TR: The Citadel, NE Couloir, 11.25.06

[iskibc]

NE Couloir, The Citadel 11.25.06
jonpierre, iskibc, Mac
Dry Gulch Ascent, Herman Gulch Exit
8.6 miles round trip, 3,100' vertical gain






It hasn't snowed here in Colorado for almost 2 weeks. The fresh pow was pretty much 'un-fresh' after day 4, and the recycled pow lasted through day 9. Since then we've been dealing with variable conditions such as breakable windboard and sun/wind crust chop. The strong layer that built up from the last storm is now a prime bed surface for any snow that falls on top. TG has been developing across most locations the past several days, making things weaker from the bottom to the top.





Given the conditions and weather we've had the past couple of weeks, there hasn't been a better time to get up high and ski some fun lines since last spring. Every couple of years around Thanksgiving I get a phone call out of the blue from my friend Mac wanting to ski some obscure mountain or insane ski traverse. Mac is a ripping ski mountaineer from Telluride and has many years of experience and stories under his belt. Mac is a unique person to say the least. I'm pretty sure he has a third lung.


After a couple of foiled plans we settled on climbing and skiing The Citadel, a prominent and obscure peak high above Dry Gulch in Clear Creek County. The Citadel can be seen from the top of Loveland Pass and Loveland ski area. Its summit is guarded by a large crown of cliff bands and a few narrow couloirs coming down its NE and SW faces. Steep on all sides, this peak has some fun climbing routes and top notch ski descents. The Citadel sits high (13,294') on the Continental Divide and borders the Williams Fork mountain range. It neighbors Hagar Mountain and Pettingell Peak to the NE. The most popular ski/climbing route on The Citadel is, "Snoopy's Collar", a nice line dropping from the West summit saddle down the SW face.


First light on Hagar:





Few minutes later:







Block summit of The Citadel towering above and to the right:







Hagar:






Not expecting the greatest ski conditions, we set out from the Dry Gulch trailhead just after sunrise and quickly made our way up the drainage and into the Dry Gulch basin. We made good time up the well-beaten path and then began the climb up the SW face. Snow showers slowly rolled into the area just as we popped above tree line. The cloud cover was in-and-out as snow squalls came and went during the climb.


Mac skinning:





Mac and I decided to boot pack up the SW face while jonpierre hiked up the southerly ridge to the summit block. We took turns putting in the boot pack as the snow was horrible for boot packing. Each step we found ourselves stomping through the breakable crust and wallowing in the deep sugar snow underneath. The snow pack was rotten. A little weary with what was underneath, we decided to split from one another and take our own lines up the left and right sides of the face.


The climb up:




Hoping the north side would be in better shape, we booted up to the base of the summit block and regrouped with jonpierre.


Upon reaching the summit block I had noticed an interesting climbing route straight up to the summit. Since the Snoopy route looked basic and kinda boring, the climbing side of my mind took over and insisted I give this route a try. The first part was fairly simple with a few easy rock moves mixed in. The middle got a bit more challenging with some loose rock holds and steeper pitch to deal with. The upper part of the climb got a little spicy as it was all rock and some exposure. Fun climb. Worked it all the way to the east summit and then made my way over to the couloir.

iski:





Nearing the middle:






Wishing I had some rope and harness, I slowly worked my way into the couloir. Jonpierre and Mac came up a short while after and we talked about our planned descent. Knowing the SW face was somewhat sketchy and variable, we checked out the NE couloir off the backside and it was in much better shape than what we had climbed up. I dug a pit and found a nicely consolidated snow pack minus the slick and thick bed surface layer on the very top. The next storm is going to spike the danger considerably and I’m sure we’ll see some activity shortly thereafter.


View of Hagar from the summit:





Citadel summit:




The descent was actually pretty fun. We found some nice blown-in powder skier’s right of the couloir and breakable death crust on the left side. We worked our way down the couloir and exited just below Herman lake.

Mac, first turns:

















JP ready to drop:





Working it up high:













jonpierre finding the goods down lower:



















Mac:









finding the pow:









We got a nice 1,900’ of vert before connecting with the trail down lower in the drainage. The rest of the ski down the Herman Gulch trail was like a bobsled run, as the trail was slick, icy, and fast. Another fun day in the books. It’s always great connecting with Mac and catching up.

Views in Herman Gulch:






Our line looker's right of summit block:

[reidhresko]

making even the shitty days look good... strong work as always.... you've got me chomping at the bit, Dave...

[smitchell333]

Good show.

Looks like you found a bit of pow left over.

[Pow4Brains]

FKNA

That is all.

[RootSkier]

A sweet ski mountaineering line and then a little

.

So fucking sweet.

[bcrider]

Great stuff all!

[mtnbikerskierchick]

Nice work!

[smmokan]

Seriously, you didn't ski from the true summit? Come on now.




I thought it was funny that you said someone had a third lung. Kind of ironic.

