- Wed Mar 18, 2015 7:54 am
#9540
The revival of "Shit to Ski Off I-70"
Ian and myself set off into Herman Gulch around 8:30am for a St. Patty's Day adventure. We started off hiking the firm and frozen trail for a quarter to half mile. There are a couple of spots that are completely melted out. If this hot weather continues, there will be more bare spots. Once we started skinning, especially through the trees, it became obvious the freeze was not a hard enough freeze. We found pockets of isothermal snowpack. Boot penetration was to the ground, as Ian found out. After a lil booting and a lil more skinning we topped out on the southwest ridge of Woods Mountain. We celebrated with some Jameson and enjoyed the beautiful views. We skied a southerly gulley/chute off the ridge. Great smooth corn that got softer the further down. We dropped in at 11:15am. On the way out we ran into a 78 year old snowshoer. He was pretty much a badass! So much of a badass we shared our Jameson with him back at the trailhead!
The drive in the morning was very cool. The weak cold front that pushed in from the northeast caused the fog to creep over Berthoud Pass. The south side of the pass was very soupy!
Early in the hike, the fog in the background burned off pretty quick.
The last part of the climb....to boot or not to boot, that is the question...Torreys Peak and the Tuning Fork in the far background.
Ian dropping in
Ian getting REAL tiny
The final stretch
The ski out was fairly easy. You definitely wanted to stay on the trail. Had to ollie the smaller bare patches. Cheers!!
Ian and myself set off into Herman Gulch around 8:30am for a St. Patty's Day adventure. We started off hiking the firm and frozen trail for a quarter to half mile. There are a couple of spots that are completely melted out. If this hot weather continues, there will be more bare spots. Once we started skinning, especially through the trees, it became obvious the freeze was not a hard enough freeze. We found pockets of isothermal snowpack. Boot penetration was to the ground, as Ian found out. After a lil booting and a lil more skinning we topped out on the southwest ridge of Woods Mountain. We celebrated with some Jameson and enjoyed the beautiful views. We skied a southerly gulley/chute off the ridge. Great smooth corn that got softer the further down. We dropped in at 11:15am. On the way out we ran into a 78 year old snowshoer. He was pretty much a badass! So much of a badass we shared our Jameson with him back at the trailhead!
The drive in the morning was very cool. The weak cold front that pushed in from the northeast caused the fog to creep over Berthoud Pass. The south side of the pass was very soupy!
Early in the hike, the fog in the background burned off pretty quick.
The last part of the climb....to boot or not to boot, that is the question...Torreys Peak and the Tuning Fork in the far background.
Ian dropping in
Ian getting REAL tiny
The final stretch
The ski out was fairly easy. You definitely wanted to stay on the trail. Had to ollie the smaller bare patches. Cheers!!
"When you are not practicing, remember, someone somewhere is practicing, and when you meet him he will win" -Ed Macauley
I elected to go first and saw an out through the choke which Drock sliced through.... We leapfrogged with cold snow then corn due to all those variables, and made our way out, happy, satisfied and safe. 
- By Matt Wood