East Ridge - Ski

Date: 2/28/2021
Partner: Jeremy Miller, Mike Sanchez
Trailhead: Lower Rock Creek
Distance: 16m
Elevation Gain: 7100ft
Duration: 8.5hrs

When Jeremy and I arrived at the trailhead Mike's car was already there and there were ski tracks leading up the road. Mike had told me the night before that he was thinking about getting up early and catching an alpine sunrise. Badass.

The morning was cold so Jeremy and I started at a quick pace to get warmed up. We skinned passed the upper trailhead and headed west on the Gore Range Trail where we gained the ridge. Mike's tracks lead the way.

We were halfway up the ridge when a small tree suddenly crashed down not far in front of us. I initially wondered why a tree would randomly fall on such a still morning. However it didn't take long to realize it was just Mike and his saws doing a little pruning. Thanks for breaking trail buddy!

From there, we took turns breaking to the top of our planned route. The views were spectacular... Peak Z to the northwest and Valhala to the south.

From roughly 12,600 we skied three amazing 1700ft laps down the face and into the glades... fresh lines every time.

On the second lap we were joined by two mountain mermaids(tm) who were out for a random tour before crossing our tracks and following them up.

After laying down over 7k we called it a day and headed down the ridge and back to the TH. Decending the ridge wasn't steep but it was tight and fast. Mike was out front when he got tripped up by a root and hit his ribs on a stump. He thankfully was able to ski out and didn't break any bones.

At the end of the day I realized that this outing pushed my monthly vertical to an all time high... 96,000ft. At that moment a feeling of dread came over me as I realized that while 96,000 is a fine number... a number to be proud of... it is not 100,000. However today Februry 28th is the last day of the month and I had just run out of days. As tired as I was, I began to weigh the prospect of heading over to Keystone to push it over the top with a double lap... but that is another story.

Awesome day fellas!