Pikes Peak Ski

With spring ending and baby number 3 on the way I took the final trip of the 2008-2009 ski year and it was as good as it gets. TR here. Pikes Peak TGR TR

Ski Most of the 14ers

The following is a list of my "Ski Most of the 14ers" project. It all started on July 4th, 1998, with a ski descent of Torreys Peak with a pair of skis found in a dumpster outide my apartment. Since then I've tried to ski a few peaks a year, mainly on our annual Memorial Day trip. The latest trip was a debacle of epic proportions up to Lake Como, resulting in several days of pushing the route higher and higher up Blanca but ultimately succumbing to the beast. Next time we'll need to get a Navajo blessing.

A huge thanks to my many partners throughout these trips, Gabe Fielding, Steve Hetzel, Marcel Godbout, Chris Cavallaro, but it is my brother Mike that gets the most props for accompanying me on most of these journies. Never complaining, never wavering, the ultimate partner.

Date	Peak	Route	Trip Report	Partners	Summit Ski
7/1998	Torreys	dead dog	None	Mike	yes
6/1999	Grays	east slopes	No TR or summit ski, done right later	Mike	no
5/2000	S.Maroon	east chutes	No TR or summit ski, done right later	Mike Cab Perry	no
4/2001	Quandary	Cristo	Cristo TR	Cab	yes
5/2001	Challenger	Kirk Couloir	Challenger TR	Mike\Gabe	yes
6/2001	La Plata	north face	La Plata TR	Solo	yes
5/2002	Massive	east face	None	Gabe	yes
3/2002	Elbert	elbert trail	Elbert TR	Mike\Gabe	yes
11/2002	Bierdstat	West Slopes	None	None	yes
3/2003	Quandary	East Face	None	Marcel	yes
4/2003	Lincoln	Putnam Gulch	None	Hetzel	yes
5/2003	Belford	West/East faces	None	Cab\Mike\Jim	yes
5/2003	Oxford	west slopes	None	Mike	yes
5/2003	Missouri	North Ridge	None	Mike	yes
5/2004	Wetterhorn	East Face	Wetterhorn TR	Mike\Cab	yes
5/2004	RedCloud	NE Ridge Climb	Redcloud TR	Mike\Cab\Jim\Hetzel	yes
5/2004	Sunshine	NW Face	Sunshine TR	Mike	yes
5/2004	Handies	American Basin	Handies TR	Mike	yes
4/2005	Democrat	Standard ridge from Kite Lake	None	Solo	yes
5/2005	Harvard	South Face	Harvard TR	Hetzel\Gabe	yes
3/2006	Bierdstat	West Slopes	Video	Mike	yes
4/2006	Sherman	Hilltop Bowl from Four Mile Creek	None	Solo	yes
5/2006	Castle	Castle North Couloir	Castle TR	Mike	yes
5/2006	Conundrum	Conundrum Couloir	Conundrum TR	Mike	yes
5/2006	Snowmass	Snowmass Bowl	Snowmass TR	Mike	yes
1/2007	Evans	Northeast face	Evans TR	Mike	yes
4/2007	Bross	Moose Creek Gulch	None	Mike	yes
5/2007	Columbia	Three Elk Creek	None	Mike\Hetzel	yes
5/2007	Huron	East Face	None	Mike	yes
5/2007	Missouri	North Face	None	Mike	yes
4/2008	Grays	Stevens Gulch	Grays TR	Mike	yes
4/2008	Longs	Keplingers Couloir	Longs TR	Mike	yes
5/2008	Mount Yale	Avalanche Gulch	Yale TR	Mike\Jay	yes
5/2008	Mount Princeton	east slopes	Princeton TR	Mike\Hetzel	yes
1/2009	Uncompahgre Peak	South Ridge	Uncompahgre TR	Mike	yes
3/2009	Mount Antero	Baldwin Gulch	Antero TR	Mike\Gabe	yes
6/2009	Pikes Peak	Railroad Couloir	Pikes TR	Solo	yes
3/2010	Shavano and Tabeguache	Angel to North Ridge	Shav and Tab TR	Mike	yes
5/2010	Humboldt	South Slopes	Humboldt TR	Solo	yes
5/2010	Maroon	Bell Cord	Maroon TR	Mike	yes
5/2011	Lindsey	North Gully	Lindsey TR	Solo	yes
5/2011	Crestone Peak	South Face	Crestone TR	Mike	just below the step off the summit
3/2012	San Luis Peak	Yawner Gully	San Luis TR	Mike	yes
4/2012	Holy Cross	Cross Couloir	Holy Cross TR	Mike	yes
5/2013	Kit Carson	OB Couloir	Kit Carson TR	Bill, Otina	yes
5/2013	North Maroon	North Face	North Maroon TR	Mike	yes
5/2014	Mount Sneffles	Birthday Chutes	Sneffles TR	Mike	yes
3/2015	Mount Cameron	East Slopes	Cameron TR	Solo	yes
5/2015	Blanca Peak	NW Face	Blanca TR	Mike	yes
5/2015	Little Bear Peak	Hourglass	Little Bear TR	Mike	yes
4/2016	Ellingwood Point	South Face	Ellingwood TR	Mike	yes
5/2016	Mount Wilson	East Face	Mount Wilson TR	Mike	from saddle 100 feet below summit
5/2016	Culebra	West Ridge	TR	14ers group	yes

