POV from a rowdy line in RMNP

PappaG

PappaG

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Do people post trip reports at all here?

Anyway, thought I would post this up. Scored one of the best backcountry days I've ever had this past Saturday in Rocky Mountain National Park about an hour north of Boulder. I've done plenty of touring back there but never had a day where everything was about as perfect as it gets. It was clear, sunny, and the wind decided to take the day off. Left the trailhead at 730am and got back by noon after climbing about 2,500 vert before skiing into a steep 1,700-ft couloir. Snow was blower up high and super creamy in the apron with a little sun crust on top.

Our descent in red down Dragon's Tooth (aka Dead Elk) on the left with Dragon's Tail on the right side:

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The video:

Courtesy of Newschoolers.com
 
hell yeah that's awesome. i've been meaning to get up to rmnp this winter. i haven't skied up there since i was in highschool. i remember seeing lots of cool stuff. i'm stoked to go back now that i know what i'm doing.
 
Now is the time to start getting after it in the park. I saw more than a handful of lines that were continuous that I've never seen go like that before. Snowpack was incredibly bomber too where we skied.

Notchtop is next on the long list:

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i was up in the park saturday, too. it was a beautiful day.

we were just exploring around the dream lake area.

sick stuff!
 
not saying you don't know what you're doing - but you should think about bringing some rope next time you go jumping around on rocks in a chute.

oh yeah - sick chute!
 
that looked super fun. wish i had easy access to big stuff like that. what are the songs?
 
Not gonna lie ... we definitely weren't prepared for this line. In fact, we didn't know what the crux was like until we were standing over it. We were gunning for the Dragon's Tail (next coolie over which I've skied before), but opted for the more wind/sun protected and east-facing tooth. Fortunately, we kept our cool and talked about our options before doing something irrational - a learning experience for sure.
 
What did you ski?

I put tracks down Dragon's Tail early this morning around 10-ish. Weather was great and the winds backed off miraculously as I got above treeline, but the 3-4" of new on top of frozen firm was not what I was expected.
 
It's just that one area that doesn't fill in. So the old school name is Dragon's Tooth but the more new school one is Dead Elk because apparently the story goes that someone was descended down and found a dead elk at that rocky crux.

Was up in the park again last Sunday and did a solo on Dragon's Tail with 3-4" of slabby snow on top of ice. Horrible conditions but it was another awesome day out so it's hard to complain.

Dragon's Tail Couloir, Colorado | 27 Feb 2011
 
dude, I stopped watching halfway through because you kept stopping, even after the hairy, rocky part.

ski continuously and fast if you're gonig to post POV footage man. Looked fun, but it was kinda boring. take this more as constructive criticism, because I probably wouldn't have made it hopping down those rocks like you did.
 
Dude, it's a TR, it's not like he posted the videos meaning for it to be an "edit" or anything, it's just simply a document of what he did.

Skiing that kind of terrain in the conditions described involves a lot of decision making. Normal people in gnarly backcountry terrain don't just flash lines like you see the pros in the movies.

In fact, most of the lines the pros do I wouldn't touch, not because I don't think I could ski it, but the risk of something going wrong out there is just too great when you don't have a whole crew of people and one or two helicopters watching your every turn.
 
Clearly someone who gets it.

As much as I wanted to flash the most recent line (Dragon's Tail), you don't always get conditions that allow you to do so. 45 degree chute with wind-affected snow on top of ice isn't exactly time to "rip the shit and look like a pro" time. Also, I was alone so one mistake and I'm fucked. For me, the day was about solitude, hanging out in the park on a beautiful day, and skiing something dope.

As for the initial video at the top of the thread, both me and my partner were virgin to that line and had no idea what lied beneath us. Yes, it's always best to climb something you intend to ski, but sometimes you can't always tackle a descent like that. So we had to be cautious until we both felt comfortable bringing more speed which I think is fairly evident once we reached the apron.
 
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