[Trackhead]

I get a phone call out of the blue from my friend Lance McDonald wanting to ski

Funny, he called me out of the blue a couple years ago wanting to ski, but I didn't know who he was. I didn't figure it out until after I hung up. It was an clumsy conversation.

Nice TR, as always.

[reidhresko]

normally, i don't read all your hippiesque psuedo-poetry bullshit(+joking+), but this time I failed to see that one of the bear creek posse had showed up to show you how real colorado skiers
hike (not joking)

good to see you boys had a great day and I am sure some interesting converation.

[powstash]

props to JP - snowshoes? FKNA!

Nice work D.

[Blurred]

Way to slut it up you beater!!! Tee shots on Citadel don't count, pincher. Next time I want to see you getting after a road hit. Not sliding down a little shot on your side for the camera. That's the saddest photo slutting side douching shot of all time.

It's a shame the snowboarder got the sweetest pics...this is fucking CAW!!!


Way to get after it Iski. Sorry we couldn't hook up....soon.

[Lexi-Bell]

As always, great TR Dave!

Thanks for sharing your pics!

This looks like fun.

[f2f]

i'm sure you've said it elsewhere, but what camera are you using, Iski? what postprocessing are you applying afterwards? the pictures come out more and more beautiful with each new TR!

[bbirtle]

More awesomeness.

Pretty much "iskibc" + "TR" always = "$$$$$".

[Alpine Dreams]

iskibc,

Once again you set the standards for a TR! Great photos, great beta on snowpack and inspiring lines. I always look forward to the next.

[shera]

Lance is a ripping ski mountaineer from Telluride and has many years of experience and stories under his belt. Lance is a unique person to say the least. I'm pretty sure he has a third lung.

Hasn't he been featured in Powder mag for one of the worst beaters you will ever hear about?

Lance's non-ski life is exceptional as well. He's one of the movers and shakers in Telluride, ensuring affordable housing in a town that thankfully has not gone quite the way of Aspen in spite of the charm, money, and amazing skiing there.

Ski town workers find homes in the hills
http://www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn.Article?article_id=5998

Seriously, you didn't ski from the true summit? Come on now.

I'm trying to figure out if Dave hiked to the summit.

Funny, he called me out of the blue a couple years ago wanting to ski, but I didn't know who he was. I didn't figure it out until after I hung up. It was an clumsy conversation.

Now you know better.

normally, i don't read all your hippiesque psuedo-poetry bullshit(+joking+), but this time I failed to see that one of the bear creek posse had showed up to show you how real colorado skiers
hike (not joking)

Love it!

Way to slut it up you beater!!! Tee shots on Citadel don't count, pincher. Next time I want to see you getting after a road hit. Not sliding down a little shot on your side for the camera. That's the saddest photo slutting side douching shot of all time.

Sweetheart, none of the new kids are going to get this at all. They're going to think that the old timers are so mean.

...............

The drama, the emotion, the energy - all over that sweet little line and one ultra-cool skier from Telluride. Classic. I want more!

Lance, I hope you are well and happy and I'd just love to tour with you and yours again. Sorry I couldn't this time, but I was being dogpiled by five year olds wearing ski boots.

It'd be sweet if you came back on the forum too, look at the energy you generate! And you haven't even spoken a word. This is just what we need to get us back on track during jong invasion season. A little taste of KIR, maggot style. It's getting to be like milquetoast around here.

And Dave, since we tried to ski last time and got relieved of our gear, you've done a couple of fine TRs where you're not dropping in first. Methinks you are doing fine things, as discussed! ...but you know I have your tripod?

Can you ski Wednesday? I'd really like to do the road hit over Mark's way. Safe and fun and the ratio of powder turns to hiking is much to my liking. I can spatulate.

[Rontele]

Dave, as usual, excellent TR

[jonpierre]

It's a shame the snowboarder got the sweetest pics...this is fucking CAW!!!

what a shame! why do you hang out with snowboarders? so lame.

this shit is my personal favorite:



great meeting you lance and awesome skiing/photog as usual iski!!

[Dside11-11]

Cha-Ching! That sucker calls my name from the chair at Loveland. I'd prefer you call it Snoopy, though.

[shera]

what a shame! why do you hang out with snowboarders? so lame.

this shit is my personal favorite:



great meeting you lance and awesome skiing/photog as usual iski!!

Relax, JP, it's all in good fun. Both pics are retarded sweet. Could put them on the cover of a magazine.

[Joey Joe Joe Junior Shabadoo]

That is all

[brettf]

Nice work! I was up high yesterday looking over at the Citadel and thought it would be a decent day to be up there. Been chased off of there more than once by really nasty weather with skis on my pack...

[IridePow]

It's a shame the snowboarder got the sweetest pics...this is fucking CAW!!!

Don't they snowboarders always get the sweetest pics!!?

But yeah JP..... how about a splitboard?

[TeleHoar]

Dave...
Please do a TR where you just sit around on the couch eating pork rinds,
It would do my self-esteem a world of good!

Awesome TR as usual!