TR: Torreys (Tuning Fork no Summit)

[ianeloski]

My freind Jason sent me a line of the Tuning Fork off of Torreys peak in the spring last year and said that was on his spring list. It is a line with consistant 35ish degree slopes for 3000 ft. We didn't get it done till last sunday. It was a year late and I am glad I put it off till now. We had Aaron along with us for the climb and ski which was great because he took the first spot a lot.

This was my first real experience "mountaineering" and I felt like it was a big undertaking when all was said and done. It all went pretty smoothly until we got half way up the east fork. It starts to get steeper and the snow was not supporting my 240 lbs very well. We traversed over to the rock band between the two forks and ascended the it until we topped out I was pretty exausted, hungry and breathing hard when Jason asked if we should ditch the packs and top out. My stuborness said no and then a hundred feet later Aaron passed me and I asked him the same question and he replied with the same no.
We got to the top at around 12ish and ate a quick lunch and enjoyed the 50 mile an hour winds. I got my mittens out of my pack first thing becuase the fleece gloves had soaked through and my hands were going numb. Scarfed a sandwhich down and then geared up to get down, with one small problem my hands where not working well enough to get the knot out of my left crampon. I walked over to Jason and he was kind enough to help me out. We decided to ski becuase it was lateish and we were worried about the snow getting funky.

I made one turn in to the east fork and my ski popped of I cussed and it fell 10 feet below me and stuck. I couldn't believe that I was that lucky, lossened the 01 cartridge and had no more issues with the binding. The snow was variable powder up top, solid in the middle and corn at the bottom. The snow didn't get a real chance to warm up with all the wind.

Things I learned:
Ice axe will put a whole in your pants pretty easily.
So will Crampons.
A duckbill boot digs better cat holes.
We took the hard way ( a set of 3 of my buddies set out of Stevens a half our after us and summited 3 hours before us).
Make sure your cartridges are adjusted correctly
Here is a couple of pictures.


Morning Delight

A quick creek crossing

Aaron with the objective

Aaron gaining the Cooly

Jason from above

Paramark Turns

Tilted to make it look flatter

Aaron


Me

By grandyoso at 2010-05-24
Back at the truck taking of boots and looking for beer.

[pilotmurph]

Looks good man.

[d-rock]

Jealous.......I was thinking about y'all as we were traveling to the Beaver Fire outside of Norwood, CO. Looks like a good trip.
_________________
work it.....work it......

[distantfellow]

We miss your frequent contributions Derek.

Be safe, fight fire, be cool. Fun in the sun, get laid in the shade. Until next season amigo, cheers!

[ianeloski]

Thanks guys...

I will be jelous when you come back next season and are putting stuff up on Tuesdays...

Let me know when you get a day off. We can get on the poudre for a day...