6/13/26 - Ptarmigan Glacier
After a historically dry and warm winter, the stoke is high as ever for more skiing! Although there was a lot of grumbling from jaded skiers lamenting poor conditions and coverage this year, I had a ton of fun skiing with many great friends, plenty of spring-like conditions all winter, and a surprising amount of powder between the melts. I wouldn't wish this every year, obviously, but if you're not having fun you're doing it wrong!
Anyways, I linked up with Anna and Brittany for June this year. We are lucky to have plenty of people in our lives who send us summer snow beta while out climbing/hiking/etc (despite calling us crazy) and we settled on Ptarmigan Glacier in RMNP based on some beta from Bill during his AMGA Alpine Guide course. Thanks Bill!
With summer in full swing, I had completely forgotten about RMNP's timed entry system. Unfortunately we were not able to snag a last minute timed entry, and so we settled on an early start and met at the Bear Lake parking lot around 4:45am. A thin sliver of moon glowed red over the horizon and the day's first light was already peeking through, making for a spectacular morning scene. We geared up, ditching headlamps and crampons and debating which layers to bring, and began our hike up to Flattop Mountain.
The hike passed by surprisingly quickly, and we expressed out gratitude to the NP trail crews. We switchbacked our way up and the vert/miles ticked by easily. Alpenglow lit up the peaks in the distance, lifting the brain fog from a fitful and short night of sleep.
Anyways, I linked up with Anna and Brittany for June this year. We are lucky to have plenty of people in our lives who send us summer snow beta while out climbing/hiking/etc (despite calling us crazy) and we settled on Ptarmigan Glacier in RMNP based on some beta from Bill during his AMGA Alpine Guide course. Thanks Bill!
With summer in full swing, I had completely forgotten about RMNP's timed entry system. Unfortunately we were not able to snag a last minute timed entry, and so we settled on an early start and met at the Bear Lake parking lot around 4:45am. A thin sliver of moon glowed red over the horizon and the day's first light was already peeking through, making for a spectacular morning scene. We geared up, ditching headlamps and crampons and debating which layers to bring, and began our hike up to Flattop Mountain.
The hike passed by surprisingly quickly, and we expressed out gratitude to the NP trail crews. We switchbacked our way up and the vert/miles ticked by easily. Alpenglow lit up the peaks in the distance, lifting the brain fog from a fitful and short night of sleep.
We reached treeline around 6:45am, and a sign warning us that "Mountains Don't Care". Luckily the sky was completely bluebird. The wind began to pick up as we exited the shelter of the trees and we took a minute to put on wind shells. At one point we passed the shrinking snow patches left in Banana Bowls and Anna and Brittany shared stories of skiing it in excellent and awful conditions - I still have yet to ski it! We reached an overlook over Emerald Lake and soaked in the glorious view. A namesake ptarmigan (or perhaps a grouse?) was hanging out on the side of the trail and we spent a few minutes watching the funny alpine chicken doing it's thing.
Before long we were at the summit of Flattop - as the name suggests, a somewhat underwhelming summit. We didn't stay long here, continuing West on the ridge towards Ptarmigan Glacier. The trail up here is gorgeous, a mellow alpine jaunt with sweeping views on all sides. Wildflowers abound here - Alpine Buttercups and little purple guys whose name I don't yet know. The trail up here totally reminded me of the Rollins Pass area - sweeping alpine feel, mellow trail, wildflowers, and snow! Large fingers of snow came into view and the psych began to rise. We were finally getting close to skiing.
We briefly took shelter behind a cleaver of rock to eat a snack, rehydrate, and wait for the snow to thaw a bit. Our initial worries were that the snow would be too firm based on the snow we had hiked over, but down here (above Hourglass Couloir) we felt lovely corn snow. We slung packs back on and headed over to the glacier proper. It looked excellent, with great coverage and a glistening blue alpine lake below. Anna and Brittany transitioned while I grabbed my walkie and climbed up to a viewpoint to get videos.
I sat in the howling wind atop a rock leaning precipitously over the basin waiting for their confirmation. Anna skied first, initially hesitant at the steep headwall but quickly finding flow in the fun looking snow. She carved down and veered off to the right to wait for Brittany. Brittany followed quickly after, skiing aggressively and confidently with the beta of good snow on the face from Anna. Her skis threw corn with each turn. Their pair of s-turns gleamed in the sun.
I whooped down to them and they hollered back, confirming all was good. I hiked back over to my skis (class 4 in ski boots, wahoo!) and transitioned quickly. It had been over a month since I last skied and I felt rusty but psyched. I radio'ed down to them and picked my way toward the center of the glacier. The snow was confidence-inspiring corn and I was able to open up the speed a bit, carving big S turns and grinning ear to ear. The run was longer than I had expected - over 1,000 feet of pure corn and beautiful views. We reunited at the base and collectively reaffirmed that skiing is, indeed, quite fun.
Brittany, myself, and Anna respectively shredding the Gnar Ptar!
Our way out involved a bit of talus hopping and snow sliding - we stupidly decided not to transition back to skis despite finding a snowfield that led all the way down to the lake. Instead I attempted to slide down on my trail runners (with some success) and we eventually ended up down at the crystal blue lake with icebergs floating in the middle of it. We mused about the possibility of a pond skim from one of the steeper runs (shoutout to Owen Leeper who has been skimming all over the San Juan's this spring). I shared my tradition of summer skiing and cold plunging, but Anna and Brittany were less than enthused. Oh well, can't win them all. I quickly stripped and jumped in before I could reconsider, the cold water sending endorphins shooting through my body. Hell yeah.
We skirted around the lake, following a bushwacky unmaintained trail and then linking up to Bill's GPX line for a much smoother exit than I would have navigated. Our skis scraped against rocks and willows - it wouldn't be a summer ski without a bit of adventure. Finally we linked up to the Fern Lake trail proper and made quick work of the rest of the descent. By this time it was around noon and tourists were thronging around Bear Lake. We relished the typical RMNP summer skier celebrity treatment before leaving the park. Apres at Boss Burgers & Gyros on the way out (highly recommend).
All in all, another excellent summer ski day and I'm psyched for a bit more adventure this summer. I'm sure the snow will be a bit worse and harder to find than previous summers but we won't let that kill the streak :)
Beta for fellow summer skiers - I'd recommend skiing either Hourglass Couloir or East Couloir in this cirque rather than the glacier run if you're comfortable with the steepness. Both of these currently have snow that continues all the way down to the first lake. We dropped around 9:45 and conditions were very good.
All in all, another excellent summer ski day and I'm psyched for a bit more adventure this summer. I'm sure the snow will be a bit worse and harder to find than previous summers but we won't let that kill the streak :)
Beta for fellow summer skiers - I'd recommend skiing either Hourglass Couloir or East Couloir in this cirque rather than the glacier run if you're comfortable with the steepness. Both of these currently have snow that continues all the way down to the first lake. We dropped around 9:45 and conditions were very good.
Da cru
- Huzi
