PART 1: QUANDARY PEAK
Pa flew out on Friday night and after cutting skins, eating pizza, and a few hours of sleep, we picked him up at 4 AM to head to Breckenridge. Pa learned how to skin on the way out of the parking lot to go up Quandary's east ridge. We could hear the winds howling up high as we headed up through the trees, and sure enough, the higher we climbed above treeline the more intense the wind became. We got to a bench at 13,100 ft (about 1,000 ft below the summit) and decided to ski down from there-- the snow was classic CO sastrugi and breakable crust, but Dad managed it like a champ. Not too bad for coming from sea level for your first time skinning! Beers and burgers in Breckenridge afterwards made for a nice post-ski celebration. [Click to enlarge.]
PART 2: EMERALD LAKE, ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK
On Sunday, we let Pa sleep in a little and left town at 7 to head to Estes Park. We skinned from Bear Lake up Tyndall Gorge, past Nymph and Dream Lakes, and topped out above treeline at Emerald Lake. Dad did great on the tricky skin up some steeper icy shots. The S-facing shots on Flattop were looking pretty nice, so we skinned up the steeper apron of Dragontail and skied some nice corn. Then to Oscar Blues and the airport! Whirlwind trip, but it was so so excellent. Love you Pa!! We can't wait for you to come back.
d&d