Total 14ers skied -- 49
By category, this is a rough outline of the relative difficulty of the combined climb and ski descent of the peak.

Quandary, Elbert, Bierdstat, Lincoln, Oxford, Redcloud, Democrat, Sherman, Bross, Princeton, Antero, Humboldt

Torreys, Challenger, Massive, Handies, Belford,Huron, Missouri, Sunshine, Harvard, Castle, Conundrum,Evans, Columbia, Huron, Grays, Yale, Uncompahgre, Shavano, Tabeguache, Lindsey, San Luis, Blanca, Ellingwood, Culebra

Longs, Wetterhorn, Snowmass, Maroon, La Plata, Holy Cross, Crestone Peak, Kit Carson, North Maroon, Sneffles, Little Bear, Mount Wilson

None

Game 5 turning point

The turning point was when Paplebon let up 2 runs in the top of the 7th, then after Big Papi’s home run made it 7-4, I said to Marcel “I can’t believe they let up those two runs, it could be 5-4 right now. Marcel said “Never say can’t, pick yourself up off the floor, go to that fridge, fetch me a coors light, and get yourself a boston ale you worthless piece of crap”. The rest is history.

Game 4

Big game tonight for the red sox, but still not a must win. Really I think the best thing for the sox was to lose last nights game and see that these rays are for real. I think people are going to look back on the series, and at game 3 and say that was the series momentum changer. The sox said the waker to the mound, he's been our most reliable pitcher over the past 2 decades. I wonder if the sox can install a huge fan behind home plate that blows towards the mound to give the knucklah a little more action. The Rays team will be woefully over matched by the wiley veteran and win in convincing fashion, 7-2.

On a side note Evan Longoria is now the most hated player in the majors, so smug, and smugness is not a good quality.

1st inning

5 pitches to get out of the first, lester off to a good start.

Game 3

Game 3 starts in 2 hours 30 minutes, we have Lester going against some other pitcher. I don't even know his name but I know that his name is irrelevant because Lester will once again be his usual dominant self and the Sox will prevail 4-2. Big Papi's bat remains quiet, silently waiting for the right stage to announce his return from this prolonged slump.

Answer's to today's trivia question

1. Which MLB teams have scored more runs than allowed but have a losing record?
Detroit, Oakland, Atlanta

2. Which MLB teams have allowed more runs than scored but have a winning record?
Florida, Texas

The Dodgers are a .500 team so they are excluded from the trivia contest as the bounds were exclusive.