Mt. Shavano 14,229'

April 30, 2022
Mt. Shavano 14,229'
Angel of Shavano

This weekend Laura and I decided we would go to Mt. Shavano and climb the snow feature known as the angel. As the winter snow melts out in the wide gullies of the mountain, a unique shape forms and looks like a snow angel. I have not skied much this season so I figured that I would go with my backcountry ski setup even though Laura would be walking. She still is not cleared to ski by her ankle doctor. 

From the Shavano / Tab trailhead, we walked on dry trail for about a half mile to the cutoff with the Colorado Trail. From here it was another mile or so before the snow was continuous enough to put on skis. While Laura kept moving as I made the switch to skis, I caught her within a short distance and we took a short food break as we exited the forest and started up the snowfield known as the angel. I skied until the snow steepened and then switched back to just boots. The snow was firm and supportive enough that neither Laura or I wore crampons. We simply kicked steps and that was secure enough. Starting at 7:45 am, we made the summit around noon. the skies were blue and the views were spectacular. While Laura started down, I descended about 100' from the summit to where the terrain became less rocky before putting on my skis. From there it was smooth sailing down the upper part of the mountain which was mostly hard and windblown snow. The lower section of the angel was slushy and made the skiing more difficult but still fun. I was able to ski to 9,800' into the trees while Laura did a mix of glissading and hiking in snowshoes. We were back at the trailhead at 2:45 pm. The angel is a great climb and a fun ski. Maybe next time we will both be on skis.