Skiing Tuning Fork on Torrey’s Peak, Bakerville, Colorado
After we got back from Peru, snow coverage was still pretty good in Colorado so we decided to get another day of skiing in. Our friends wanted to ski Tuning Fork on the northwest face of Torrey’s Peak, which sounded great to us. It was a line I’d never skied before. We decided to make the outing a car shuttle to shave off some hiking.
We parked one car by Grizzly Gulch and all squeezed into another car that we’d park at the summer trailhead for Gray’s Peak. Our plan was to hike the summer trail in our trail running shoes and carry our skis and boots attached to our backpacks. It was a beautiful morning to hike a 14er. As expected, we didn’t have the trail to ourselves and saw quite a few people along the way. The trail was mostly snow-free with one small snowfield that we had to traverse before the saddle between Gray’s and Torrey’s. We put Microspikes for this snowfield, but in hindsight I don’t think we really need them. Once we reached the saddle, it was just a couple hundred more feet of elevation gain to the top.
When we got to the top, there were a handful of other people also looking to ski Tuning Fork that were waiting for the snow to soften a little bit. We were happy our timing would work out, and we’d be able to ski the line with “peak corn” conditions. After looking at our options, we decided to ski the skiers right side of Tuning Fork as we’d be able to ski it from the top. The left fork would have required more of a down climb. It took some navigating to get around some rocks and into the line, but once we were all in it, conditions were pretty good. Most of the line was a really nice spring ski, and it wasn’t until the very bottom where the snow got sticky.
Once we got to where the snow ended, we transitioned back to our trail runners and put our skis and boots back on our backpacks. We quickly came upon the stream that flows through this basin and found a log we could use to cross it. We then walked over to the 4x4 road, which we’d follow back to the car. We came upon a few more stream crossings where it was impossible not to get our feet wet, but thankfully they were no deeper than mid-calf. Before we knew it, we were back at the car.
Overall, I had a really fun day skiing this line. I felt like I got a lot of skiing in relative to the amount of effort. A lot of days backcountry skiing don’t feel this way! I’m sure I’ll be checking out some other lines off Torrey’s Peak next spring.
Stats: 7.8 miles, 3000 ft of elevation gain
