Ptarmigan Cirque in RMNP

Saturday in the Park. We don't frequent the Park, but it's needing more attention as it is just so damn cool up there. More people than the IP and JP Wilderness Areas combined, but once you get 1 mile from the trailhead, there are but few people.

Notchtop Couloir on the other side of the cirque.
We didn't end up heading over that way because it was likely too mushy with rockfall potential. Instead we stayed safe, denied our egos (they wanted to go for the steepest of the Ptarmigan couloirs with a cornice on top), and skied the wide open headwall. Lucky for us. As soon as we all got to the bottom of the headwall, a part of the cornice broke off the middle couloir and flew down with thousands of pounds of wet snow. The noise it made was intense, and it was the quickest moving spring avi that I've ever witnessed. Usually, it's like watching a slow motion video, but not this time!

DV8 starting the run down the headwall.

BadCop carving up some sweet corn mush for dinner. The conditions were perfect - hero snow. After a boot pack back up to the top, we headed for home.

Notchtop Mtn. We spotted a rock climber 3/4 the way up that spire.

The headwall is the big snowfield up and to the left of DV8 in this picture and to the left of Notchtop Mtn. The corniced couloirs are to the left.

No matter what, it's always a slog out. Feeling the mountain high but with that tired body and hurting back and feet as you walk with skis and boots on your back over drift-covered trails of mud - it's what defines the spring skiing exodus. And the later in the spring, the longer the slogs. But the beauty and remoteness of the area, make it all SO worth it.

On the way out, it's so funny how many people comment on seeing skiers. "That season's passed!" (NOT). "There's SNOW up there??" ...about a million times (duh, no, we just like to hike with our skis and boots JUST IN CASE).

Such a diverse crowd on the way out. Married couples getting their pictures at Bear Lake and elsewhere, marmots courting with funny noises, a coyote's tracks doing the same ski run we did! And he pooped on the way down! At times, this place feels more like a PARK than a preserve.