Springtime is couloir season in the Rockies. Snowpacks are settling and climbers and skiers are tackling steep ribbons of snow too dangerous to attempt mid-winter.
So, I joined up with my buddies Skyler Williams and Mike Schneiter to climb “Martha,” a prominent couloir on Mt. Lady Washington in Rocky Mountain National Park. It is a South facing route in the cirque comprising Mt. Meeker, Longs Peak, and Mt. Lady Washington.
Conditions are always the key in climbing, especially as you get higher in the alpine. We hoped that the snow had set up to make for an easy approach. Not the case. After hours of “post-holing” up to our knees and deeper, we finally made it to Chasm Lake and the base of Martha.
Donning crampons and axes, we pushed up the apron. The soft snow made for slow going but at least the sun was on our backs.
Ascending higher and into the shade of the narrow couloir, the snow firmed and even became ice at each of the five constrictions that are the “cruxes” of the climb.
Shielded from the blasting gusts out in the open, couloir climbing is a double-edged sword. The narrow gully is a funnel for blowing unconsolidated snow, called spindrift, that pours down the face like a waterfall. Mike and Skyler would gaze upward, discussing when it looked like the spindrift was letting up to perhaps make a dash up the next pitch.
Martha ends somewhat unceremoniously near the summit of Mt. Lady Washington, but it sure felt good to be back in the sun, even if it was only a few minutes before it set behind Longs Peak and we slogged our way back down to the trailhead. 15 hours car to car.
Alpine climbing is that special sort of misery that some call Type 2 Fun. i.e. the kind of fun that is fun to be done with — telling the story! Being cold, tired, hungry, and sometimes scared for hours on end takes a toll, but there is something magical about being in the alpine, on snow and ice. It is the feeling of being out there, closer to the edge, that while a bit uncomfortable, is why we were there.
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Descriptions: Captures taken along our route, dawn to dusk. Credit Skyler and Mike.
Equipment support from Camp USA, LEKI, Mountain Hardwear
