STEEP Couloirs and SEVERE Weather | Backcountry Skiing in the Indian Peaks Wilderness
Вставка
- Опубліковано 3 сер 2024
- The plan was to bring all of our ski touring and camping gear into the Indian Peaks Wilderness for a weekend of backcountry skiing and camping. Plans do not always work out the way they were intended though.
Little Pawnee Peak (12,943’) is a beautiful mountain in the Indian Peaks Wilderness that draws your full attention when you are standing at Brainard Lake, looking at all of the possibilities in front of you. 45 minutes West of Boulder, CO, the IPW is a stunning area that does not see much foot traffic in the Winter.
We had an early start to the day, trying to get the 5.5-mile approach out of the way so we could drop off our camping gear and ski a couple of lines on day one. We managed to reach our camping spot early enough to explore the area and find some lines to ride. There were a few options off of the North face of Little Pawnee Peak and we quickly skinned to the bottom of our line to access the snow conditions.
We were worried about the rapidly warming rock wall above our narrow couloir but decided to hike that line since the snow was still in the shade and staying cool. The snow conditions were variable to say the least and before I could take my first turn I lost my edge as the snow transitioned from firm to soft, throwing me off balance. This is why you won’t catch me skiing above a no-fall zone…
We managed to ride 2 beautiful lines that day, though neither from the top of the line, and retreated to camp to eat as much as we could and make plans for the following day. We camped close to an aesthetic South-facing couloir off of Mt Audubon that was the objective for the morning but Mother Nature had other plans.
In the middle of the night, the winds picked up and we woke up to quite the surprise. The wind was so strong it was blowing snow under our rain fly, into our tent, and we had 2 inches of snow accumulating on top of our sleeping bags. Not ideal. The gusts were over 70mph at times and we decided to call it quits. Cold and tired, we followed the trail back to the car in search of hot coffee and some shelter from the storm.
SUBSCRIBE to the channel to see more upcoming content like our Silverton Trip dropping later this Spring and give the video a LIKE if you enjoyed watching it 🙏
Music:
The Four Seasons Summer 3 Presto Vivaldi - Dover Quartet
Evergreen (Extended) - Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners
Novembers - Run Wild
Outrun - WEARETHEGOOD
Neon Night - Shinto
The Racer - Tristan Barton
Like Shadows - Ooyy, Geminii
Time Stamps:
0:00 - 0:37 Intro
0:38 - 2:51 Morning Hike
2:52 - 7:21 Line #1
7:22 - 10:12 Line #2
10:13 - 11:22 Winter Camping
11:23 - 12:21 Day 2
12:22 - 12:55 Silverton Teaser
This was incredible. I never knew what a Couloir or a Coin Slot was! The extreme skiing and boarding was amazing and the videography just incredible! Can’t wait to watch all of you videos and your next adventure! Definitely sharing this!
Thanks so much!! So glad you liked it!
Wow! Beautiful!! Can't wait to see the next adventure!
Thanks Rae! Hopefully the next one will be ready in the near future 🤘
This is incredible! From start to finish, the editing(great story telling), narration, and camera work. I am a videographer based in Denver myself and am just getting into the backcountry. Thanks for hauling your gear with you and taking the time to stop and get shots along the way. I know it’s easier just to keep pushing forward 😂 well done!!
Wow thanks Jordan!! I appreciate it 🙏 It would definitely make my trips easier going without the camera gear but I love getting to capture these trips so it's worth it.
nice vid, thanks for sharing!
Thanks nick!
Coin slot looked gnarly, can’t imagine transitioning on that slope - I would have dropped half my gear.
It was not an easy place to transition. I may or may not have watched my GoPro ND filters slide down the couloir before skiing it...
skiing at brainard lake is great because the skin in and out keeps most people away lol
Its such a great area! I haven't explored it enough but look forward to going back for more ski days.
USFS Arapaho and Roosevelt NF, Indian Peaks Wilderness: “Campfires are always prohibited east of the Continental Divide” 😳
Oh that’s good to know, thanks 🙏🏻