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Casco Peak & French Mountain

May 22, 2013 Sawatch, Trip Reports

Date: May 20, 2013
Team: Dav, Ted, Darcy Conover, Adam Moszynski, Scott Rinckenberger, Jamie Starr
Route: Casco’s East Ridge and French’s Southeast Face

After Jones Mountain we headed home, wrapping up a fun week down in the San Juans. The break was short though, and after only a single day at home, we loaded up the Spyder RV and headed out again. Our goal– the mountains of the Sawatch Range near Leadville. (The map above shows our route. Disregard the straight lines between peak and trailhead– a GPS glitch.)

casco peak
The gang on Casco.

First up was actually a twofer– Casco Peak, 13,908 ft., and French Mountain, 13,940 ft. These two high summits are located right by Mount Elbert and Mount Massive and are often done as a pair. So after a comfy night in the RV along Halfmoon Creek, seven of us– Darcy Conover and Adam Mosczinski, Jamie Starr, Scott Rinckenberger, Dav, and I– headed up to Casco along the South Halfmoon Creek approach. (Unfortunately, Christy had to stay in Aspen to work a few days. She’ll hook up with us again soon.)

casoc peak
Jamie, Adam, Darcy and myself scout a line on Casco. Scott Rinckenberger photo.
darcy conover, casco peak
Darcy on Casco’s East Face.
adam mosczinski
Adam, with Elbert’s big West Face behind.
jamie starr
Jamie Starr. The recent weather left a good amount of new snow on the mountains around here.
darcy conover, casco peak
Another shot of Darcy. Casco’s East Face offers several lines for skiing.
casco peak
Dav and Scott skied a line to the left. Scott Rinckenberger photo.

The route up the old mining road passes quickly, and once up high, we managed to climb and ski both peaks before things got too warm. And on another positive note, in addition to what seems to be a relative abundance of snow for this time of year, there was little to no dust visible. Apart from some serious slogging through rotten snow back to the trailhead, we all had a pretty awesome day.

Skinning up towards French, with patches of sun illuminating the slope. Scott R. photo
Skinning up towards French, with patches of sun illuminating the slope. Scott Rinckenberger photo.
casco peak
Dav skins up towards French, with his Casco ski line indicated.
Dav and I near the top of French.
Dav and I near the top of French. Scott Rinckenberger photo.
casco peak
A look back towards Casco. Scott Rinkenberger photo.
Dav follows Scott down French.
Dav follows Scott down French.
Adam, psyched for the ski we got on French.
Adam, psyched for the ski we got on French.

Thanks to Scott for sharing some of his photos for this post.

Next up– Oklahoma.

–Ted

Tags: casco peakfrench mountain
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Ski the Centennial 13ers trip reports

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  • #2 Stewart Peak -13,983 ft.
  • #3 Columbia Point – 13,980 ft.
  • #4 Pigeon Peak – 13,972 ft.
  • #5 Mount Ouray – 13,971 ft.
  • #6 Ice Mountain – 13,951 ft.
  • #7 Fletcher Mountain – 13,951 ft.
  • #8 Pacific Peak – 13,950 ft.
  • #9 Cathedral Peak – 13,943 ft.
  • #10 French Mountain – 13,940 ft.
  • #11 Mount Hope – 13,933 ft.
  • #12 Thunder Pyramid – 13,932 ft.
  • #13 Mount Adams – 13,931 ft.
  • #14 Gladstone Peak – 13,913 ft.
  • #15 Mount Meeker – 13,911 ft.
  • #16 Casco Peak – 13,908 ft.
  • #17 Red Mountain – 13,908 ft.
  • #18 Emerald Mountain – 13,904 ft.
  • #19 Horseshoe Mtn. – 13,898 ft.
  • #20 “Phoenix Peak” – 13,895 ft.
  • #21 Vermillion Peak – 13,894 ft.
  • #22 Cronin Peak – 13,870 ft.
  • #23 Mount Buckskin – 13,865 ft.
  • #24 Vestal Peak – 13,864 ft.
  • #25 Jones Mountain – 13,860 ft.
  • #26 North Apostle – 13,860 ft.
  • #27 Clinton Peak – 13,857 ft.
  • #28 Dyer Mountain – 13,855 ft.
  • #29 Crystal Peak – 13,852 ft.
  • #30 Mount Edwards – 13,850 ft.
  • #31 California Peak – 13,849 ft.
  • #32 Mount Oklahoma – 13,845 ft.
  • #33 Half Peak – 13,841 ft.
  • #34 Atlantic Peak – 13,841 ft.
  • #35 Hagerman Peak – 13,841 ft.
  • #36 Turret Peak – 13,835 ft.
  • #37 PT 13,832
  • #38 Holy Cross Ridge – 13,831 ft.
  • #39 Jupiter Mountain- 13,830 ft.
  • #40 “Huerfano Peak” – 13,828 ft.
  • #41 Jagged Mountain – 13,824 ft.
  • #42 “Lackawanna” – 13,823 ft.
  • #43 Mount SiIverheels – 13,822 ft.
  • #44 Rio Grande Pyramid – 13,821 ft.
  • #45 Teakettle Mountain – 13,819 ft.
  • #46 PT 13,811 – 13,811 ft.
  • #47 Dallas Peak – 13,809 ft.

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