San Luis Peak Winter Ascent
March 12, 2011
Matt high in the West Willow Creek drainage. San Luis Pass is straight ahead but we're about to cut right to reach an unnamed pass further east along the Continental Divide.
March 12, 2011
Matt high in the West Willow Creek drainage. San Luis Pass is straight ahead but we're about to cut right to reach an unnamed pass further east along the Continental Divide.
San Luis Peak Winter Ascent
March 12, 2011
UN 13,034 to the west. This peak has an interesting, scrambly summit.
March 12, 2011
UN 13,034 to the west. This peak has an interesting, scrambly summit.
San Luis Peak Winter Ascent
March 12, 2011
Dwight beginning the climb out of the West Willow Creek drainage toward the Divide. Gentle UN 13,111 is being kissed by the early morning sun behind him.
March 12, 2011
Dwight beginning the climb out of the West Willow Creek drainage toward the Divide. Gentle UN 13,111 is being kissed by the early morning sun behind him.
San Luis Peak Winter Ascent
March 12, 2011
Matt and Ben get their first view of San Luis Peak from the 12,300 foot pass between the West Willow Creek and Spring Creek drainages.
March 12, 2011
Matt and Ben get their first view of San Luis Peak from the 12,300 foot pass between the West Willow Creek and Spring Creek drainages.
San Luis Peak Winter Ascent
March 12, 2011
Beginning the descent into the Spring Creek drainage. The Yawner Gullies can be seen on San Luis' southwest face. Today the skiers are hoping to ski one of them.
March 12, 2011
Beginning the descent into the Spring Creek drainage. The Yawner Gullies can be seen on San Luis' southwest face. Today the skiers are hoping to ski one of them.
San Luis Peak Winter Ascent
March 12, 2011
The skiers gear up just below the pass to make a quick descent into Spring Creek.
March 12, 2011
The skiers gear up just below the pass to make a quick descent into Spring Creek.
San Luis Peak Winter Ascent
March 12, 2011
Kevin and Dwight descend toward Spring Creek on snowshoes.
March 12, 2011
Kevin and Dwight descend toward Spring Creek on snowshoes.
San Luis Peak Winter Ascent
March 12, 2011
The skiers jump off a little cornice and make a few turns.
March 12, 2011
The skiers jump off a little cornice and make a few turns.
San Luis Peak Winter Ascent
March 12, 2011
The group descends toward Spring Creek. There's plenty of old avalanche debris here (probably mostly from the huge cornices above) but things are quite stable today and we have no worries.
March 12, 2011
The group descends toward Spring Creek. There's plenty of old avalanche debris here (probably mostly from the huge cornices above) but things are quite stable today and we have no worries.
San Luis Peak Winter Ascent
March 12, 2011
We begin to climb a seemingly endless, shallow, snow-filled gully on the southwest face of San Luis Peak. The snow is very spring-like.
March 12, 2011
We begin to climb a seemingly endless, shallow, snow-filled gully on the southwest face of San Luis Peak. The snow is very spring-like.
San Luis Peak Winter Ascent
March 12, 2011
Kevin snowshoeing up moderate snow on the southwest face.
March 12, 2011
Kevin snowshoeing up moderate snow on the southwest face.
San Luis Peak Winter Ascent
March 12, 2011
The skiers fall behind when it gets too steep for skinning because they posthole a bit as they boot up the gully without any flotation.
March 12, 2011
The skiers fall behind when it gets too steep for skinning because they posthole a bit as they boot up the gully without any flotation.
San Luis Peak Winter Ascent
March 12, 2011
The talus on these slopes is horrendous and unstable!
March 12, 2011
The talus on these slopes is horrendous and unstable!
San Luis Peak Winter Ascent
March 12, 2011
UN 13,285 to the south.
March 12, 2011
UN 13,285 to the south.
San Luis Peak Winter Ascent
March 12, 2011
The snow peters out and we climb the grungy west ridge toward the summit.
March 12, 2011
The snow peters out and we climb the grungy west ridge toward the summit.
San Luis Peak Winter Ascent
March 12, 2011
Dwight on San Luis' broad west ridge.
March 12, 2011
Dwight on San Luis' broad west ridge.
San Luis Peak Winter Ascent
March 12, 2011
Dwight, Matt, Ben and Kevin hike up San Luis' southwest slopes. UN 13,285 can be seen in the background.
March 12, 2011
Dwight, Matt, Ben and Kevin hike up San Luis' southwest slopes. UN 13,285 can be seen in the background.
San Luis Peak Winter Ascent
March 12, 2011
Matt nearing the summit.
March 12, 2011
Matt nearing the summit.
San Luis Peak Winter Ascent
March 12, 2011
Kevin tops out on San Luis Peak.
March 12, 2011
Kevin tops out on San Luis Peak.
San Luis Peak Winter Ascent
March 12, 2011
Organ Mountain
March 12, 2011
Organ Mountain
San Luis Peak Winter Ascent
March 12, 2011
Baldy Chato, Stewart Peak and Baldy Alto
March 12, 2011
Baldy Chato, Stewart Peak and Baldy Alto
San Luis Peak Winter Ascent
March 12, 2011
The winds pick up as we climb more than 1000 feet back up to the Continental Divide on the return trip.
March 12, 2011
The winds pick up as we climb more than 1000 feet back up to the Continental Divide on the return trip.
San Luis Peak Winter Ascent
March 12, 2011
Avalanche debris.
March 12, 2011
Avalanche debris.
San Luis Peak Winter Ascent
March 12, 2011
Kevin snowshoes back up toward the cornice as we climb out of the Spring Creek drainage.
March 12, 2011
Kevin snowshoes back up toward the cornice as we climb out of the Spring Creek drainage.
March 12, 2011
Skiers skin up West Willow Creek toward San Luis Pass.