Despite having basically lived in Edwards for the better part of 12 years (except for a few year stint in Eagle-Vail with the fabulous friend & roomie Megan Gilman), I always glanced up at this nice peak looming far above the Lake Creek Valley and the town of Edwards dubbed “Finnegans” by locals. The official 13er Finnegan Peak (13,346′) is south of Finnegans along the same ridge a few summits over. It has a mellow north-facing slope from its 12,765′ summit down to treeline at around 11,400′. This tree-less alpine slope always looked like it would be a superbly fun ski. Well, it took 12 years to finally go ski it, but it was a great adventure with my good friends and the skiing down the north face yesterday (June 7) was just awesome creamed corn goodness. We all felt the patchy post-holing effort along the Middle Lake trail was well worth the skiing on the upper face.

I had hiked up Finnegans twice in the last decade. The first was with my friend Mike Johnson when we thought we could actually ridge-run from Finnegans all the way to 13er Gold Dust Peak with Rainier & Kona in an afternoon after arriving on Finnegans’ summit at an early ridge traverse alpine start of 10am. Yeah right. Oh how my mind/body’s appetite has caught up with my eyes over the years, i.e my eyes can’t write checks anymore my mind/body can’t cash. Then in fall of 2011, Kristine, Rainier, Kona, & myself did a nice hike up a dry Finnegans and had wonderful view of the fall colors and turning leaves in the valleys below.

Fast forward to yesterday and good pals Joel Gratz, Tamra Malczyk, J Weingast, Gus (Tamra’s 11 year old wonder dog), & myself all piled into my Tahoe and bounced our way up the West Lake Creek Road (Baryeta Cabins Road as J and I call it) around 7:30am.

About a mile and a quarter before the end of the road (where we had hoped to drive to) a snow bank blocked easy passage. Yes, we maybe could have plowed through the 18″ high drift, but we played it safe and parked off the 4WD road. Skis/boots on our packs and trail running shoes on our feet, we boogied up the road to the Middle Lake trailhead.

I had a hunch it would be off and on snow drifts along the mostly north-facing trail, but we perhaps did a little more post-holing than I anticipated. Putting the skis/skins on your feet really isn’t justified when the snowdrift is followed by 30 yards of dry trail. The snowdrifts were sloppy and deep. Our feet were soaked. J was smart to bring his gaiters. However, it was warm out and wet feet didn’t really matter all that much – it actually felt slightly refreshing.

After negotiating some steep drifts on the trail that essentially hugs a cliff, we ventured into the mellow west-facing bowl and found continuous snow up through the trees. YES! We then donned our skins/skis and skinned our way up the remaining 1,000′ to treeline at around 11,400′.

After being in the woods for a few hours, it was extraordinary to get above treeline and see the views really open up around us of all the familiar peaks and valleys.

After an hour of mellow skinning we reached the final little headwall to Finnegans’ summit, which maybe reached 45 degrees but only for 30 feet or so. There were significant cornices on the north ridge’s east side, which made things a bit more dramatic (and made for cool pictures). J and I were able to skin the final headwall pitch while Tamra and Joel booted up. Gus, of course, booted up.

It was a great summit from the views and the crew to the warm air temperatures(short sleeves were acceptable). We probably hung around for 30 minutes up top taking pictures and giving Joel and Tamra a peak tour of the northern Sawatch. The Elk Range looked amazing as well from this perch as did Mt. Sopris. So fun to see this much snow above 10,000′ in June.

We then descended maybe around 12:45pm and the turns down the 1,400′ north ridge/face were just plain awesome. So enjoyable.

Joel took these videos of J and I skiing off the summit and then J and Tamra a bit lower down:

Most of the slope was only probably in the 20-25 degree range and was so much better than I imagined. With all of the warm temperatures as of late, I was expecting super sloppy deep snow. There was actually a firm base and creamy corn on the surface good enough to slice through like butter. A majority of the steeper lines all around the state have seemed to wet slide in the last week or so (from what I gather) and still remain a hazard with the warm temperatures and very little overnight freezing. So, it was nice to get on a moderate slope that would take an earthquake to avalanche.

