This was another ski line we were lucky enough to undertake during the initial COVID-19 lock down. Mark, Parker and I skied this line only two days after Mark and I had skied the Dead Dog couloir on the East facing side of Torrey’s peak. Usually a popular peak for spring skiing, we were lucky to be the only party out there for both outings. Emperor couloir is located on the North face of the peak and we now enjoy the pleasure of seeing the line we skied every time we drive by on I-70.
- Date: April 9, 2020
- Distance: approx. 8 miles round trip
- Elevation Gain: 5,000 ‘
- Trailhead: Baskerville exit
Parker met us at the trailhead, driving through the night from the Roaring Fork valley to arrive for the early morning start. Mark and I fared with a few hours of sleep only having to drive from Leadville, but to be hiking by 3 am no one was sleeping much the night before.
We hiked up the same snow covered road Mark and I had walked on our way to ski Dead Dog. Knowing what the conditions would be like, we told Parker to bring sneakers and the three of us enjoyed a much more comfortable walk with our ski boots on our backs and the comfortable hiking shoes on our feet. We turned off the summer road onto Grizzly Gulch to access the North face of the peak. When the snow started to get slicker and a little punchy, we transitioned into our ski boots and eventually into our skis and skins to continue the hike to the base of the couloir. At sunrise, I was exhausted. I was not used to these early starts, and I was relying heavily on Mark and Parker to break trail and keep spirits high on the way up. This was the first time I had skied with Parker, actually the first time I had met him (he and mark worked for the same bike shop in Aspen). But the experience of hiking through sleep deprivation in the wee hours of the day made for a quick friendship.
The Emperor couloir is a fantastic ski in a large part because of its vertical length. It boasts over 2500 feet of skiing almost all contained within the rocky slopes of the couloir. This requires, however, an equally long and much more challenging boot pack to reach the top of the couloir. When we did climb out of the couloir onto the ridge, we stopped short of the summit. None of us were particularly passionate about the last hundred feet of rock above us, and seeing the snow start to warm, decided it was about time to ski down.
The first turns of the couloir are on steep snow, created by a season of wind drifting. Mark volunteered to go first. He skied onto the steep face, but then found himself in the classic trap of staring down the slope unable to turn. After a minute of watching him stomp into the snow in one place, I skied passed him. Upon seeing a few of my turns, and hearing a few words of encouragement I yelled as I slid by, Mark and then Parker followed with confidence. We skied down the steeper top one at a time, but as the skiing mellowed, enjoyed long stretches of turns together. Parker’s fabulous photography capture the hike and ski alike!
At the bottom of the face, we took a break to sit down and collect ourselves. Parker sent a text via his SAT device to let his girlfriend know we were safe while we enjoyed a few minutes looking at the majestic peak we had just made our way up and down. We trudged back to our cars and enjoyed a beer together sitting on tailgates in the now muddy parking lot. Having enjoyed the great company and successful ski, we were already planning our next outing together. Eventually we said our goodbye’s and headed separate ways, confident that it would not be the last ski that the three of us shared.