Torreys Peak Trip Report 06/24/2023

Report Type	Full
Peak(s)	Torreys Peak - 14,272 feet
Date Posted	06/24/2023
Date Climbed	06/17/2023
Author	123tqb

A King (or rather, Emperor) Line
A King (or rather, Emperor) Line Date: 17 June, 2023 Peaks: Torreys Peak Route: Emperor Couloir Mileage: 2.75mi Vertical: 3300ft Time: 5hrs Partners: Evan, Cob To be completely honest, the crux of the day was the 4x4 road on the way up Grizzly Gulch. Evan and I had camped on the Stevens Gulch road the night before, which was terrific considering our still-early wake up time of 3:30. Cob met us down in Bakerville, and together we headed up the road, which I'm glad we had Evan's Jeep for. There were some tricky sections, mostly up towards the trailhead, but most of the challenge was that the road was pretty muddy. We started our (minimal) approach at about 5:30 with an optimistic outlook. Good-looking sunrise! Looking up the objective for the day. The river crossing was the second crux of the day, all before we even touched any snow! The logs were pretty icy from the freeze the night before, so it was careful treading across the makeshift bridge. Of course, the snow wasn't too far away, and we were standing in refrozen avy debris before we knew it. There was one party ahead of us, taking some photos of the mountain goats off in the rocks to climber's left. Poor quality photo of the jump required to get off the "bridge." Starting up the couloir, goats barely visible left. Goats! Photo credit to Cob with his fantastic camera. The snow was good for climbing, and there were already some steps put in by the group ahead of us, so progress was quick. Before long we caught up with the guys ahead of us, and offered to break trail for a bit. We kicked steps up until about halfway up the couloir, where we decided to take a snack break and discuss our options for ascent and descent. Talking with the other guys, they recommended going up and right, where we'd catch a ridge (~13,600') that lead to the summit. The lineup. Getting close to the ridgeline. We switched off leads for the climb, eventually reaching the ridgeline. The steepness of the climb was probably about 45°. The weather so far had been bluebird, although we knew that'd change later in the day. As I headed up between the rocks and the snow, the clouds blew in, bringing us from as perfect as it can get to whiteout in a matter of seconds. Seeing the storm roll in from Summit County I hadn't seen any lightning, and there wasn't any precipitation at first, so we figured it was probably safe to continue. Me reaching the ridge. Lower angle than the couloir, but more mixed conditions. Aaaand there goes the sky! We made it to the summit at about 9:30, where we decided to take a good rest, eat some food, drink some water, and take what must be one of the douchiest photos of all time. By the time we were about to leave, a hiker had summited ("no don't go that way, there's only steep couloirs and scrambling that way, go back towards the saddle please!") and another party of skiers had arrived from Emperor. The party originally ahead of us let us go first, so we skied over to the top of the couloir from the summit. It was about here that we dropped one of our walkie talkies, which ended up in the hands of Wildernessjane all the way over in Tuning Fork two days later! We skied down in pretty tough visibility, but the snow was AWESOME! Powder? In June? What a year! Our inner frat boy is showing... Evan skiing down into the abyss. Snow and more snow! We were back to the car by 10:30. The snow towards the bottom had gotten gloppy, but overall an absolute blast of a ski line! This'll be a day to remember for sure. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

A King (or rather, Emperor) Line

A King (or rather, Emperor) Line

Date: 17 June, 2023
Peaks: Torreys Peak
Route: Emperor Couloir
Mileage: 2.75mi
Vertical: 3300ft
Time: 5hrs
Partners: Evan, Cob

To be completely honest, the crux of the day was the 4x4 road on the way up Grizzly Gulch. Evan and I had camped on the Stevens Gulch road the night before, which was terrific considering our still-early wake up time of 3:30. Cob met us down in Bakerville, and together we headed up the road, which I'm glad we had Evan's Jeep for. There were some tricky sections, mostly up towards the trailhead, but most of the challenge was that the road was pretty muddy. We started our (minimal) approach at about 5:30 with an optimistic outlook.

22094_05 — Looking up the objective for the day.

The river crossing was the second crux of the day, all before we even touched any snow! The logs were pretty icy from the freeze the night before, so it was careful treading across the makeshift bridge. Of course, the snow wasn't too far away, and we were standing in refrozen avy debris before we knew it. There was one party ahead of us, taking some photos of the mountain goats off in the rocks to climber's left.

22094_14 — Poor quality photo of the jump required to get off the "bridge."

22094_07 — Starting up the couloir, goats barely visible left.

22094_01 — Goats! Photo credit to Cob with his fantastic camera.

The snow was good for climbing, and there were already some steps put in by the group ahead of us, so progress was quick. Before long we caught up with the guys ahead of us, and offered to break trail for a bit. We kicked steps up until about halfway up the couloir, where we decided to take a snack break and discuss our options for ascent and descent. Talking with the other guys, they recommended going up and right, where we'd catch a ridge (~13,600') that lead to the summit.

22094_10 — Getting close to the ridgeline.

We switched off leads for the climb, eventually reaching the ridgeline. The steepness of the climb was probably about 45°. The weather so far had been bluebird, although we knew that'd change later in the day. As I headed up between the rocks and the snow, the clouds blew in, bringing us from as perfect as it can get to whiteout in a matter of seconds. Seeing the storm roll in from Summit County I hadn't seen any lightning, and there wasn't any precipitation at first, so we figured it was probably safe to continue.

22094_11 — Lower angle than the couloir, but more mixed conditions.

We made it to the summit at about 9:30, where we decided to take a good rest, eat some food, drink some water, and take what must be one of the douchiest photos of all time. By the time we were about to leave, a hiker had summited ("no don't go that way, there's only steep couloirs and scrambling that way, go back towards the saddle please!") and another party of skiers had arrived from Emperor. The party originally ahead of us let us go first, so we skied over to the top of the couloir from the summit. It was about here that we dropped one of our walkie talkies, which ended up in the hands of Wildernessjane all the way over in Tuning Fork two days later! We skied down in pretty tough visibility, but the snow was AWESOME! Powder? In June? What a year!

22094_04 — Our inner frat boy is showing...

22094_13 — Evan skiing down into the abyss.

We were back to the car by 10:30. The snow towards the bottom had gotten gloppy, but overall an absolute blast of a ski line! This'll be a day to remember for sure.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

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