Those of you starving for snow might be surprised to find out that there’s still turns out in Colorado’s high country for those that are willing to work for it.
Patrick Gres (@altitoots) and friends earned some successful, albeit sketchy, turns in Rocky Mountain National Park recently.
Gres’ post on Instagram (embedded below) shows there isn’t much snow left, but it was certainly a sight for these sore ski blogger eyes yearning for winter.
Enjoy!
“Scored some July turns on Saturday in a new zone known as the Ptarmigan Headwall… Aka “Yard Sale Couloir”. We made some questionable decisions, which ultimately lead to us dropping a bit too early into unknown conditions. Clint slid out, lost both of his skis, and went for a 750′ ride down the couloir. Thankfully, no injuries!
Chris took a shorter ride at the top when his heel edge slipped out, but he came to a stop after about 100′ and was able to complete the run. Definitely a lesson in patience, understanding limitations of a snowboard vs. skis, and reinforcement of “climb what you ski.” We also found 3 ice axes, an iPhone, and glasses in the couloir from an accident on 7/10… hence, “Yard Sale Couloirs.”
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After the first couloir, we booted up the one next to it and were happy to find significantly softer conditions! I dropped first and was having a great run until my heal piece pre-released. Another “fun” down-climb reminiscent of the incident in Conundrum Couloir (I’m getting a refund on these damn bindings). Clint and Chris had flawless runs. I needed redemption, so I booted back up, locked out the toe pieces, and skied down (video).“FINALLY an enjoyable run… only to find out my phone was no longer in my pocket. Reluctantly booted back up, eyeing some dark clouds moving over the ridge, and found my phone halfway up the boot track. We got rained on in a pretty intense T-storm back in treeline (perfect timing). An unintentional 5k vert day with a number of set-backs, but a successful outing nonetheless.”