Peak L Ski Attempt

L is for Languish. Languishing like a rat in a glue trap. A complete and total beat down with an awesome crew. Failing never felt so good or hurt so bad.

Date: 4/5/2021
Partners: Joel Paula, Mike Sanchez, Alex Frush (photos by all)
Trailhead: Harrigan Creek
Summits: Nada
Start: 12:10am
Distance: 24.6m
Elevation Gain:6240ft
End Time: 4:45pm
Duration: 16hrs 35m
Pearl of Wisdom: Don't be fooled by the tale of the tape. The miles and vertical do not depict the efforts exerted on this outing.

GPX
Peak L 14ers.com Page

Maybe Peak L wasn't the best objective given how warm it had been the days before the trip. Maybe it was a stretch to call the overnight 'freeze' a freeze. However just four days earlier Joel toured over the Gore in plane and reported back with pictures of snow caked peaks that could have been mistaken for Alaska. We had all wanted to ski Peak L for some time now and Joel's eye candy tugged at our hearts despite the weather.

In the weeks before the trip I had been on the couch with ankle tendonitis, so when Joel called just two days before I was disappointed thinking I wouldn't be able to go. The FOMO was overwhelming (especially after seeing the pictures) so I decided to test my ankle on Buffalo's Silver Couloir the next day. The Buffalo outing went well (I even set a PR on the ascent) and I signed on to the trip just twelve hours before we would start... I was stoked to say the least!

The initial plan was to approach from the Vail side of the range. Our options were to enter Lower Slate Basin from Pitkin over Peak W or from Booth over West Partner. From Lower Slate we would get to Upper Slate via the RQ saddle or the PQ saddle. Both options presented pros, cons and unknowns. We were concerned about skiing steep terrain in the dark and having to climb and ski that same terrain in dangerously warm conditions at the end of the day. This is when a third option was presented... we could approach from Harrigan Creek on the Silverthorne side of the range. Although the Harrigan approach is much longer, it is less vertical and does not require climbing/skiing steep terrain in dangerous conditions at the end of the day. So, after floating the idea by Alex.F and Mike and we pulled the trigger... Harrigan it was!

The evening of the trip I went to bed at 5:00pm and did my best to get some shut eye. By the time my alarm went off at 10:30pm I had managed to get an hour or so of actual sleep. Better to let the body rest than nothing at all.

At 12:10am we were all in our trail runners hiking to Upper Slate and it wasn't long before we hung our shoes in a tree and transitioned to skins.

Less than an hour into the trip when we noted our first red flag. The firm snow was collapsing in 30 square meter sections as we crossed meadows. The crust was close to 4 inches thick. We decided that it would get colder later into the night and the higher we went... onward ho we descided to go!

From the Harrigan Trail we met up with the Gore Range Trail. However, given the snow coverage we decided to save some miles and continue west along the ridge instead of following the GRT route. This was a great route choice until we started to descend the ridge to Slate Creek. Upon descent we began to experience classic eastern Gore downfall and soft/inconsistent snow... not ideal for skinning downhill in the dark. As it turns out this route choice may have taken more energy and time than following the GRT. At times we joked about how hard it was going to be skinning out at the end of the day in the soft snow... hahaha... funny not funny!

Eventually we met up with the Slate Creek Trail and continued west to the upper lake. Route finding in the dark was challenging and the inconsistent snow and cliffy sections did not make things easier. In retrospect we should have just skinned up the creek from Lower Slate Lake.

Although we had gotten an early start, we were starting to realize that time was now working against us. It was getting light and our southeast facing line on Peak L would soon be getting soft. We had budgeted 6 hours to make it to the Upper Slate Lake but it ended up taking 7 hours and 45 minutes.

The views of Upper Slate Basin from the lake were stunningly beautiful. Peak Q (The Prisoner) dominated the valley. Peak L was also amazing however it looked radically different from the pictures Joel had taken just days before. No longer did it look like an Alaskan peak... the south east face was melted out and we could not see a skiable line from the summit. There was also a massive wet slide with huge chunks of snow running down the face.

Summitting Peak L was highly unlikely at this point. Mike and Alex.F immediately decided to find a northern aspect to ski while Joel and I opted to venture further up L in hopes of finding a workable option.

After booting 600ft up Peak L Joel and I were sinking in up to our knees and decided to stop. We were 1400ft from the summit and we confirmed that there wasn't anything to ski up there anyway. After a short break we skied some fantastic corn back down to the lake and met up with Alex.F and Mike. What an incredible setting to ski in... a shame it wasn't from the summit. It was now time to make our way back to the trailhead.

Instead of retracing the tracks we came in on, we skied down Slate Creek launching pillows, avoiding pools and dodging logs. It was pretty darn fun and despite not summitting we were all pretty stoked. However, once we reached Lower Slate Lake the real trouble would start.

We had joked on the way in that the snow was soft and unsupportable however we didn't know that it would be 100 time worse on the exit. From Lower Slate Lake we spent the next 5.5 hours postholing with our skis on trying to get back to the trailhead. The flat sections were aweful and the 1000ft of climbing was even worse. Even the downhll was trying at best. The trip out was torturous... we suffered to the extreme... it was grueling. Mike compared it to being a rat caught in a glue trap... he hit the nail on the head. The only thing that kept us going was our collective sense of humor and ability to laugh at each other at the most painful moments. Navigating downfall, postholing, sinking in to the point of stopping on downhills... the exit was relentless. Even when we made it back to the valley floor our cars were impossibly far away and did not seem to get closer as we made our way towards them.

I can honestly say I have never suffered so much on an outdoor adventure. I don't remember being pushed so close to a physical breaking point. I do not remember being so thoroughly exhausted... physically and mentally. With all of that said you might be surprised when I tell you that this was one of the most satisfying and exciting outings I have had in a long while. The four of us worked perfectly together. There was encouragement, humor, empathy and everyone carried their share of the bricks. It was a truly rewarding experience that I will never forget.

"I've never been to war... but if I were to go I would want to be shoulder shoulder with these guys." Mike Sanchez

Next time?

A bigger snow year, colder temps... definitely. A Vail side approach... maybe. Stay tuned we are going back for this one!