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It stormed all day yesterday and we figured a bit of "dust on crust" might have resulted. Yes it was there this morning on Blarney (Louie skiing it in above photo), the peak just north of Independence Pass, Colorado. Blarney is bigger than it looks from the road, and provides access to quite a few good lines. Today was bittersweet, as yesterday a man died while climbing (not skiing) on the Maroon Bells mountains near here. There were at least 3 other parties in the Bells area that turned back yesterday morning due to weather and snow condition concerns. One can only wonder why the party in the accident decided to push it. We may never know, but as always the lesson is basic, "don’t push it…the mountain will still be there another day." |
WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder Lou (Louis Dawson) has a 50+ years career in climbing, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. He was the first person in history to ski down all 54 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks, has authored numerous books about about backcountry skiing, and has skied from the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain.