Dead Dog Couloir (Torreys Peak)
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Dead Dog Couloir on Torreys Peak (14,267 feet)
Google Earth view of our route
In 2008, I first hiked up Grays and Torreys Peaks with my friend, Chris. Dead Dog Couloir wasn’t even known to me back then. Couloir is a French word. I hear all kinds of pronunciations of it: “Koo-lar”, “Kool-waar”. Regardless of how one says it, a couloir is simply a steep mountainside gorge. Couloirs often times provide great snow ascents in the late spring/early summer or early fall. Dead Dog is about 1,200 feet of climbing, providing a direct line to the summit of Torreys Peak. I never even fathomed that I would ever want to climb in the snow. I’ve lived in Colorado longer than I can remember living, but I have never gotten out to really enjoy the snow. I was determined to change that this year. I have almost all of the necessary gear (I still need to get a vital piece of equipment — an avalanche beacon. I’ll have one before the end of the year!).
One of the great things about being an active member of 14ers.com is that it provides me a direct line of communication to other hikers and mountaineers. This is helpful when looking for partners to hook-up with — especially people who have a great deal more experience than I do. I posted about wanting to hook-up with an experienced climber for Dead Dog and had a couple of people reply, but due to a minor foot injury that I suffered while running on 5/17, I didn’t know if I was going to be able to go on this climb. I rested my foot during the days after the injury and on Wednesday decided that I would be able to. I contacted one of the guys that expressed interest in climbing with me — Jerry. He has climbed Dead Dog before and has several other couloirs under his belt. Fortunately, he was still interested and available. We spoke on the phone and made plans to meet at the Grays Peak trailhead between 3:00 and 4:00 AM Saturday morning.
I was extremely excited about the climb, but I would have to get up and leave a little earlier than I have in the past. Dead Dog (DD, henceforth) is an east-facing couloir. Basically, this means that it gets exposed to sunlight from sunrise and throughout the bulk of the day. Obviously, it can be safer to climb in the snow when it is firm. Even though the air temperature in the alpine tundra may be below freezing in the morning, exposure to sunlight will cause the snow to soften and make climbing more dangerous. This was the reason for our early start; we wanted to make sure that we had enough time to reach the top of DD and summit Torreys Peak before that happened.
The weather was forecasted to be warm, but extremely windy. At 14,000 feet and on exposed slopes, we might be encountering wind gusts of 60-70 MPH. After a sleepless night, it was still 75° when I left Colorado Springs at 1:00 AM. I drove to Denver with my windows partially down. It was nice, but I was blown around the entire way. When I reached Castle Rock, CO, I called Jerry per his instructions. He didn’t pick up, but called me back a few minutes later. It was approaching 2:00 and he informed me that he was about to leave. I was making good time and would probably make it to the road going up to the Grays Peak trailhead by 3:00. Jerry hiked up Grays Peak only a few days prior and said he was able to drive within about 3/4 mile of the summer trailhead.
I reached the winter trailhead off of I-70 before 3:00 and proceeded up. The road was clear and dry for the first 1.5 miles or so, but I started to encounter some patchy snow. When I got to about the 2.4-mile mark, I noticed a car that had gotten stuck on the side of the road and a hiker trying to dig himself out. I stopped and offered to help. He introduced himself as Evan and said that he wanted to climb DD today, too. He pulled out a tow strap and we hooked it up to the back of my truck. It only took a few moments to pull him out. We unhooked and I told him that I was going to try and drive a little further up to see how far I could get. He was going to park there and hike the rest of the way. I still needed to wait for Jerry, so I would probably see him at the trailhead.
I only drove about .25 mile before I encountered deeper snow. I made the mistake of getting too far to the left side of the road and ended up getting stuck. Terrific! I’ve said this several times before, but my winch has paid for itself many times over. I anchored to a tree about 30 feet away and was able to pull myself out. I carefully backed down the road until I found a safe place to turn around. Once I did, I encountered Evan on the road again and let him know what happened. I decided to drive back down and park near him. He walked back and we waited around until we saw headlights coming up the road. It was Evan. He waited for me further down the road before he decided to drive up to see if he could find me along the road. He found a place to park on the road ahead of Evan and parked. We all introduced ourselves and geared-up. We hit the road around 3:45.
