Colorado backcountry 1.6.19

[Barb]

I have been looking into backcountry clinics for a while now. When I asked some friends if anyone wanted to do one with me one offered to show me the ropes. It turned into 6 of us going. 2 of the girls in our group have lots of backcountry knowledge and have taken avy courses. The girl in charge chose Jones Pass. The part of it we did has zero avy danger and there is a snowmobile company that guides tours there (more on that later).

 

We arrived to cold temps and light snow. Gearing up in the lot

 

 

 

We did a 2.5 mile skin up. Heard some avalanche bombs along the way. They were not coming from Berthoud Pass, which is close by. Would have to study a map to be sure. Don’t know if we would have heard them that clearly from Loveland or Abasin.

 

Not sure if the elevation gain. We think somewhere around 1200 feet. Internet says 1600 but didn’t feel that steep. Don’t get me wrong, it kicked my ass. At about the 2 mile mark I was getting very worn out. My friend suggested I glide more instead of lifting my feet. That made all the difference and all of a sudden what I was doing felt much easier.

 

 

The wind and snow were both picking up. When we got to our turn around point it was super windy. I tried to keep sweating to a minimum wearing only a very thin shirt under a wool base layer. But I was soaked. I decided I had to take off the shirt, holy shit that was a cold endeavor. Then put on a light puffy and a hard shell for the descent. Snow was kind of cruddy and wasn’t use to the boots. They were really digging into my shins. I couldn’t wait to get down and take them off so I said I would meet them at the bottom.

 

The track we were on was not too wide. About the width of 2 snowmobiles. I came upon a large group of people and EMS workers. There was a body covered up and I knew by the somber scene he was dead. Not wanting to intrude I had to wait till they finished to go by which took about 20 minutes. There were 3 ems guys still there waiting for a transport I imagine. But they did not move him and he was lying long ways across the path. I had about 18” to ski around him. My friend asked someone at the bottom and they said he died of natural causes. He was with the snowmobile group.

 

I am glad I went but it’s not quite what I expected. I would go again but am glad I didn’t spend $200 on a clinic. I made the mistake of not having enough calories or drinking enough and was cramping up by the time I got down. Brought some soup in a thermos and with that and another thermos full of tea started to feel better.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[toast21602]

JADIP! 

[Shadows]

Nice. Looks like things filled in out there

[Barb]

Today they are calling for 50mph sustained winds with 90 mph gusts in the mountains. Glad Our wind wasn’t that bad. 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Nice report.  The one lady has some really skinny skis.  How was the run down!!!

[Johnny Law]

That's super dope. way to get out there

[Barb]

55 minutes ago, GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

Nice report.  The one lady has some really skinny skis.  How was the run down!!!

She borrowed someone’s xc skis w skins. She left the skins on for the way down and went slow. 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

41 minutes ago, Barb said:

She borrowed someone’s xc skis w skins. She left the skins on for the way down and went slow. 

Wow just wow 

[zzslope]

Great pictures, so beautiful out there.

[Schif]

Barb, impressive as always. Super awesome pics and report. You're an inspiration to us here stuck in PA