Colorado Quickie

By Mikey | Published: April 27, 2011

Michelle and I headed down to Colorado this past weekend for a quick visit to visit her family in Denver, see some friends in Leadville and do some work along the way. We rolled into Denver late on Thursday night, slept in and hung around Denver for the day before driving up to Leadville that evening to meet Ana and Rohan for dinner. Leadville is a super cool old mining town and seemed to have a ton of history. I am a nerd that way so this town was quite intriguing.

Saturday morning we woke up….still not sure what or where to ski, but after a few trips back to the house to grab forgotten items we decided on heading up to Mount Sherman. Sherman is a 14er just outside of town and pegged as one of Colorado’s easiest 14ers, which was a good thing because the weather was not at all favorable for peak skiing. Going up the drainage to the base of an old mining pass the weather was pretty pleasant, not very good vis, but not windy or cold either (base of mining pass approx. 12,000ft). After slogging up the pass we reached the top of the pass and mining camp where the weather proved to be a bit worse. The wind was ripping and the vis was pretty bad (mining camp & top of pass approx. 13,000ft). From here we began the accent to the ridge line that leads to the summit. Unfortunately once we hit the summit ridge the wind, temps and worst of all lack of visibility forced us to call it good and head down from there (point of turn around approx. 14,000ft…..generously assumed). There was a fair amount of down climbing to find skiable lanes, but just below the mining camp heading down the pass there was good creamy snow all the way down. It was a fun quick adventure. Then back down to Denver to hang with Michelle’s family a bit more.  Here is an interestingly white Go Pro vid of our Mount Sherman adventure :

Sunday, our last day in Denver, was yet another very low key and relaxing day. Tom, Michelle’s brother-in-law gave us a few guest passes to the famous Denver Athletic Club or as they call it, the DAC. This place was amazing. Truly gave new meaning to going to the gym. Of course, after a long hard ski season, I did opt for a more spa oriented visit to the DAC……it was quite relaxing!

Monday it was time to head home. We took a little side trip through Boulder to stop in to the Scarpa headquarters and say hello to Chris Clark and crew. It was good to see Chris and to meet everyone there. A big thanks to them for having us!

Now we are back in Teton Valley preparing to leave Thursday for the southern Sierras. High peaks and big couloirs here we come. Stay tuned!

Mikey

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  • About Teton FreeRide

    Teton FreeRide is a content based blog founded and operated by Mike "Mikey" Leake. Mikey has lived in the Teton Valley region of southeastern Idaho and western Wyoming most of my life. He has also had the opportunity to live and play in the Lake Tahoe area, and now, Alaska too!

    After competing on the Freeskiing World Tour on-and-off for 10 years Mikey has transitioned to judging various events and become an advisory board member with the International Freeskiers & Snowboarders Association (IFSA). Over the past 13 years he has worked in the ski industry through skiing as an athlete, coach, guide, ski patrol, event coordinator, event judge, marketing consultant, team manager, videographer, and as an associate producer. Mikey has a true passion for the outdoor industry and tries to be involved in every aspect possible.