Horseshoe Mountain, a Mosquito Range Centennial
Doug and I enjoying the summit of Horseshoe Mountain
The Roaches give Horseshoe Mountain’s Boudoir Couloir route a *Classic* rating. This fact, combined with the ease of access to the trailhead, straightforward approach (no stream crossings!), small amount of elevation gain (~2,350 ft!), and mellow angled climbing put this climb at the top of my list. We were looking for a half day’s worth of effort and this climb was perfect!
Also, thanks to Bill Middlebrook, of 14ers.com, for posting a condition report of Horseshoe while out on White Ridge. That report was super helpful!
The Schedule:
Departure from Denver: 4am
Departure from TH: 6:30am
Past the Lake: 7:20am
Start Climbing Boudoir Couloir: 8:10am
Finish Boudoir Couloir: 9:20am
Summit of Horseshoe Mountain: 9:30am
Start Glissade of Boudoir: 10am
Back at the TH:~12pm
The Trailhead; just off of Fourmile Creek Road (you can see Fourmile in the background).
After about 15 minutes of hiking, we saw the fog dissipate. It was a beautiful morning. For the first time since last fall, I didn’t see my breath!
We followed the 4wd road most of the time, but in a few places had to veer off due to snowbanks.
Artsy shadow picture of myself and Doug. I like the way the skis look in the shadow.
According to one of my sources, you are to stay high and head for the base of the brown buttress. However, most of the snow was melted and we were left with tallus slopes. Rather than dealing with those, we skirted down to the left a bit and then up through a gully.
Picture by Doug, of me skirting around some tallus. I’m staring up at Boudoir Couloir and also gaping at the weather. We had really variable weather all day, which was worrisome at time.
Another look at the route and the tallus. Don’t try climbing through this stuff, it’s unconsolidated, chossy crap. On the way back, I tried to make a bee-line through it and nearly broke my face. One rock crumbled under my foot and another one about the size of a loveseat rolled out from under me.
Doug ascending to the start of Boudoir Couloir.
The weather looked sketchy, so we decided not to risk an ascent of Mt. Sheridan. We also did not know if we would be able to make the summit, since it looked like it could get worse…So we decided to ditch our gear. By climbing the Boudoir Couloir and tagging the summit of Horseshoe, we could just turn around and glissade if things got bad.
Looking up at the climb. A section down lower was starting to melt out already. I’m glad we did the route now rather than waiting another weekend!
Just to show you the bi-polar weather…One minute it was all sunny and the next it was like this!
Getting a handle on our altitude. While I’m climbing Couloirs, or anything steep, it’s helpful to know how much is left!
Doug says he found a report of guys climbing this steep and hidden couloir. Looks like fun!
Looking up inside the horseshoe! Neato.
Doug and his new tool. It’s got a retractable blade and it’s a trekking pole. I know what I’m putting on my x-mas list this year!
Here I am kicking steps. I led for about 20 minutes of the climb. It felt nice to “contribute”!
Looking down the Boudoir Couloir. I really enjoyed the last 20 minutes of the climb. It was more challenging and steeper than the lower section.
Shelter at the top of Horseshoe Mountain. Not that it would provide much shelter, since one wall is blown off…
Doug approaching the true summit of Horseshoe Mountain. With Sheridan, Sherman, and White Ridge in the background.
Summit GPS, it says 13,907 ft! Well within the range of normal error…
Doug about to glissade. The glissade would have been a lot more enjoyable had there not been 4 people heading up the couloir! Oh well.
More bi-polar weather. There were some scary looking cloud systems on our way back to the car, but luckily nothing bad happened. Back in Denver, there were tornado warnings in 4 different counties!
Overall, I had a great day out in the mountains with Doug. While it wasn’t necessarily challenging, it was just what we needed. It was a half day in the mountains, on a new route, resulting in a successful summit bid.
Tags: 13'er, Boudoir Couloir, Centennial, CO, Horseshoe Mountain, Mosquito Range, Snow Climbing