Skydiving, a half-marathon run 8 days later — how do I match my past 2 weekend activities? How ‘bout climb a 14er? Wait, I’ve done that. How ‘bout climb a 14er in winter? Yeah, that’ll work.
Joined a new hiking team called HardKore Hiking & set my alarm at 3:45am Saturday morning for a trailhead meet-up at Quandary Peak, just south of Breckinridge (2 ¼ hours way).
Because of xtreme high altitude conditions, Ro spent Friday nite & Saturday day at Camp Bow Wow. Xtreme? Heavy mountain snow, moderate to high avalanche warning & summit wind chills at or below zero. Just your average Saturday in Colorado 🙂
Missed the camaraderie of my friends John & Annmarie, but realize they also have other lives, so today was about forging new friendships – AND climbing a 14er in winter!
Crampons, poles, snowshoes, extra layers (shirt & socks), goggles, food supplies, sunblock & bottled water (Camelbak lines freeze in these conditions – yeah, even with insulator coverings). Check, done, ready to go. 2 ladies dropped off pace fast, said our goodbyes – now we were 7 (one ‘no show’ – originally supposed to summit with 10).
After tree line, found ourselves hiking as two separate groups of 4 & 3. Maintained position most of our climb to the false summit at 13,200ft. New Hampshire marathoner Alex summited first – kicked Brandon, (Minnesota) Matt & my butts. Quick pace, super efficient stride.
15-minute water & rest break at the false summit – studied the peak ahead. No visible trails today, so our choice was GPS or ski mark remnants of backcountry skiers past.
Alex started to chill so once again, she took the lead. Not that this was a competition, but as one of 2 older guys and newbie to the group – didn’t want to lag behind. Lucky for me, hills are my friend. Don’t get me wrong, I think the same way everyone else does, but I dig in mentally & can maintain a strong steady pace uphill.
Found myself out front for much of the climb but jeez my lungs were burning. Brandon caught & passed me with a ¼ mile to go. ARGH! 5 minutes back I summit 2nd. Last summer, Quandary was my least favourite of six 14ers Ro & I completed. This day however Quandary soared #1; the Rockies in winter are AMAAAZZZING!
SUCCESS! Wisconsin pharm researcher Brandon dug a summit snow shelter as protection from the bitter wind. Matt & Ed joined 10 minutes later; our final 3 hikers (Krista, Alex & Stephen) summited another 10 minutes back.
What else makes this Team ‘HardKore’? We summit parked for 30+ minutes & ate lunch. Windchill below zero. Crazy!
A majority of folks packed sleds to enjoy a quick ride down. I took the opportunity to trail run down the mountain, using poles as rudders to steady my pace & balance.
An hour half back to treeline, found myself all alone so caught a 20 minute nap on the snowpack.
High altitude, snow & sunshine – BEST combination, FAAANNNNTASTIC day!
WATCH my YouTube video ‘Quandary Peak 14,265ft’
-
- early start – left home at 430am for trailhead meetup w/ HardKore Hiking
-
- Saturday morning Colorado sunrise
-
- no visible trail this hike, only GPS & marks left by backcountry skiers past
-
- hmmm…which way to go – UP, of course!
-
- Matt & Krista
-
- I took the early lead (yep, super competitive)
-
- NH marathoner Alex – first to the false summit at 13,200ft
-
- final long climb to the summit
-
- yep, I’m looking down on everyone – catch me!
-
- quarter-mile more to go – UP!
-
- oh no, my lungs are burning & Brandon is coming up fast
-
- …and I’m now 2nd (still respectable..LOL)
-
- SUMMIT SUCCESS!
-
- today’s WOW shot – whatta view!
-
- sweat, iced brows – AND the hint of a smile 🙂
-
- Brandon (1st to summit) building a snow shelter from the bitter wind
-
- below zero wind chill (yeah, May 1st is Wednesday)
-
- Alex, Krista & Steven approaching the summit
-
- summit man cave
-
- lunch (& a flask) at 14,265ft
-
- HardKore Hiking group pic
-
- post-lunch photo op (bigger smile, without the sweat)
-
- quick hour-half trail run DOWN to treeline (Kilian Jornet inspired)
-
- not the only one trailrunning today
-
- Ptarmigan
-
- today’s stats – FAAANNNNTASTIC day!
Tue April 9th SNOW – 14.5 inches
The system dumped a record 14.5 inches of snow in Boulder and also broke a record low temperature early Wednesday morning.
The previous record for an April 9 snowfall was 11.8 inches, set in 1989. By 6 p.m. Tuesday, Boulder saw 13.1 inches of snow, and the city recorded 14.5 over the entire course of the storm, according to local meteorologist Matt Kelsch.
The storm also brought a large swing in temperatures.
