CRISTO COULOIR | QUANDARY PEAK | TENMILE RANGE | COLORADO | UNITED STATES

All Locations>>UNITED STATES>>COLORADO>>TENMILE RANGE >>QUANDARY PEAK >>CRISTO COULOIR
CRISTO COULOIR
CRISTO COULOIR
Date Created: 12/01/08
Last Updated: 12/01/08
Ranking:Premier
Avalache Terrain Rating:Challenging What's This?
Hardest Difficulty:Double Black what's this?
Average Difficulty:Black what's this?
Skiable Vert:2500 ft
Climbing Vert:2500 ft
Top Elevation:14265 ft
Trailhead Elevation:11700 ft
Ascent Mileage:2
AVG Ascent Time:2 hours
Ascent Type:Skin
Trees:none
Slope Aspect:South
Steepest Section:25-35 Degrees
Slope Type:Couloir
Exit:Clean
First Descent:
Nearest Town:Breckenridge
AVG Snowfall:300+
Snowpack:Dangerous Colorado Continental

Highlights

A very "easy" 14ner to knock off. A straight forward, safe ascent ridge takes you to the top with a nice wide couloir to ski.

Ascent

From Breckenridge, drive 8 miles south on Colorado 9. Turn right (west) on the Blue Lakes 850 Road. Drive a few hundred yards and turn right on the McCullough Gulch 851 Road. There is a sign for the Quandary Peak Trail at this junction. Drive 0.1 mile to a small parking area on the right side of the road. This is the trailhead. The U.S. Forest Service has installed a sign/kiosk that faces away from the road. Walk up the road to the next corner and the trail starts on the left. This is a new trailhead and replaces the previous trailhead 1 mile up the road. You can also continue up the dirt road and bootpack up the couloir. Follow the trail signs and ascend the forested slope until you reach the obvious ridge of Quandary. Follow to the summit.

Descent

From the summit, head south and ski the clean wide couloir all the way down to the road/lake. Sometimes the top off the summit can be a little bony, and requires picking your way through to the actual couloir. Follow the dirt road back to your car.

Access/Permits

There is lots of private property around so be courteous and respectful.

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All Locations>>UNITED STATES>>COLORADO>>TENMILE RANGE >>QUANDARY PEAK >>CRISTO COULOIR
People die skiing in the backcountry every year. Avalanches, crevasses, trees, human error, weather, tree wells, rabid sasquatches, among other things can kill you in an instant. Use this guide at your own risk, we are not responsible for any wanker getting all wanked up in the wankin' backcountry. That being said, even the most experienced backcountry skier can get caught off guard. Take avalanche classes, carry a beacon, probe, shovel and avalung AND KNOW HOW TO USE THEM. Just because you buy them, doesn't mean you get magical powers of invincibility. Many people who own beacons have no clue how to operate them. More importantly than any gear you can buy, you need to know how to safely travel in avalanche terrain, minimize potential hazards, and interpret how weather affects the snowpack. This requires time and experience. Learn from others, be safe and courteous, and when in doubt go home and live to ski another day. The amount of snow needed to be dug up to rescue a buried victim, on average weighs right around an actual ton. In North America 25% of victims die from hitting trees, rocks, and other sharp unforgiving surfaces. It only takes one miscalculation to have the mountains kick your ass. Just because you see tracks or someone else skiing a line, does not mean you should ski it. Remember, individual actions affect all of us. Take care of each other out there, we are all on the same team.