Once we returned to treeline, the skiing got a bit worse and punchier, but still definitely skiable all the way down to about 10,500′ where we started the snowdrift post-holing along the steep north-facing Middle Lake trail. J noticed something in the woods and I should have remembered he’d go nuts at the small little disheveled cabin near where we put our skis/skins on our feet that I had seen a few years ago. He always goes “kookoo” for abandoned backwoods cabins.

Tamra actually skied the hiking trail’s drifts a lot of the way down. Of course Tamra did. We then arrived back at the Middle Lake trailhead and started the 1.25 mile back up the West Lake Creek Road to my truck finally arriving around 3pm.

Some of the best gems in life you can find in your own backyard. I think we may have found one here in terms of fun adventure and moderate skiing. And, we didn’t even have to get on Interstate 70 to do so. It was a very enjoyable day for all. All told per Joel, it was around a 3,500′ vertical gain day in about 9 miles roundtrip. One thing I did learn – Gus likes Rainie’s front seat view of bumping along on 4WD roads:

A little link to Joel’s take and his daily weather forecast over on OpenSnow is http://opensnow.com/dailysnow/colorado/post/4105.

My buddy Ben Conners texted me on a Saturday to see if I wanted to join the following day and skin/ski 13er Jacque Peak to the south of Copper Ski Mountain. Jacque Peak is fairly close to Interstate 70 and Highway 91 yet remains elusive to skiers due to its proximity to the Climax Mine, which flanks the peak’s east and southern slopes. I was itching to get back on the skins and skis and told Ben I’d meet he and his wife Anna-Lisa and their new dog Jax at 7am Sunday morning despite a not so ideal forecast as has been par for the course this spring. J and Derek joined me as well and we all three plus Kona rolled the 25 minutes over to Copper in my truck in a rain/snow downpour. Whatever…we were thinking at least we’d get a nice skin up Copper Ski Mountain and then if the weather was horrendous, just ski down. Plus, I was thinking perhaps I would fare better than my last adventure up Jacque from the east and Highway 91 not in terms of skiing and a gorgeous bluebird corn-filled day, but in terms of the aftermath when we returned to the car. That account can be read here. I believe we all agreed that the best possible method of approaching Jacque with the intent of skiing it is from Copper after the ski mountain closes. Copper doesn’t allow uphill travel during ski operating hours. We learned that in another experience up Copper Creek from Highway 91 and the Climax Mine area attempting Jacque in this report. It was wonderful to finally meet Anna-Lisa (AL) and their new dog Jax in the parking lot at Copper’s base. We then all started leisurely skinning up the resort gaining about 2,200′ to the summit of Union Mountain and the top of the uppermost lift in 2 hours or so. The weather was snowy and socked in somewhat but there were glimpses of sun here and there and the occasional blue sky.

However, when we reached the ridge, the stiff west wind battered us pretty hard. It wasn’t cold (air temp was still in the 30s), but the wind was pretty sustained and just plain brutal as it pelted us with hail and snow with the clouds moving across the ridge and Jacque Peak ahead. AL was on snowshoes and looked ahead at the long ridge with the wind whipping and decided to remain at the top of the Union Lift for a bit before descending down Copper’s ski slopes. Probably a good call as the weather was fierce the rest of the way up Jacque’s northeast ridge. Jax followed Ben, Kona followed me, and J and Derek pressed on as well over the bumps along the ridge. Thank goodness it wasn’t cold air temperature-wise as we would have turned around if not for ourselves then definitely for the dogs. We knew skiing the loaded east face was out of the question considering we could hardly see it, so we just all agreed to hit the summit and ski the northeast ridge back down. My only concern was Kona getting cold, but she had her Fido Fleece jacket on and I believed she would be ok considering it wasn’t that cold out. However, I didn’t want her to be miserable on her 8th birthday (yes, that Sunday May 17 was Kona’s birthday), but it was a quick up and down. Part of me just wanted to turn around with Kona as I had summitted Jacque previously, but then again I wanted to be with Ben, J, & Derek as this would be their first time up the peak. We continued upwards.

The entire northeast ridge is very skinnable and you can leave your skis/skins on the entire time. Ben & Jax topped out on Jacque’s 13,205′ summit, followed by me and Kona, and we took some pics and enjoyed what we could of the view.