As it turned out, we were only .56 mile away from the summer trailhead, so the hike up the road wasn’t too bad. We continued on the standard route up Grays and Torreys. Evan hiked at a slower pace than Jerry and I; he let us know that we didn’t have to wait for him. I felt bad about doing it, but time was of the essence. We quickly put distance between us and as the eastern horizon began to lighten, Torreys Peak came into view. We eventually left the main trail and headed across firm snow directly toward the base of DD. Jerry and I found a place to stop just below 13,000 feet to gear-up for the climb. There was evidence of recent avalanches in the area. This made me a little uncomfortable, but I felt confident that Jerry wouldn’t lead me astray.
Jerry taking a break before gearing-up for DD (he planned a ski descent)
I’m posing in front of DD (left) and the avalanche fan to the right of it. I found out later in the day that on Friday a climber fell from 14,000 feet off of Torreys and had to be airlifted out. The avalanche fan may have been a result of that climber’s fall, which, in retrospect, makes me feel like an ass for posing in front of it.
While I was strapping on my crampons, a wind gust blew through and my helmet took off downhill. Jerry was nice enough to retrieve it for me. When I finished putting everything else on, another gust blew through and took my gloves. I went and retrieved those myself. Once everything was secured and strapped back on to our backs, with our ice axes in-hand, we began the 1,200 foot ascent of Dead Dog. Looking up into the couloir was intimidating for me, to say the least. A few people on 14ers.com said that they didn’t recommend DD as a first couloir ascent, but I was determined. It wasn’t like I had only started climbing this year. I have 43 “official” 14ers under my belt (59 total 14er summits and a handful of 13ers). I would like to think of myself as being moderately experienced. It was time for me to try something new and challenging. Over the past few years, I’d like to think that I’ve been improving on my mountaineering skills, taking on new experiences as my skill level evolves, learning from individuals more experienced than me. Not only was it my aim to have a great deal of fun on this climb — I also wanted an education.
Jerry let me take the lead as we headed up into DD. I have had the occasion to practice ascending and descending snow slopes a couple of times this past winter, but nothing at this level. Plus, it was the first time I had worn crampons. I paced myself pretty well, Jerry keeping an eye on me from behind. About 45 minutes into the climb, though, I had my first wardrobe malfunction. My right crampon slipped off. Fortunately, we were on a relatively mild slope, so I was able to sit down and strap it back on. I had thought that my winter boots were rigid enough to wear crampons with, but I definitely felt a bit of pain in both of my feet from the bindings. I wanted to learn a few lessons that day. My first: The value of a rigid boot shank!
Jerry snapped this photo of me while I corrected my wardrobe malfunction
A shot of Jerry from between my legs. I originally took this photo upside down.
I continued to lead the way, but I didn’t want get too far ahead. Jerry was slowly and methodically kicking steps into the hard snow below me which slowed his pace, but he was very conscientious about helping to create a stairway that others could follow. The snow was getting a little crumbly under my feet as I got closer to the right side of the couloir, so I started ascending a litte further to the left onto more solid snow under what looked like a prior ski or snowboard descent. While the snow was harder to kick steps into, it provided better purchase under my crampons. I felt like I was beginning to run out of energy and would have killed for a gel or two.
Onward and upward on Dead Dog
Jerry making his way up DD
It wasn’t too long after that I had my second wardrobe malfunction. It was my right crampon again. We were on a much steeper slope; turning around to sit and strap it back on was unnerving, to say the least. Jerry caught up to me and planted his ice axe under my left foot to give me a little more stability. I took a few minutes to strap them back on. I noticed, though, that my feet weren’t hurting as much as they were before. I was either distracted by the climb or I was getting used to having crampons on my feet. Past this second malfunction, the slope became noticeably more steep which was apparent even to someone with novice snow climbing experience like myself. I was using both of my hands more and more and burying the shaft of my ice axe further into the snow with each step to help pull myself up. Jerry took the lead from there. I wanted to see how he was climbing (plus, he was kicking-in steps!).
Looking down Dead Dog from where I fixed my second crampon malfunction.
Jerry leading the way
It was about this time when I heard a triumphant cry from Jerry up above. Serendipity had found us; there was a nice staircase of boot prints cut into the snow (hopefully) leading to the top of the couloir! We were both pretty stoked by this discovery. I later found out that there were probably more steps further down, but an avalanche covered them over. The discovery of the steps seem to give us a renewed strength (well, it did me, anyway). We started making great progress as the steps curved up and to the right.
Jerry and I take a moment to exchange photos of each other.
We’re nearing the top of the couloir, here. I don’t care what anyone says. These are the most bad-ass photos taken of me thus far. Thanks, Jerry!
Jerry’s having fun, too!
