Photo TR: A day spent with a legend....4.20.06

**iskibc** · 04-21-2006, 02:03 PM

James Peak 13,265'
Stalight Couloir
4.20.06
smitchell333, iskibc, "Chewey"

Yesterday I got the opportunity to climb and ski with the record holder for most ascents and descents of James Peak. Locals know him by the name of "Chewey". He's quite the celebrity around this area and has shared climbs with many people. He has over 300 ascents of James Peak in the past few years, and has no intentions on stopping anytime soon. He's a great partner. He set a pretty good pace, never complained, and let us drop into our line first for fresh tracks. He knows this area better than anyone else in Colorado. He's a really quiet and easy-going partner as well. In fact, he never said a word during our climb.

Chewey likes to slut it up when it comes to taking pictures. He's not shy of the lens by any means. Here's Chewey posing with the Mt. Evans wilderness in the background:

smitchell333 on the final climb to the summit:

Chewey is a big fan of Red Bull. He stole mine from my pack while we were eating lunch on the summit:

I wasn't about to fight him for my Red Bull, so I let it slide.

Chewey is pretty good on the descents as well:

After we cruised down to the entrance of the Starlight couloir, we parted ways with Chewey and checked out the conditions. Chewey isn't a big fan of steep couloirs, so he split and headed back home.

The couloir was nice and buffed from the previous storm. A few inches of soft snow made things nice and smooth.

smitchell333 dropping in:

iskibc working the ramp:

We found some amazing wind buffed snow down the lower apron for some nice knee deep powder skiing. We continued along the short plataeu below the East Face and dropped into the lower drainage.

smitchell333 in the lower drainage:

A look back:

It was a great morning in the mountains. Perfect weather, great conditions, the opportunity to climb and ski with a legend, and a fun line. It's always nice making turns before going into work.

**Tyrone Shoelaces** · 04-21-2006, 02:05 PM

YEAH dog!!

**lemon boy** · 04-21-2006, 02:11 PM

yawn.

pretty much another boring ass iskibc TR.

**Hutch** · 04-21-2006, 02:14 PM

Wookies rip!

CS · 04-21-2006, 02:15 PM

Good day for sure.

The cooly pics are money.

**jtran10** · 04-21-2006, 02:17 PM

What a letdown

, but looks like a great day out in the mountains. Props.

EDIT: Excellent pics too, btw

**Bodhi** · 04-21-2006, 02:20 PM

Chewy = hardcore powder/caffeine addict.

nice TR...some real money pics in there once again.

peace,
D.

**bcrider** · 04-21-2006, 02:42 PM

LOVIN' this one.

**mtnbikerskierchick** · 04-21-2006, 02:48 PM

Looks like your day sucked

Chewey is a bad-ass for stealing your Red Bull and drinking it

.

**FiveLarge** · 04-21-2006, 02:53 PM

SWEET! Looks real nice.

**KillingCokes** · 04-21-2006, 03:17 PM

Looks like a nice morning. How did Shooting Star look

**soul_skier** · 04-21-2006, 03:23 PM

Ha, i wouldn't mess with chewey either, nice TR too

**Kellie** · 04-21-2006, 03:40 PM

Sweet - looks like some pretty sweet terrain

**ColMan** · 04-21-2006, 03:43 PM

Very nice. Did you approach it via Mammoth Gulch or St. Mary's?

**iskibc** · 04-21-2006, 04:00 PM

Originally Posted by ColMan

Very nice. Did you approach it via Mammoth Gulch or St. Mary's?

St. Marys. Climbed up and out of the gulch.

Shooting Star and Super Star look really good right now. Just have to navigate around the giant cornice.

**jed peters** · 04-21-2006, 04:05 PM

Holy TR! Man there's been some great ones lately....

**FrankZappa** · 04-21-2006, 04:10 PM

Thanks iskibc. Brings back memories from long ago. Did some of my first winter camping & "trippin'"

up in that very country almost 30 years ago.

**Squirrel99** · 04-21-2006, 10:23 PM

Good Stuff! (yeah...the skiing looked okay too

)

**truth** · 04-21-2006, 11:19 PM

Classic. The pics in the upper cooli shot from above are dope.

**kchri** · 04-22-2006, 07:22 AM

iski... your TRs are nothing short of amazing and inspiring!

**smitchell333** · 04-26-2006, 02:51 PM

Finally able to post to the user galleries. Of course this pales in comparison to the Pyramid TR, but heres the photos I had from Starlight.

I must confess that we made Chewey stay at the top for fear he'd chase us down the couloir and knock one of down with his massive frame.

**smolakian** · 04-26-2006, 03:00 PM

So, let me get this straight. Chewie is some dog who lives in the area that just tags along with hikerst/tourers going up the mountain? Weird, very cool but weird.

By the look of his eyes in those pics he really enjoyed his 420!