I went to work at 6AM to get a couple hours in before
meeting Sean at the Cascade light on highway 24. We paid our Pikes Peaks Highway entrance fee
($12/person this year) and drove to the pull-off one switchback above the Glen
Cove gift shop and brake check.
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| Our snow climb route in red |
We climbed the Little Italy couloir. The snow was soft enough to
kick steps with our AT boots so we left the crampons in our packs. Coverage was thin in spots, exposing rocks and
this couloir is fairly steep with a hard right turn at a rock pile at the
bottom (like the bottom of the boot of Italy) so we decided to hike across to a wider slope that intersects the road a
little higher up.
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| Sean at the bottom of the route |
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| Our traverse from Little Italy to the bowl above Glen Cove |
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Throwing this pic in cuz Katie hates the Schlitz hat and I have a disturbing number of Sean pics
Self portrait climbing the couloir |
The snow here made for some awesome spring conditions.
It’s not that often we get to ski on Pikes Peak in consistent, smooth as silk
snow (while wearing shorts). That lap was so much fun we couldn’t just leave
but we didn’t have enough time to climb again - we both had to go back to work.
I’m pretty sure Sean forgot his skins anyway.
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| Sean skiing the bowl |
Backup plan: I drove Sean back to the top of the route
and watched him ski down from the road. Then we switched and Sean dropped be
off. So we both did a solo lap just as good as the first run.
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| The pull off at this switchback is where we dropped each other off for the solo runs |
It was sad to throw the skis in the roof box and start
driving down the mountain towards our desks knowing those were our last turns
for the season. That being said…we wrapped the year up right and learned even
in a bad snow year we can still find skiable terrain on the peak!
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| Last tracks of the season |
Getting There: From Colorado Springs or Denver, head west on highway 24 past Manitou Springs to the traffic light in Cascade - turn left at the light and follow the signs for the Pikes Peak Highway (toll road). Road hours, rates, conditions found here:
http://www.springsgov.com/sectionindex.aspx?sectionid=18
Route: We parked on a paved pull off on the left side of the road one switchback above Glen Cove, essentially at the base of the bowl pictured above. From the car we hiked across the road to the bottom of Little Italy. Once at the top of the couloir we traversed left again to the road and top of the bowl.
Precautions: As always safe backcountry travel habits and gear
need to be used. Late spring usually offers safer snow but don't be a dumbass. The Pikes Peak rangers typically try to discourage people from skiing but they may have some helpful info on route conditions.
