Ellingwood Point Trip Report 01/15/2012

Report Type	Mini
Peak(s)	Ellingwood Point - 14,057 feet
Date Posted	01/15/2012
Date Climbed	01/14/2012
Author	oldschool

Where's the snow?
It almost seems like cheating to call these climbs since Dec 21 as winter ascents. There is very little snow and the ascents have the flavor of spring or early fall climbs. Headed to Alamosa on Friday afternoon, stopped in Gunnison, and then got to Alamosa about 5:30 or so. Drove up to about 8800 ft....didn't want to go any further. Jim (Dancesatmoonrise) and Bobby (muzik83) joined me the next morning...they parked at about 8000 ft so they hiked up to my truck. We started at 8:00 am from 8800 ft. Jim and Bobby The track was in and good. We made good time to the lake with nothing special but awesome weather. Usually I wear my BD Mercury mittens this time of year but I had on my Marmot gloves that are sort of spring type things and I was so warm. Pleasant day. Sunny and beautiful skies. Almost to Lake Como Lake Como Crossed the lake and took a line up the left side of the valley instead of the normal route. We had minor postholing issues and most of the snow was bullet hard. We followed a track up to the upper basin and took basically a direct line up to the summit, trying to stay on the rocks as the snow was either soft and we would sink in or hard as ice. No crampons or snowshoes....used microspikes. Up the left side of the Basin Made good time and spent a fair amount of time on top. Usually this time of year the wind is howling so you get off the top but we lingered. Thought about and talked about going to the top of Blanca but decided to head down. Summit ridge..almost there. On top! Casual descent except for some spicy glissades! The hardness of the snow and the fact I had no ice axe made for some fast running. All came out ok though. ( I must admit I had thoughts of David and his accident while glissading as I was picking up speed and heading in a not so safe direction ) On the way down....nice day. Mike (oldschool) Lake Como and beyond.... Got back to the truck at 7:30 pm. The lack of snow is alarming and the snow that is in place is icy and tricky. Always good to get a new summit and this was my first Sangre de Cristo summit. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Where's the snow?

It almost seems like cheating to call these climbs since Dec 21 as winter ascents. There is very little snow and the ascents have the flavor of spring or early fall climbs.

Headed to Alamosa on Friday afternoon, stopped in Gunnison, and then got to Alamosa about 5:30 or so. Drove up to about 8800 ft....didn't want to go any further.

Jim (Dancesatmoonrise) and Bobby (muzik83) joined me the next morning...they parked at about 8000 ft so they hiked up to my truck. We started at 8:00 am from 8800 ft.

The track was in and good. We made good time to the lake with nothing special but awesome weather. Usually I wear my BD Mercury mittens this time of year but I had on my Marmot gloves that are sort of spring type things and I was so warm. Pleasant day. Sunny and beautiful skies.

Crossed the lake and took a line up the left side of the valley instead of the normal route. We had minor postholing issues and most of the snow was bullet hard. We followed a track up to the upper basin and took basically a direct line up to the summit, trying to stay on the rocks as the snow was either soft and we would sink in or hard as ice. No crampons or snowshoes....used microspikes.

Made good time and spent a fair amount of time on top. Usually this time of year the wind is howling so you get off the top but we lingered. Thought about and talked about going to the top of Blanca but decided to head down.

Casual descent except for some spicy glissades! The hardness of the snow and the fact I had no ice axe made for some fast running. All came out ok though. ( I must admit I had thoughts of David and his accident while glissading as I was picking up speed and heading in a not so safe direction )

Got back to the truck at 7:30 pm.

The lack of snow is alarming and the snow that is in place is icy and tricky.

Always good to get a new summit and this was my first Sangre de Cristo summit.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

Dancesatmoonrise	Yes! 1/16/2012 12:34am Thanks for a good trip, Mike and Bobby. And congrats, Mike, on your first Sangre summit. After the loose rock on Ellingwood, you're going to love the solid conglomerate on the Crestones and Kit Carson.
summitbound	nice job 1/16/2012 2:01am And fantastic weather. Far cry from last weekend. Way to get it done!
d_baker	3 specks 1/16/2012 2:41am That's about what you looked like crossing Como Lake at 10am-ish. We were a bit higher on a Bear at that point. ;) Nice day-tripping, gents.
MtnHub	Very nice! 1/16/2012 3:06am Congrats on what looked like a fine day for a climb with some excellent company! Beautiful pics! Thanks for the post! :D
EmmaM	Nice seeing you on the trail! 1/16/2012 5:41am The weather was equally as cooperative and enjoyable for our hike!
RJansen77	Awesome! 1/16/2012 2:35pm Great seeing you guys at the lake, we appreciated your conditions beta quite a bit. Had a fun day yesterday, albeit a bit breezy on top of Blanca.
desertdog	Down in my neck of the woods 1/16/2012 10:04pm Looked like a great day. Thanks for the pics!

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