Torries Peak via Kelso Ridge

Well I committed to myself on the flight to Salt Lake City that I would go with Chad and try a winter assent of Torries Peak via Kelso Ridge and so this little adventure began by meeting at 0530 in the Wolly Mammoth parking lot just west of Denver.

After a slow start (0700) from the parking lot off of the Bakerville exit which is just down the hill from the Eisenhower Tunnel we ski up the road.

We are on our back country skis with skins on the bottom of them. For those who may not know, skins are used to allow a ski to slide easily forward and up but when loaded with your weight it ‘sticks’ to the surface of the snow. This method of back country travel gives you access to areas that are otherwise quite difficult to get into and out of easily. The ski evenly bears the weight of the skier as he ascends. Unlike snowshoes, upon reaching the turnaround point the skier, after removing the skins from the skis, has a real advantage of a speedy exit rather than a slow slog out.

Both methods of travel have their advantages and their place but neither is perfect on all terrain. The skis that we are on today use a special binding that attaches to our plastic ‘double boots’, again a trade-off… While being really great for keeping your feet warm, providing excellent foot & ankle support as well as a solid anchor for crampons they are poor ski boots at best. I explain all of this because it is difficult enough for me to ski the most forgiving skis and great fitting ski boots but then to add the sloppy fitting double boots and stiff, straight & hard to turn back country skis makes it an ‘adventure’ for me every time on the way down. By contrast, Chad could use anything remotely resembling a ski and beat me down the hill all while making it look easy.

The sun just hitting Kelso Ridge, we are a long ways off still well below tree line.

Safe back country travel at any time of year requires some level of knowledge and skill. Winter travel is particularly tricky because the special gear required as well as the obvious challenges of snow, ice, wind and cold. As we make our way up the snow covered road we are constantly adjusting our clothing levels to match the current conditions. This is a ‘skill’ or at least a knowledge that requires a lot of practice to do naturally without it taking lots of time and effort. We are constantly zipping, un-zipping, removing, adding or adjusting layers of clothes to match the rate of heat generated against the rate that the environment removes it from our bodies. Further adding to this unchoreographed dance is the requirement to shed heat at a rate that is great enough to be comfortable but not too warm that we begin to sweat. Sweat is one of the outdoorsman’s greatest enemies because if you get wet, you can, at best, be uncomfortable and at worst create an environment ripe for hypothermia.

Today’s clothing and gear is so advanced from what is was 30 years ago… or even 10 years ago. Growing up, we wore cotton ‘long johns’ which were great until you started to sweat or got wet from melting snow, rain etc then they were pretty close to useless because cotton holds moisture which as explained above can cause problems. I’m always in awe of the early explorers & mountaineers who didn’t have the advantages of this modern gear which we all enjoy and take for granted today.

The ski up the road (or ‘skin’ as we call it) is easy, we quickly loose the sound of the I70 traffic and are surrounded by tall evergreens. At first there isn’t much to look at but after a few hours we are seeing a rocky ridge, lesser mountains and much better views behind us. The problem or advantage to the time on the skis on the way up is that it gives you time to think. We aren’t in any particular hurry today, Chad has been sick for a few days and is still trying to shake the evil spirits that have had a grip on him. We don’t stop much and only just long enough to make clothing adjustments and get moving again.

Staying hydrated in this high altitude winter environment is a constant battle. I’d guess the humidity levels to be somewhere around 10-20% so at every breath you are loosing water, we are also loosing water through sweat. Oddly enough it is not easy to do so we pay particular attention to keeping ahead of dehydration and a hunger.

The views are getting better, we can now see Torries and Greys peaks in the distance as we ski above tree line. There are a few other hikers on the trail today, probably about a dozen. They are all headed up the standard route to the summit(s). We finally ditch our skis when the snow runs out into the rocks and make our divergence away from the trail over to the prominent, unmistakeable Kelso’s ridge.

Chad making one of seemingly hundreds of adjustments necessary throughout the day.

The wind has been tearing at us ever since we cleared the tree line, it’s cold, uncomfortable and dangerous to exposed skin. So long as we keep moving our gear keeps us protected from the elements and from frostbite. I don’t know what the temperature is but I can tell that it is above 0F and I’ll guess that it was probably around 15F to 20F at this point but the wind is blowing pretty steadily we guess it at about 30-40 mph.

