The Whippet: Grays Peak 14,270 feet (4349 m)

After as great a season as we had this year, and after 83ski days, I got a pretty severe case of “ski season postpartum”. I decided to cure that, or rather mitigate that, with an end of season “treat”. So, I thought, how about skiing a 14er? If you live in Park City, the closest ones are in Colorado. So, I looked for one not too far from an I-70 Exit and decided on Grays Peak. At 14,270 it is the 10^th highest 14er in Colorado and being off Exit 221 just about a 7:30 hr. drive from Park City.

Grays Peak (39.633820° N -105.817520° W) is close to Torreys Peak 14,267, so I was even thinking a twofer maybe in the cards? As it turns out it wasn’t because the snow got slushy long before a typical corn cycle time, so adding time for a second peak was not in the cards if getting a decent ski out was the objective. And it certainly was!

With an easy 10:00 am start from Park City, I got to the trailhead Saturday late pm and set up the car for the night. For a one-nighter, at a trailhead, I no longer bother putting up the tent. I sleep in the back of my 4-door Jeep which gets me a full-length bed. This saves a lot of time both in and out.

Phil and I started walking at 4:27 am with our skis on the backpacks for the first two miles to the summer trailhead. That is an average experience in my 4-buckle ski boots. At the TH we started skinning and were able to summit without taking the skis off once. At elevation the overnight refreeze was at 27F, so we were mostly skinning on ice until sunrise.

We put in a nice pace and summited at 8:45 even though, on the last 1,000’ elevation gain, the shortage of oxygen made itself felt for both of us. In any case, we were first to summit so we got first tracks. The skiing was good in most parts, but you do feel this is June skiing, and as soon as next week or for sure two weeks from now, with forecasted temps in the 70s, this may not be worthwhile anymore.

The main point of the exercise: the get a 14er in and extend the ski season by a bit was all achieved on a ski which was, in most parts, really fun.

To get there

From I-70, take the Bakerville exit, Exit 221. Coming from Park City that’s the second exit after the Eisenhower Tunnel (from Denver two exits short of it) and about a 7:30 hr. drive. Still assuming you are coming from PC, turn left and go over a bridge to a large dirt parking lot. At the parking lot, there is one obvious paved road to the left, that’s not the one you're looking for. You are not going to immediately see Forest Road 189 aka Stevens Gulch Rd. You will need to cross the parking lot to its end and take the dirt road that climbs up into the woods to the south (left) and goes three miles up to the trailhead. The road is rocky, rutted, and quite bumpy and steep in places, add snow to that (yes even in June) and the adventure can start right here! This road is clearly better approached in an SUV on the dry as clearance at times will be an issue. If you are driving over any snow the SUV becomes compulsory but will still not take you all the way up to the official TH. I stopped 1.6 miles from the actual trailhead adding that distance to the approach and on the way back down.

Here are the pictures (click to enlarge):

Ski lines everywhere...

...you look.

This is Torreys Peak, 14,267 (the next one over). The
central couloir is Dead Dog Couloir. For an idea of
the gnats, we are to these hills, look in the lower
third of the couloir for the party of three climbers.