Looking down from near the top of Dead Dog
Here I am reaching the top of Dead Dog
When Jerry and I reached the top of the couloir, there was a short traverse to the left across the snow to the left. We were still about 100 vertical feet from the summit. We could see the summit from where we were. Our current location was where Dead Dog met the Kelso Ridge route up Torreys. I looked down over Kelso Ridge and made out the short knife-edge, one of the routes distinguishing features. Jerry encouraged me to take the lead. Since it was my first snow ascent, he congratulated me and said that I should summit, first. I gladly took the lead again and followed the established footprints up to a cornice. I looked over the other side and saw Grays Peak (14,270 feet). We continued on up to the summit. DD was a success! The wind was gusting to at least 60 MPH, forcing us to keep a low profile on the northeast side of a cornice. We ate a few snacks and celebrated our success.
Mts. Evans and Bierstadt to the east
Looking westward toward Mt. of the Holy Cross and the Sawatch Range
Looking north toward Longs Peak and Mt. Meeker. I-70 can be seen below the center of the photo.
Jerry and me in a MySpace-esque summit photo (no one else was up there!)
Jerry and I stayed on the summit of Torreys for about 15 minutes before we decided to head back down. Jerry had thrown around the idea of skiing down DD, but the snow was too hard — even icy — in areas and decided against it. We headed down toward the Grays/Torreys saddle in a stiff 45-50 MPH sustained wind. I was a little concerned for my partner; he still had his skis strapped to his pack and a strong gust could have potentially blown him other. I wasn’t faring much better, though. My snowshoes were catching the wind a bit, too. We finally saw some more people on the trail below us. A group of three were traversing from Grays in our direction. We exchanged greetings as best as we could through the howling wind, but could not stop for conversation. By the time we reached the saddle, the wind had died down quite a bit. I noticed where someone had previously gone over a cornice and skied down. I told Jerry that I was going to descend here and try a proper glissade and that I thought he should ski down. There was a safe run-out below us with very little rock. He told me that it would take him about 15 minutes to put his skis on in the wind; it would take me about that long to traverse down the slope anyway, so I continued on without him. It must have been about 15 minutes before I looked back and saw Jerry standing on the edge of the saddle’s cornice. He dropped in and got in a few good turns while he navigated safely through some exposed rocks. Below the rocks, he continued to get a few good turns on his way down to the bowl. I finally found a spot where I felt comfortable, sat down, and began what was the longest glissade that I have been able to enjoy thus far — about 500 vertical feet or so. It was a blast!
Once I couldn’t go any further, I walked the rest of the way down and met Jerry. He was going to try and get a few more turns in and skied ahead. I was able to get in another short glissade before the slope became too shallow. Just below DD, we stopped and ate a snack. We watched above us as more people skied and glissaded down from where we just were. While we were resting, a skier approached. He recognized me, first. Zach is a Colorado Springs local 14ers.com member that I’ve met a few times at the get-togethers we sometimes have. We haven’t had the occasion to climb together yet, but I wouldn’t mind doing so sometime. He had taken his best friend up Lost Rat Couloir on Grays Peak. It was his friend’s first summit of a 14er AND it was a snow ascent. Impressive! I know if someone had invited me to do that as my first 14er, I would have accused him of being outside his mind. We visited for a bit before they continued on. Because the snow was starting to soften in the sun, I decided to put on my snowshoes to avoid postholing.
Jerry skied on ahead to the trailhead and I continued on foot. There were a lot more people heading up Grays than I expected this time of year. A few hikers stopped and asked how windy it was on the summits. I could only speak for Torreys, but told them to expect 60 MPH gusts. Back at the trailhead, I found Jerry and Zach engaged in conversation. Without even realizing it, I passed Zach’s friend on the trail. He showed up a minute later and the four of us walked back down the road to our vehicles. We parted ways when Zach reached his truck; Jerry and I were parked a little further down the road. Once we reached our trucks, we removed our gear and had a celebratory swig of whiskey. It was quite a day!
Zach drove by and said that we were welcome to have a drink further down the road with them. After packing-up, we drove to where they were parked and visited for a bit. I was expected in Denver for lunch, so after about half an hour or so, I thanked Jerry for a GREAT time and prepared to depart. I’d like to climb again with him again sometime. Hopefully, we’ll have more successful ascents in the future!
Google Earth .KML file of our route (right-click and “save target as” to save the file). NOTE: For some reason, if you’re using Internet Explorer, when you “save target as”, it changes the file extension to .XML. This is incorrect. To be able to view this in Google Earth, change the file extension to .KML before saving the file. It downloads correctly in Firefox.
14ers, Front Range, Hiking, Torreys
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2010, May, Snowshoeing
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