There is a small, old mining shack that is just at the base of Kelso’s ridge that makes a reasonable wind break and a good place for a quick lunch. We don’t say much about the weather but we are both thinking that the wind is way too strong for us to be up on this rocky, icy and very exposed rocky ridge line. Our proposed route follows the long ridge to the summit. Exposure as it relates to climbing vernacular has several meanings, it can mean that you are physically suffering from the elements either hot or cold or that you are on a steep, scary slope that if you fall could mean disaster. The Kelso Ridge route is known for both kinds of exposure as it resembles a knife edge and for its exposure to the elements, particularly the wind.
We get headed up from the mining shack to the ridge immediately above and strangely find it to be nearly devoid of wind. We are quite frankly stunned that the wind is non-existent. We snap a few quick photos and get started on the route.

As we make our way up with Chad in the lead we banter back and forth a bit at first before becoming nearly silent. The interesting thing about climbing and exposure is that is completely focuses your attention on the task at hand… all you can do is think about preventing your body from plummeting down the hill. I don’t care how bad a day or week you have had, a good climb with some real tricky spots and plenty of thin air between you and terra firma below will provide you with a mental escape from it all.

The other thing that I should mention is that we neglected (on purpose) to bring harnesses and a line (rope). It is truly amazing what you can climb when you don’t fear falling because you know that the line would arrest a potential fall. With no line to rely on (or use as a mental crutch) our rate, and mine in particular, of assent is slowed considerably as we gingerly pick our way ever higher.

Thats me, very focused on self preservation & not making the nightly news.

This is a challenging ridge in double boots and mittens, I like to think of the whole experience as climbing with roller blades and boxing gloves… not much in the way of feel or feedback from the rock, ice and snow. There are 3 or 4 sections that give us both real pause as we continue our way up. The views are absolutely spectacular, there is nothing to obstruct our vision of the mountains in every direction.

As we make our way up the ridge, I feel a sense of calm and focus. I had a slight tension headache in the morning which nagged me up to the point that we started the route. I know that the stresses of life have been long forgotten and are replaced by more pressing requirements of self preservation.

We are making poor time as we ascend, I am moving slowly, deliberately and cautiously up, Chad on the other hand seems to be in ‘the zone’ and is smoothly navigating his way up. We do a time check at somewhere around 1300hrs, we are at about 12K feet we both know that we need to make a decision within the next hour to proceed ahead or to turn back.

After several more harrowing little pitches we finally have the turnaround discussion at about 1430hrs. Chad thinks that we are about ½ way up the ridge to the summit, at least 2 or more hours away at a good pace. There is apparently a tricky little section of extremely exposed rock that must be scaled up ahead and I’m having concerns about my mental ability to get through it. Further, if something happened we could be in real trouble if we got stuck on this unprotected ridge after dark.

We speculate that under the best circumstances it would be 1800hrs before we summit and walk down the trail to where our skis are and over an hour to ski back to the truck from there (in the dark of course and with no head lamps). We also contemplate down climbing the sections that we just came up, neither of us likes that idea. After some debate, we decide that it is best to ‘bail out’ down the route we came up. We think that there is a possibility that if things get really bad that we can bail off of the ridge to the rocky slopes to the west to avoid the technical sections.

I know that Chad is disappointed that we aren’t going to make the push for the summit and so am I. I am the weak link today and I feel bad that I’m holding him back, I’m not climbing comfortably or easily.

After some time of down climbing we begin to get a bit more comfortable with this most difficult task and start to make better progress. Finally back at the skis, we peel the skins off and head down the trail towards the truck. We arrive at the truck right before dark, glad that we made the decision to down climb vs pushing to the summit.

A bad day climbing beats 100 good days some where else... we feel fortunate to have had both a good day and to have been climbing. Mission accomplished, I know that I feel rejuvinated and replentished... the roses still smell sweet.

Below is a link to the route that we did with great photos, we did not reach the 'knife edge' or white pillar of rock. The photos were taken during the summer but you get a great perspective of what it looks like.

http://www.14ers.com/routemain.php?route=torr4&peak=Torreys%20Peak