Mt. Audubon (couloirs)

Mt. Audubon (couloirs)

Snow climb of Mt. Audubon via Crooked couloir on Sunday, 2024/5/12. As part of a CMC trip, we used Brainard cabin as the basecamp for the trip, staying overnight on Saturday, 2024/5/11. The cabin did make for a good base camp, as it took off 3 miles of approach, a bunch of extra weight (relative to winter camping), and at least an hour of early am driving).

Levi and me met up in Boulder at 1 pm; we found Bobby at the trailhead just before 2. We geared up to start from the trailhead at 2:19 to reach Brainard cabin at 3:58 pm. On the way in near the trailhead, we met the second of two groups to have skied Crooked couloir on Saturday, 2024/5/11. While we could see some wet slides in the area later from the cabin, they described good conditions, with a well-set boot track on the right side, including through the '50 degree' section.

After i unlocked the cabin, we shared the duties of arrival checklist, starting a fire in the wood stove, and getting water from the Mitchell drainage. We found some time to rest and enjoy Audubon from the Brainard roof. Similar to the CIAC description we saw limited evidence of some small wet slides during the day from steep sections in the nearby peaks.

We woke at 3 am to have breakfast and get ready. Leaving at 4:14 (ideally 4 am) we were on the road then trail to Blue lake. With no significant snowfall in the evening and overnight we found only more short spells of pellets (no real accumulation). There were flashes of lightning in the dark (no thunder) and it was mostly cloudy, we had no chance to see the strong northern lights that weekend.

We reached the base of the couloir at N40.09140° W105.61936° at 11479’ at 6:05 am to ascend on snowshoes to N40.09382° W105.61939° at 11879’ and put on crampons. From that location (where we cached snowshoes and poles), we crossed to the official Crooked couloir chute, to ascend to the exit at N40.09867° W105.61867° at 13049’. (1170’ gain on crampons; 1570’ from the base). We found the weather colder than usual, but the snow in the couloir was in great shape. The sky over town was purple from thunderstorms, but the NE wind kept the weather from developing in our direction. Instead, the weather was breaking over the divide to clear skies over Winter Park. The measured angles on the couloir were 35.0, 35.6, 37.1, and 33.0 degrees from low to high on the couloir. There may be locally steeper spots (by a few degrees), but it did NOT approach 50 degrees. The couloir is continuous, you can see the entire route from approaching the base. The couloir was not as difficult as I imagined, being moderate steepness and elevation gain. The unofficial couloir to the right of Crooked does look more challenging.

Bobby was getting cold and headed down from the ridge above the exit; Levi and I went on to summit at 9:22. I took additional photos while Levi was also getting cold and headed down. While Levi left a couple glissade lines, I down-climbed facing forward and heel stepping in crampons the whole way. I got back to the cache at 10:45, and took off crampons to change up below and beyond the run out. There were no rocks in the snow to indicate the area is adversely active for debris. With the cold weather, the snow in the couloir had not softened up enough for pin wheels either. I got back to the cabin at 12:45. Levi was taking a nap; Bobby had cleaned up (shut the shutters and swept the floor) and already left.

We left Brainard at 1:49 to arrive at the parking lot at 3:03. We finally got lightning, thunder, and graupel from overhead while we were changing up to leave.

Starting weight from trailhead (pack, camera, snowshoes): 47.1 lbs Ending weight: 43.9