Froelicher Hut Trip

Lance's ski track into Froelicher Hut with side climb to ridge south of trail for some turns.

The video is compliments of Candace Winkle.

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20230122-24

Participants: Tom Glenn, Bill Rivers, Lance Masoner, Bill Moore, Dave Osborn, Karen Lautenshlager, Bram Van de Werken, Christine Berwyn, Stephanie Porter, Candace Winkle, Wendy Phillips, Jim Langsted, Evan Langsted, Maryann Gaug, Kim Greene, Alex Blum, Jay Gingrich

A group of us coming from the front range started the hut trip with breakfast at the Butterhorn Cafe in Frisco. Maryann and Tom carpooled in my car. We all arrived at the trailhead between Climax and Leadville at almost the same time. The snow coverage was on the thin side and a surprise to me given that generally the snowpack has been better this year. It was on the colder side at 17F and there was a stretch of trail in the trees up higher that felt quite a bit cooler.

The RFMG folks seem to be mellowing. They are such easygoing friendly people. Chores just get done. The drive to get out and ski isn't like it was but that suits me. Bill Rivers took on the herculean task of removing the packed down snow on the wooden raised path to the outhouse making the trek safer.

There was a food group of five of us: Kim,, Tom, Bill, and myself. I made a tofu stir-fry the first night. Alex made eggs and bacon. Tom provided spaghetti, Bill made an egg scramble and Kim and Alex provided salad, cheeses and other snacks.

On our layover day, a large group of us climbed up a previous track behind the hut that Jay described as being laid down by a knuckle dragger - someone strong and dumb. There was general agreement with his assessment! We skied down where Kim et.al. had skied the evening before. The snow was a little wind effected but rather good. We then traversed over to the track I'd gone up the previous day. Half the group stopped halfway up to ski down while the remainder of us went back up to the ridge top. The skiing was just as good. Candace, Stephanie and I skinned up for one more run down from the tree-line to the trail before heading back to the hut. That was it for me for the day.

I met two guys likely in their 60's coming down as a day trip. They invited us to use their track up heading south off the hut trail for some skiing. I dropped my pack at the track, invited folks to join me, but all declined, and headed up to make some turns. The track went much higher than I expected or would have gone on my own. It ended at the shallow ridge south of the trail with a nice view of Mt Massive. The snow the previous days and lack of wind made the slope down very skiable and fun. The snow even improved in the glades between the trees before I arrived back at the trail. I skinned up, grabbed by pack and skied on to the hut about 3/4's of a mile onward.

View looking east toward hut and Climax. View looking west toward Mt Massive.

On the third day, there was no talk of making a run before heading home. Everyone was basically ready to close the door at about 9:30AM. I was amazed and chalked it up to folks wanting to get home. I invited several to join me on a side traverse and then ski down a north facing power slope to intersect the trail. In the end Alex agreed to come. We ended up climbing most of the way back up the same track the two guys had cut, then traverse to the east ridge running down to a broad saddle where we turned left (north) to ski down the power glade. I took us about 100 meters too far to the right and we tangled a bit with deep unsettled power amongst the trees. We still had fun before reaching the creek bottom, side-stepping up the snow embankment of the creek and intersecting the trail to the cars. The trail just above the cars was very thin with rocks protruding. It struck me as more like early March conditions than late January.

Tom, Maryann, and I enjoyed a late lunch at the Sunshine Cafe in Dillon.

Two senior gentlemen did (Bill Moore July 2022) or is about to (Tom Glenn April 2023) turn 80 years old: Bill Moore and Tom Glenn. So we had a little celebration of cake.