- Date: May 13, 2022
- Distance: approx. 6 miles round trip
- Elevation Gain: 3600‘
- Trailhead: Cathedral Lake trail
All of the photos in this post were taken by Parker Yost
When Mark and I got done with the Colorado Trail last spring, we were looking forward to spending some time with our friends who we hadn’t gotten to see much over the previous month. Mark had been back to work in Aspen for a week when we decided to take advantage of the remaining snowpack to go ski mountaineering with our friend Parker. The Pearl couloir is a dramatic ski line off of Cathedral Peak near Aspen; accessible and aesthetic, it makes for a popular objective and seemed perfect for our first day of proper ski mountaineering together this season. Roman joined the team for an early morning start at the Cathedral lake trailhead where we set off in the sneakers for the first few miles of trail. We transitioned to skis and as we broke tree line and discussed the potential of skiing more than one line if time allowed it.
Just a week off the trail, Mark and I were still feeling the physical effects of the tour and we soon began to struggle to keep up with Parker and Roman as we booted up the Pearl. We quickly realized that we would not be adding any vert to the day as we barely made it to the top of our intended ski.
Mark and I fought the muscle fatigue that had compounded over the last month on trail as well as overly sensitive stomachs that had still not worked through all the trail food and silty water we had consumed. To add to our distress, I was dealing with asthma symptoms that had resurfaced on trail and Mark with excruciating foot/neuroma pain, having to use our heavier (and more uncomfortable) boots since our we had destroyed our lightweight ski boots.
After enjoying a long break at the top of the pearl couloir, we transitioned to ski down horrendously sun cupped snow. The skiing was bad, but the exit below tree line proved to be the real crux for Mark and I.
What would have usually been an easy objective turned into quite the epic as Mark and I discovered the true extent of our physical fatigue. We were grateful to our patient and kind friends, who waited kindly while I threw up on the side of the trail, hiking in a hunch from stomach cramps and Mark screamed in pain as he hiked along in his increasingly uncomfortable ski boots. When we finally made it back to the parking lot, I laid down in the dirt and slowly sipped an electrolyte drink Parker had brought. We shared a few laughs and we all agreed that given that state of the snowpack this would be our last ski for the season.
We were happy to have gone out together, and while Parker’s photos don’t quite capture the pain Mark and I spent most of the day in, he got some incredible shots that elaborate the beauty of the Cathedral Basin in the springtime.