Trip Report: Cristo Couloir-Quandary Peak 14,265'

Date Climbed: 06/09/11
Peak: Quandary Peak-14265'
Route: Cristo Couloir- Moderate snow 2500' 2.5 miles RT
Start: 6:55 am    Summit: 8:07 am    End: 9:50 am
Gear: crampons, alpine tools


Caitlyn and I left Boulder at 4:30 am. We were set to get to the trail head by 6:30 am, but Colorado Highway patrol decided to pull me over. Luckily he was feeling generous and let me off with a warning. I was only going 10 over in a 50 zone. We got to the trailhead at 6:45 am and set off at 6:55 am.

 From the parking lot the route is very straight forward it rises right off the road.

Bottom of route

Surrounding basin

I left Caitlyn at this point as I was going for a speed ascent. Within 30 min. I was already about halfway up the 2500' couloir.

Halfway

The snow was in pretty good condition but not perfect like my last trip to the Skywalker Couloir. I summited at 8:07, so I ascended in 1hr 12min.

Summit view to the west

Summit ridge and view to the east

A new personal best at that altitude. I was gonna wait for Caitlyn on the summit so I decided to take a nap in a wind shelter ( a pile of rocks). I couldn't nap however, because every time I came close to passing out I would stop breathing and gasp for breathe. Not really sure why this happened, but it was pretty scary. I started to get cold on the summit after about an hour, so I decided to make my way down. I passed Caitlyn soon after that, and glissaded down to a rock outcrop. I took some pictures of Caitlyn as she snowboarded down. We were back at the car before 10.