"Safe" Doesn't Have To Suck

Like most mountaineers, I have a bit of an ego. Like most people with GoPro's, I want to take video of things worth taking video of. But at age 25, I'm old enough to realize the absolute  stupidity of making a potentially dangerous decision solely for the sake of my ego and some sweet footage -- especially when there's an alternative that's much safer. 

I've been lucky in the mountains before. I know that there will be more "oh shit" moments to come. And I know that the more I play the odds, the more likely it becomes that the odds will win at some point.

It was May 29, 2014, and I wanted to climb a 14er and snowboard down it. I recently bought a GoPro and had been itching to try it out, and I wanted a good training climb for my upcoming trip to the Cordillera Blanca. The intent was to climb and descend the Cristo Couloir on Quandary Peak. With a maximum steepness of about 38 degrees, this would be steep enough to be a little scary to snowboard, and about perfect for a preparatory climb.

Temperatures hadn't dipped below freezing for several days prior, and there was plenty of evidence of recent wet-slab activity on the surrounding peaks staring me in the face. It was close to 08:00 when I arrived at the trailhead, which might be just enough time to be off the mountain by 11:30 (the couloir is south-facing).

But I was solo, and sunhit times don't matter when it comes to wet slabs. Not to mention I'd be in a terrain trap the entire way up and down.

So I drove back to the McCullough Gulch trailhead, hiked up the muddy trail and postholed through a really awful section of soft snow around treeline, and hiked the East Ridge to the summit. Not even remotely a special climb or ski/board descent -- it's about as steep as a blue trail at a ski resort.

But it was still fun, and I accomplished both my goals.

About 1000' below the summit, I met another climber on AT gear who shared the opinion that Cristo wasn't a very smart place to be that day. We chatted for the rest of the hike up, and he gave me some tips on using the GoPro.

After maybe 2000' of riding soft, slushy snow, we had posthole-hell to wade through, and then had to find our way through the forest back to the trailhead. There's some old, overgrown mining roads, and lots of private land surrounding the base of the mountain, but it wasn't too difficult.

We stumbled upon an old tin shack with piles of broken windows and retro furniture inside. This has nothing to do with snowboarding, but it was an interesting find.

Everything about that day was great (except for the part where I lost my sunglasses and got snowblindness, but that didn't kick in until the drive home). The hike, the descent, post-climb happy hour at Mi Casa in Breckenridge. 

It was a safe choice, and it was still an adventure.