Ben & Jax skied down while J and I waited for Derek to join us, took a few pics, and then Kona & I descended.

It was a fairly quick descent and soon enough after some skating with skis on and a final boot up to the summit of Union Mountain we were home free for 2,200′ of fun powder down Copper’s ski slopes. The ski down Copper was the most fun portion of the 5-1/2 hours out. 4″ of creamy powder on top of a hard base equates to one fun time.

Back down at the base we headed to the Healthy Tomato for a sandwich and said our goodbyes. Other than a little wind burn on the cheeks and nose and a tired pooch, we all escaped Jacque fairly unharmed and had a good time to boot. I think Kona enjoyed her 8th birthday. At least, I keep telling myself that.

I’m always looking for fun little half-day ski tours that are fairly easy to access. Even better if these ski tours are in the Gores. I’ve looked at the very moderate southwest face of this 12,736′ peak dubbed “West Deming” for well over a decade of living in the Vail Valley yet have never ventured up into the steep woods to access this face. It always looked like it would be a great ski despite its very mellow angle (25 degrees maximum). I noticed there was a runaway truck ramp on I70 West halfway between the top of Vail Pass and East Vail. This looked like the perfect parking spot (just below the runaway truck ramp in a very large shoulder off I70 West at about 9,600′) and it turned out it was pretty perfect. Not many hikes or ski tours you access by walking up a truck ramp – at least not many that I have found. Kristine, Kona, & myself did some recon over a week ago one Friday afternoon and made it to 11,600′ right at treeline before we had to start the ski down in order to pick up Sawyer from daycare at 4pm. However, it was good recon of the lower meadows and trees in finding a fairly efficient route up to treeline and the base of the southwest face.

After dropping the youngest & oldest Chalk (Sawyer & Rainier) off at our good friends’ Sarah & Keith’s house in Edwards and picking up their dog Molly, we boogied up to Vail Pass this past Saturday morning to meet good friend Joel Gratz and give West Deming the good ole college try despite a not so ideal forecast. Joel was calling for decent weather at least for a few hours Saturday morning, which was good enough for us. It was extra special to get out again with Kristine as having a 6 month old doesn’t necessarily allow us to get out together as often as we would like. After hiking up the runaway truck ramp, we donned the skis/skins at the first open meadow down at the end of the bike path and began the route up we remembered from the week prior. The skinning was much easier this time around as Kristine and I were breaking trail through 6″ of heavy spring snow the week before. We skinned the 2,000′ up to exactly the same spot at treeline in about an hour and 45 minutes. There are actually some areas of steep skinning through the woods and one point where Joel & I carried our skis up a steep, bare (of snow) glade while Kristine again showed us up and kept her skis on.

The upper southwest face of West Deming above treeline was a very enjoyable skin with great views. The ominous dark clouds almost made for better light and pictures. It took us just shy of an hour to skin the remaining 1,200′ and 1 mile (as the crow flies) to the summit.

West Deming’s summit was indeed a fantastic perch to view the southern Gore. In fact, in every direction we could point out past camping spots, such as at the Zodiac Ponds below Zodiac Ridge, and all the familiar peaks and ridges of the Gore Range. We remained on the summit for a good 20-25 minutes and admired our views and the good company.

The very mellow, low-consequence ski down the upper southwest face was phenomenal. Spring-powder on top of a firm base made for awesome arcing turns. It was a lot of fun. Some ski shots:

We made it back to my car at about 12:45pm, exactly about 4 hrs after we began. We dropped Joel off in Vail and boogied to Sarah & Keith’s house to pick up Sawyer & Rainier. Both ladies did very well all morning. This great moderate ski tour is a great addition to our running mental list of fun half-day ski tour outings. Even mid-winter, this would be a great ski tour as it is relatively safe due to the moderate slope angle. It would also be a nice summer half-day hike to get high and some great views. I believe the RT is roughly 3,000′ vertical and maybe 5 miles. Don’t quote me on that mileage, though. We are glad the weather cooperated, but really were we ever in doubt? I mean, c’mon, we had Mr. OpenSnow himself with us! In all seriousness, it was great for Kristine & I to get out with Joel again and especially for Kristine & myself to be together again on a fun little adventure like in our pre-baby days.