Mt. Elbert Spring Snow Ascent

“Here we are - planning early - ENS did a trip for me and I return the favor.

See the trips page for a link to some good info, but,,,

in a nutshell - 14,440 feet, highest in the Rockies, Second highest in the lower 48.

Snow will be deep (YEAH!)

Fun will be had.

I hear they have a good burger place in Leadville.”

“Leadville is skeeeeerry!!!

:~o”

“I am signed up. I will start shopping airfare.”

“Bobo is CHICKEN!”

“sweet! I like that site John!”

“Its the best I've seen so far.”

“wow, awesome prices!!!!

what days would the hike be?

or I should ask, how many days do we need for the hike?
last edited: 12/13/06 9:02:44 PM”

“I would recommend a day or 2 to acclimatize. One day to set up camp. One day to hike up and back and then you could break camp that night or next morning.”

“Conditions like this can slow things down a bit.
http://www.summitpost.org/image/62543/150325/post-holing-on-mt-elbert.html”

“I could fly out Thursday and Fly home Tuesday. Would that be enough?”

“I think I'm in. Gotta love snowy summits!”

“There's lead in the burgers?

Have a hamburg.

I can tell y'all right now that I ain't goin'.”

“That should be fine ENS. I assume you would want to do other things beforehand? I personally would fly in Wed and fly out Monday.”

“John, don't tell him to fly out Monday. We should suggest an extra day, since Colorado TT trips usually involve extra time on the trail. :) He'll miss his flight if he schedules by what "should" happen. :)”

“I always use sidestep.com also. When you make a purchase it winds up going through Orbitz.”

“Hey ENS,

Did you buy tickets yet? If so thats cool - but if not - could we bump the deal to the following weekend? It'd be easier for me to get a day or two off that way - i can manage though if you already made a buy.

Just a thought - let me know.”

“I'm in, thanks for the invite back from the CO crowd. You just want to have another chance at the cheesecake don't ya :-)

Just let me know the final date. An extra day in Denver for contingencies? No brainer. I'm watching for ENS flight plan to coordinate so that there are minimal trips to the airport.

Love the sidestep site. From ChiTown, saw great (better) prices on Cheaptickets too.

From the picture of postholing my only concern is that if I am breaking trail you'd only see the tip of my beanie bobbing up and down!! Guys first, k?”

“You be most welcome dhutch!

If the short people are breaking trail, the rest of us can just walk on your shoulders.

That time of year could be like summer, spring or even full on winter.

We'll know the weather on the mountain when we wake up and look out the tent - HA!”

“Leadville is skeeeeerry!!!

:~o”
Capn Bobo
5:20:57 PM
12/13/06

You;re right about that Bobo!

I'm jealous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“don't be jealous - join in!”

“Heck, I'm jealous.

Yall just don't do that alpine style of hiking in the snow. No, I'm not trying to be a smart a considering current events in OR.”

“TMac

I was just thinking that the ideal scheduling would be to walk in to a designated campsite on Friday, climb on Saturday. This way there's 2 days extra built in either way.”

“I carry way extra survival stuff in winter - even on little dayhikes.

Not a bad idea there Adv.”

“Not that I've actually climbed it in the winter but I have attempted it 2X solo and 1X with Eddie. Lets learn from my mistakes.

I think its essential to leave at the buttcrack of dawn for the summit. It really is a long long day!”

“What kind of high/lows are you likely to face?

What kind of elevation gain on summit day?

What would summit day mileage be?”

“http://www.geocities.com/rex14ers/elbert/trip.html

http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/150325/mount-elbert.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Elbert

Weather is unpredictable.”

“Weather is really unpredictable - lows could easily drop into single digits with minus windchills, but it could also just as easily be very mild and pleasant, or even warm but probably not above 40 or 50 (maybe 30 up higher on the mountain). Plan for winter though.

I havn't really looked at the mileage or elevation gain from the trailhead, but I'd say it would be at least 3,000 foot gain from the trailhead. I can look at some info and give you a better idea, but my guidebook is at home.

John gave you good links, also try 14ers.com”

“That's enough info. I'm planning an office retreat to raft the Chattoga of Deliverance fame about that time. I'm going to plan the trip, see what it'll run to take everyone and then decide if I'm gonna spend the money for it. If we don't raft I might look into this one. I can have my fitness level to where it would need to be, but the snowshoes is my only issue. I've never used them.”

“snowshoes are no biggy - if you can walk, you can snowshoe. They're cheap as heck to rent for a couple of days too.”

“Good to know.

I imagine most folks would fly into Denver and rent a car for the drive to the mtn. It said 140 miles. In winter is that maybe a 3 hr drive?”

“yeah, maybe 3 = maybe a little less. If you come in for the trip, i'm sure we can collect you at the airport - ENS and dhutch are flying in as well.”

“I'll just watch the thread and see where it leads. I should know more in a month.

A tax deductible rafting trip is too much to pass up, so we'll see.”

“Elevation gain is roughly around 4,100'-4,700' depending on the route. From what I understand the Mt Elbert trail is the best route in the winter. Its roughly around 9-10 miles roundtrip depending on how far you get the day before.

Here's the Elbert Page on the 14ers website.

http://www.14ers.com/photos/mtelbert/p_mtelbert.html”

“Is there any avalanche danger on this hill? That's the one thing that scares the crap out of me. Otherwise, I'm tempted to join my fellow bonehead ENS on this thing. ENS - what kind of flight prices have you come up with?”

“Join us, Join us!

Hmmm, I may need some additional gear for this trip :-)”

“The Mt Elbert trail has minimal avalanche danger. But with that being said it all depends on the amount of snowfall prior and conditions during the ascent.

We can get actual avalanche warnings during the week prior.”

“thats the nice thing about Elbert - the slope is such that avy danger is minimized - but not gone - still have to be aware of surroundings and conditions.

I've heard that despite the heavy snow we've had so far in teh mountains that the winter and spring are expected to be dry - thus I would imgaing that by April the snowpack will be either somewhat consolidated or mostly blown off the upper slopes, and thus relatively safe (key word='relatively')

Come on out bonehead!”

“Hmmmmmm, me be interested. But I wonder what will happen when bonehead meets dork?”

“Well, don't think you're getting a hug or anything from me if that's what you are getting at.”

“I'll hug you Pennsy, don't worry.”

“pennsy, I saw flights for $150 round trip. I haven't booked anything yet.”

“Pennsy......?

Now I'm scratchin' my head..........hmmmmmm”

“he he he he he”

“Wow, I saw flights around 150 from Chicago too. What a rip, you're going further than me! Keep me poste ENS I'm trying to time my arrival around yours. Thanks

Can we keep the hugging to a minimum guys, I'm not sure I need to see all that :-)”

“Don't worry hutchy, I won't hug those dorks. I'll save all the hugs for you.

ENS - Wow, only $150? Don't book anything until the dates are set and we can somehow coordinate, okee dokee smokee? I'm a solid maybe for now.”

“Good dorky crowd, good hugs from Pennsy, Seeing Roam and the TMac again, meeting adventurist this time. Oh yeah this is going to be sweetness. lol

Should I be shopping for crampons? (please say yes, please say yes!)”

“Roam, the following weekend will work for me.

Deal Pennsy. the thread that adventurist posted up near the top has the good airfares.”

“crampons wouldn't hurt, the upper slopes could get icy depending on conditons.

Hard to tell what the conditions will be until right before we head out there.”

“Ok, lets set the dates for the 20 - 23 of April - I can take off on Friday and Monday if you guys want to fly in on Thursday afternoon/evening that'd be cool.”