February 17, 2024
Culebra Peak - 14,053' and Red Mtn. - 13,911'
A tad windy...
Cielo Vista Ranch is an 88,000 acre ranch in Colorado that holds both a 14,000 foot peak; Culebra Peak, as well as several 13,000 foot peaks, including one of Colorado's highest 100; Red Mountain. They charge $150 per person for a day trip and you're allocated a 12 hour window to complete your hike or climb...or in our case, ski.
Laura and I tend to have fun breaking in new gear. When my dad bought Laura a pair of running gloves, we broke them in by going for a 25 mile run including three peaks. Since we both had recently acquired new backcountry skis we figured we better break them in the right way - on a mountain.
Finishing up the Centennial peaks of Colorado is on our to do list for 2024. Having only six peaks left, we knew it was time to once again pay for access to the private property and go for Red. A second ascent of Culebra was just an add on for this trip. I found a date in February, just a day before we were scheduled to leave for the island of Curacao, where there were two other climbers registered.
We knew we would not move fast enough to break trail the entire way on our own and summit both peaks in 12 hours. Posting on 14ers.com, I found one more person who was in for trail breaking through the snow. Additionally, I invited our best mountain friends Isaac and Nicole.
Hazel had been asking to stay with Granny forever and we figured this was a great time to leave her for a night. Granny would miss her over the two weeks we were scheduled to be in Curacao and spending a few nights together would be a treat for both of them. Meanwhile, Isaac, Nicole, Laura and I headed south to the town of San Luis, just 15 minutes from the ranch headquarters. Tossing the skis on the rack and gear in the back of the 4 Runner, we sped down the highway, looking forward to what we thought was going to be a great weather window and awesome day in the mountains.
4:15 am and the alarms are blaring. Isaac and I head down the hall for coffee and I cook oatmeal for Laura and myself. An hour later we're out the door and headed for the ranch. A total of nine climbers were registered for the day and all were on time as the ranch hands opened the gate promptly at 6 am. We sped up the road to the headquarters office, signed a sheet showing we were present and quickly geared up, ready to make a push for the summits.
It was 6:25 am when we left the ranch headquarters. All of us on skis, along with Artem from 14ers.com, who had joined our group. The ranch did us a huge favor and put in a snowmobile track in the deep snow for the first 3.5 miles to the four way, or standard summer trailhead. The skinning was easy and we were able to move quickly, covering the distance in under two hours. A quick stop at the four way and we were all off again, this time putting in a trench in the freshly fallen snow. The angle steepened and the pace slowed a bit as we approached treeline near 12,000 feet. The slopes of the mountain became increasingly wind scoured and rocks were more exposed as we gained elevation.
Just before treeline, Nicole was having some knee pain so Isaac waited for her as Laura, Artem and me pushed forward. It was near this time that the forecasted 15 mile winds began increasing. We pushed onward as the wind blew, eventually combining with snow to create whiteout conditions as we neared 13,000 and the ridge that leads to the summit of Culebra.
I was never a fan of paying to climb a mountain and had it in my head that we would push hard to summit both peaks on this day, I was not concerned with others goals and made it well known that Laura and I would push hard to summit. Artem was trying hard to keep up with Laura and I, knowing that he needed to keep a fast pace to make the summit of both peaks as he had planned just like us. We had solid times that we wanted to hit for specific areas and I was not slowing down for anyone. Artem needed a break, so we waited for about 15 minutes. It was clear to me that he was expending too much energy early to move at this pace for the rest of the day. I encouraged Laura to get moving as Art continued to fall behind. Keeping an eye on him as the weather was still poor, we knew he was safe at all times. As Laura and I approached the summit of Culebra, Isaac and Nicole were visible on the ridge as the sun began to force its way through the thick cloud cover. The wind was blowing near 30 mph and it made the hiking difficult.
Summiting Culebra in just five and a half hours, Laura and I spent only enough time to have a sip of water and take a sunmmit picture. Knowing time was important, we were quickly headed down toward Red Mtn within five minutes.
The rocky slopes that lead to Red, just a mile away, were covered with wind blown snow. Hiking in my ski boots I did what I could to descend the slippery rocks to the saddle quickly, Laura in tow. I knew her ankle would be hurting her but I also knew she would push hard to keep up and summit Red. As the saddle leveled out, Laura caught up to me and we started up the 500 feet of snow covered rock that lead the the summit. I pulled away as I was intent on moving quickly and Laura summitted just 5 minutes after I did. Looking across to Culebra we could see Isaac and Nicole summiting. We reached the summit just one hour after leaving Culebra, pulling out a fair gap to the others in the group. A quick snack and we quickly began retracing our steps toward Culebra. As we started up the slopes from the saddle we noticed Isaac and Nicole leaving the summit. Laura and I cut across the snow covered talus once again and headed for the ridge, hoping to save some elevation gain.
Reaching the ridge around 13,800', Laura and I continued to carry our skis on our backs, eventually catching up to Isaac and Nicole as they descended the rocky slopes toward the 15' tall manmade carin where we would eventually ski from.
We all stopped for a break and removed the sticky climbing skins from our skis. I went first and picked my way through the rocky terrain doing my best to not damage my brand new skis. Over a small ridge and descending into the drainage that would lead us back to ranch headquarters, the slopes were wind blown and avalanche debris was present on a wind loaded slope that is known to slide regularly. Below the wind blown slope, the skiing was better. 3 inches of fresh, soft snow gave us the chance to make a few fun turns in the steeper areas and ski the skin track on the flats.
Legs burning, we skied the final 3.5 miles back to the car, each falling at least once in the variable backcountry snow. I retuned at 4:55 pm, Laura at 5:10 and Isaac and Nicole by 5:30.
We signed out from the ranch and were quickly on our way home. Isaac might have been a bit tired as he is new to backcountry skiing and while Nicole suggested Thai food for dinner, he went with Mexican food off the menu as did Laura and I.
What a great time in the mountains with some of our closest friends. I remember thinking how much I love the mountains as we ascended and am thankful for the time we have together in the alpine!
