US Grant Ski
Date: 1/11/2026
Partner: Jack Van Lancker, Brock Stashick, Gabe Owners
Trailhead: Ophir
Distance: 10.2m
Elevation Gain: 4900ft
Duration: 8hrs 10min
GPX
When we planned to meet in Ophir we had no idea what we were going to ski. Magnum? Modest? Something completely different?
When we reached the basin below South Lookout ruled out Magnum and headed into the basin between US Grant and V3 to see what we would find.
Long story short, we ascended USG's northwest couloir, tagged the summit, skied Island Lake Couloir to the south and returned to Ophir via the USG/V2 saddle.
We started the day with no expectations and made route descisions along the way. After all... it was 2026 and the snow wasn't great. We were out to see where the day would take us. None of us anticipated standing on the summit of USG at 4pm!
We made it back to the vehicles just as it got dark... what a day! Sometimes the best adventures are unplanned and in sub optimal conditions. Never waste a day!
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10.2m - 4900ft - 8hrs 10min
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We were considering a number of options, however we didn't know exactly where we were going when we arrived in the basin below the west face of South Lookout. At this point we ruled out South Lookout options
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We opted to skin into the basin between V3 and US Grant and make a decision once we were there
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Looks like others may have a similar plan. A view of V3's east face
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Heading towards V3 with South Lookout behind
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Getting closer to V3
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Many options on South Lookout's west face
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Upon reaching the basin between V3 and US Grant we decided to checkout the USG's west couloir
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Dreamy tracks with a South Lookout backdrop
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Approaching US Grant's northwest couloir
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We skinned all but 100ft of the northwest couloir. The snow was garbage and we hoped for an alternate descent
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Jack putting some serious thought into summitting US Grant. The round trip to the summit and back was 0.3m + 260ft
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With little knowledge of the terrain, we decided to tag the summit. We unfortunately decided to drop our skis. Always. Bring. Skis.
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Brock making his way up the first pitch towards the summit
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Brock on some steep and moderately exposed terrain
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There terrain to the summit was undulating and there a handful of small towers to negotiate. Jack on the final summit climb
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Jack on the summit
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Brock struts the summit ridge like it was a catwalk.... yeah, on the catwalk, on the catwalk yeah... I do my little turn on the catwalk
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Sneffels poking out way up to the north
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Stoked for our unplanned visit to US Grant's summit... we better get outta here tho... almost 4pm!
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V3's classic east couloir across the way
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Southwest views to Fuller, Vermillion, Golden Horn and Pilot Knob.
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Southeast views to Vestal Basin
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Southeast views to more Weminuche fun
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The Wilsons to the west
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Variable snow above exposure... skis would have been spicy
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Up and down the summit ridge back to the couloir
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Brock descending the final tower back to our skis
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We opted to ski Island Lake Couloir to the south
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Snow may have been better a few hours earlier... but we did get the summit!
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From the bottom of the couloir we skinned above Island Lake to the USG-V2 saddle
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Jack on the USG - V2 saddle. The sun is beginning to set
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Taking in the views of San Joaquin Ridge
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One last look to the Ice Lake peaks
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Looks like we will be skiing more variable snow back to Ophir
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Looking for descent snow on descent
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Brock skis from the saddle
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Despite poor snow quality this was an incredible place to be during a sunset - stoke was high!
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Some of the snow was decent but we were constantly on the lookout for sharks
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We made it back to the cars just as it got dark. What a day! Sometimes the best adventures are unplanned and in sub optimal conditions. Never waste a day!
