Peak Lists‎ > ‎

Quandary

Access from Boulder, CO:
 Take CO 9 south (Breckenridge exit) off of I-70.
Turn west onto County Road 850 (Blue Lakes Road) 8 miles south of Breckenridge.
Drive as far as possible.

Fletcher Peak:
Alek, Luke, and I skinned up Blue Lakes Road and up the narrow hanging valley southwest of Quandary Peak to the Mount Fletcher-Quandary Peak saddle.  Alek skied down from here.  Luke and I continued up to Mount Fletcher‘s summit (13,951‘).  We glissed the south face from the summit back to the Fletcher-Quandary saddle.  The snow was heavy powder and the slope angle was about 30 degrees.
Elevation: ~700‘

Quandary Peak:
Luke and I continued up Quandary‘s west ridge (Class 3) to the summit (14,265‘).  This was more difficult than when I climbed it on July 14, 2004 due to snow, AT boots and skis.  We glissed down the south-facing Cristo Couloir from the summit.  The steepest section approached 45 degrees, but was consistently 35-40 degrees.  The snow was icy up top, but soon became good dust on crust, then soft and wet, but fully supportive.
Elevation: ~3,385‘
Total Elevation: ~4,085‘
 
Cristo Couloir. Photo: Luke Kroiss

Skiing Cristo Couloir.  Skier: Brian Kalet.  Photo: Luke Kroiss
 
Annotated Map
Comments