Squaretop: N Couloir
I had heard about this one for a while but it is hard to see from the peaks I frequent. I must have seen it well from Grays summit last year. On May 30, 2008, Michele Koss, Todd Beck, Eric Penicka, Brian Howard, and I left a car at the Naylor Lake TH and carried on to Guanella Pass for the easy climb to Squaretop's 13794-foot summit. There was lots of walking as the slopes up high were quite bare. But from the summit we spotted our line nicely fat with snow and it looked like we'd be able to ski back to the lower car, 1000 feet below the pass. Indeed, it was all good. Corn conditions were perfect and the lakes in the valley very beautiful. And one can see just about all peaks in Summit County from Silverheels and Democrat to Powell and Eagles Nest We were indeed able to ski back to the car with only two 20-yard walking sections. I wouldn't try this much later in the year, though the snow in the couloir will be adequate for a couple more weeks.
And, yes, this peak's summit is entirely east of the Continental Divide and so is not in Summit County. But you can see it so well from the County that I'll list it here. Moreover, it is quite cool to see it from Silverthorne or Frisco because it means one is looking completely over the Continental Divide to a peak entirely on the Atlantic side.
The first two pictures show Todd Beck and Michele Koss enjoying the fine conditions, Grays and Torreys in the background.
The view back to the ski slope.
