Mike and I wanted to get in a quick training climb and headed out yesterday to climb Grizzly. Unfortunately, we couldn't get there because Loveland pass was closed! Instead, I remember seeing a fairly impressive peak next to Silverthorne last summer and had vowed to climb it: Buffalo Mountain.
We didn't have time to pick a route so instead, we took a look and decided we could break through treeline and get to a rocky outcropping at 11,000 feet and climb that to the summit without too much avalanche hazard. Little did we know what a posthole-fest we were in for. We ended up climbing all day in almost wait deep snow. The worst was the final exit onto summit that was about 50-55 degree snow field, heavy, wet, to our waists... the last 60 vertical feet probably took us 20 minites. The hardest 20 mins. I've suffered in a while. Views were spectacular and I'm happy that despite the conditions we pushed to the objective.
I got a few views of the Y-coulouir over the cliffs to our north, looks like a great climb once avy danger has dropped a bit.
Bergsteiger!
Mentally punishing postholes at 12,000 feet. Seeking rocks to avoid deep snow, dealing with ice.
Push to the Summit!
1 comments:
Nice work! Looks like a physically punishing climb.
Post a Comment