Up-to-date information by Eli Helmuth on climbing route and trail conditions in Rocky Mountain National Park and throughout the Estes Valley.  Avalanche forecasts and skiing conditions in the alpine region are also reviewed.  

Warning:  Route conditions change constantly, especially in the mountains.  Climbing is dangerous.  Be flexible in your climbing plans and always prepare for the worst.  Be experienced enough for what you are doing. Seek qualified instruction and use proper equipment.  We accept no liability for your decisions in the peaks.  

December 27th, 2007   

  

             

              Some Estes Park elk huddling for warmth while waiting for their Boxing Day gifts from the city.

 

Current conditions are very favorable for ice, alpine climbing, and ski mountaineering in the high country of Rocky Mountain National Park during this holiday season.  Temperatures have been hitting the single digits above 9,000' at night with daytime temp.'s in the single digits the last few days with the big news being that we have received only about two inches of new snow since Christmas and with light winds, there is still a bit of new fluff below the boards to make for some smoother turning.  For the moment the wind has slowed a bit and there is a light dusting currently on some of the higher elevations where it has been mostly wind-scoured and specific locations like the North Face of Longs Peak are more dry than not as a result of winds greater than 30mph with gusts up to 70mph that raked the Continental Divide for much of the previous week.

                                     The Longs Peak and Mount Meeker cirque after last week's wind-storm     

                                                      The east face of Longs Peak on Dec. 24th, 2007 

The good news on the wind scouring is that it has removed much of the avalanche danger from certain slopes such as the north and west faces of Longs Peak where climbing conditions are overall excellent at the moment.  The bad news is that most of the wind-blown snow landed somewhere (much of it sublimated back into the atmosphere) and those "lee" locations are where the avalanche danger is currently rated CONSIDERABLE, which means that human-triggered avalanches are PROBABLE (defined in Webster's as "likely to be true" ) and this is primariily an issue in those locations where loading and slab formation have occurred:   The Lambslide Couloir on Longs, the Tyndall, Ptarmagin and Taylor Glaciers, and similar lee and steep enough slopes.  As well, cross-loaded slopes in the valleys that are primarily north and south-facing have accumulated about a half foot of new snow in the last week,and in the deepest locations such as the approach to All Mixed Up in the Glacier Gorge, there are up to 2 ft. of new wind-deposited snow in spots making travel very difficult.

A recent photo of the Tyndall Gorge in RMNP showing some of the more likely avalanche slopes on the north and east facing sides of the valley where colder temperatures and lee loading has created potentially dangerous slabs on these aspects above treeline.

Very little natural or human avalanche activity has been noted to date in the high country of Rocky Mountain National Park, but yesterday I observed a large crown line on the east shoulder of Taylor Peak, high above the Loch Vale.  This steep, northeast facing slope is somewhat unsupported as well as lee loaded and judging from the amount of snow on this aspect of Taylor, it looks as though there has been a fair bit of loading here and  throughout this side of the cirque.  Judging from the distance of approx. 6 miles away that this photo was taken, I would expect the crown to be in the 1-2 meter range with a width of at least 200'.

                   The mighty east face of Taylor Peak in the Loch Vale (Lake Valley) of RMNP on 12/26

A close-up of the crown and approx. flanks of the slab avalanche that occured recently on the east shoulder of Taylor

It is doubful that this large slab avalanche on Taylor Peak was human caused as this would be an unlikely (crazy) place to find anyone this time of year.  There are some great spring and summertime alpine routes on this east face, but like many of the lee-loaded and steep aspects of the high country, terrain like this should clearly be avoided when avalanche danger is higher than MODERATE and most ideal to ascend when LOW, which would likely be during short time spans in April or May.   In current and often typical winter conditions, venturing into this or similar terrain could easily be fatal.

The ice climbing in the high country of Rocky Mountain National Park is still probably the best and most extensive in Colorado at the moment although the recent opening of the Ouray ice park will take away a bit of the traffic, especially the "weak and lame" who prefer crowds and a very short walk from the car (30 seconds) to this premier man-made "ice park" in the world.   The two shortest walks to ice climbs in RMNP are to the routes"Hidden Falls" and "Jaws" which are in prime shape at the moment- both are around 30 minutes of easy walking for striking routes which are about 30m long and in the WI 3+ to 4 range of difficulty.

                                     The "Hidden Falls" in the Wild Basin of RMNP on Dec. 24th, 2007

The constant and ferocious wind-scouring of the previous week did a fine job of stripping snow off of many above-treeline aspects such as the south face of Mount Meeker and in these locations, avalanche danger is in the LOW category and these "dry" routes would be the best choice for winter ascents of the high peaks.  Snow-covered slopes greater than 30 degree steepness should be treated suspect or avoided, especially on the colder north and east-facing aspects.  Trail conditions are a mix of solid, hard-pack to locations such as Hidden Falls where flotation is not necessary. 

                                     The south face of Mount Meeker (13, 911') on Dec. 24th, 2007

Other alpine locations, such as the approach to All Mixed Up in the Glacier Gorge would likely require snowshoes due to deep drifts and in "off-trail" locations, boot penetration (without flotation) is around 50cm ( 2 feet), making for arduous post-holing.  I plan to be climbing AMU again this week and will report on current conditions there in an updated ice conditions report before the weekend. 

                           The east face of Thatchtop Mountain and the ice route All Mixed Up on 12/26

Skiing conditions are still a bit marginal in the high country, primarily due to the wind, but the east face of Flattop and the Hidden Valley are two of the best locations currently for backcountry skiing in RMNP and with a few new inches of fluffy white on the ground, it could be a treat.  I will also be teaching an intro to backcountry skiing class on Sunday and will report back next week on what we find.  Please feel free to contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it   if you would like to discuss a training program in ice, mixed, alpine climbing, avalanche (avoidance), or ski mountaineering this winter.  I will be working out of RMNP all season while awaiting the birth of our son in about 5 weeks!

In the meantime, Happy Holidays to you and your loved ones and best of luck with your climbing and skiing plans!

        Getting-in some Christmas Day bouldering on Lily Mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park

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