After a high of 62 on Monday, temperatures in Boulder skidded all the way down to 2 degrees just after 6 a.m. Wednesday, breaking the record low for the day of 5, set April 10, 1959.
Mon April 15th SNOW – 13.9 inches
Boulder saw 13.9 inches of snow throughout Monday’s snow storm, according to local meteorologist Matt Kelsch. Temperatures this morning also dipped to 22, just one off the record low of 21 for April 16 set in 1947.
After the record snowfall prompted a rare snow day Monday, the University of Colorado announced this morning it will re-open the campus today.
UPDATE: Mon April 22nd SNOW – 10.2 inches
After heavy overnight snowfall, Boulder has set a new record for snow in the month of April at almost four feet, according to local meteorologist Matt Kelsch.
Boulder saw 10.2 inches of snow as of 7 a.m. today, bringing the total snowfall for the month of April to 46.2 inches, breaking the previous record of 44 set in 1957.
Boulder also saw a record-low temperature of 20 degrees this morning, breaking the old record for April 23 of 22 degrees.
Today was one of those days where you hate to go into work.
With more than a foot of fresh powder (yeah, in April), would have rather popped on snow-shoes & taken Ro for a long hike in the mountains. The consistency of spring snow is moisture heavy but still akin to powdered sugar. LOVE lacing up my boots and watching Ro furrow his head under snow drifts higher than his being. No matter the month – Ro LOVES snow!
After our walk, Ro maintains his head high/bouncing gait into the house, takes a drink, then quickly resettles upstairs on our king sleigh bed – enjoying a ‘Pride Rock’ view of the snow pummeled neighborhood below. He can lay there for hours – growling low as he warns of coyotes, rabbits or other neighborhood dogs. (No outdoor cats in my ‘hood, coyotes take care of that within days.)
Spring & summer will be here soon enough. Sure I’m eager to climb my first 14er of the year but no need rushing through ‘snow season’ (albeit late into April). 4 more inches forecasted tomorrow.
Sunshine dreaming before my next scheduled half marathon — this weekend in Fort Collins 🙂
Avalanche Warning – Colorado spring season!
No better way to celebrate completion of my 2012 Hike Challenge than to share hike #52 with my friend Stephen in New Hampshire. But where to go? Could there be something worthy outside of Colorado?
Arrived in Manchester on the 29th in between snow storms! Literally started snowing 2 hours after landing – 8 inches of fresh snow which delayed my East Coast ‘welcome home’ party ‘til Sunday but…fresh powder is a mighty cool welcome of its own.
New Hampshire climate is not so different than Colorado with 3 exceptions:
- lack of East Coast sunshine makes for lotta ‘grey’ days
- lack of evergreens which makes for lotta winter season ‘stick’ trees
- hard-core NH hikers are all-about 4’s – not 14ers. Elevations in New Hampshire shoot up fast from sea level but nothing rivaling our Rocky Mountain peaks. Tree line drops off at 4,000 ft in NH; 12,000 ft in Colorado.
All said, being outside & climbing a mountain ANYWHERE on New Year’s Eve is ROCKSTAR! And similar to Colorado, we were not the only hikers out on Holiday Eve. Epic hike challenge finale 🙂
Dressed a-ok for the sub-zero peak wind chill but could have been better equipped with poles & crampons. Ice on granite makes for an arduous peak scramble – and creates a bigger calorie burn. Selected the White Dot Trail to summit – most direct, but also the steepest climb. I’d select a point on our trek horizon, then we’d push to reach ‘the 2nd dead tree’, or ‘the 1st boulder after the curve’, take a break & push to our next target point.
Reached tree-line where our trail flattened for half a mile, temps dropped, and the evergreens & underbrush sparkled under a dazzling coating of ice and light snow…like something from a Jack Frost Christmas special — BEAUTIFUL!
Two and half hours in & one last scramble UP, then SUMMIT SUCCESS!
Snapped a few pics, took a short video clip, then blasted down the mountain side in quick time…sliding on my heels most of the journey. My Colorado seasoning hadn’t prepared me for bitter New Hampshire wind. LOL>
52 week Hike Challenge — yeah, it’s possible. Set a goal, stick a goal. Done.
-
- Welcome to New Hampshire!
-
- Sunday afternoon dinner
-
- non-hike WOW shot!
-
- hike #52, last hike of 20-12
-
- what a good sport – snow, ice, bitter wind…but all smiles!
-
- New Hampshire winter – pretty, but missing our evergreens
-
- high calorie burn, K* style – who needs Jennie Craig?
-
- icy NH granite: where’s my crampons & poles? A-R-G-H!
-
- hike leveled off half a mile, then UP into the clouds
-
- fellow New Year Eve hikers entering snow cloud
-
- glazed underbrush, below zero wind temps – BEAUTIFUL!
-
- check out that ICE!
-
- last push UP!
-
- SUMMIT SUCCESS!
