Finding Timo

This may be the most enjoyable couloir in Red Gulch. There are a few steeper 40+ degree turns to start, but then the couloir mellows out and stays consistently in the mid-30s while flanked by gorgeous rock. There’s also a great bench below the couloir that offers you a phenomenal look back at what you skied. In most conditions (wind from the NW, W, SW) this couloir is also blessedly cornice-free. The northern orientation also gives it a longer season, but the part of the basin it dumps into will be bare by late May.

(Main Never Summer Ski Page)

Table of Contents

• Logistical Considerations
• Green Knoll North & Red Gulch Overview
• Red Gulch Approach
• Dream Couloir: Stats n Stuff
• GoPro Videos & Maps

Logistical Considerations

• Trail Ridge closes down every winter between roughly Oct/Nov-Memorial Day. The fastest approach from the Front Range is up and over Berthoud Pass. It can take anywhere from 2.5-4 hours, depending on where you’re coming from.
• From Fort Collins, prior to Trail Ridge opening, you’re looking at a 3 hr 40-minute drive up the Poudre, over Cameron Pass, through Walden, over Willow Creek Pass, and up 34.
• If you want to ski as much as humanely possible using the approach route described, a March-mid-May timeframe is ideal, with a bullseye on early-mid April.
• RMNP charges an entrance fee. They’ve also started limiting visitor numbers during the highest demand season. Get all the deets here. Basically, you need to have two things:
  • Entrance pass all the time.
  • In the summer, you also need a time slot.
  • The way to get around the time slot is to show up before they go into effect (check the link above for the times).
• Cell Reception: If using the Colorado River trailhead, not much. If you travel south on the ditch road to Red Gulch, you can get some bars facing south towards Grand Lake on an open stretch. I’ll mark it on this Caltopo map. You likely won’t get reception at the top of Dream Couloir, but may if you crest the ridge and have a line of sight down to Grand Lake.
• The Ditch Road. At around 10,200 ft., you’ll hit the Ditch Road, which was made to steal snowmelt from the Never Summers and dump it into the Poudre to support agriculture in the Northern Front Range. It was built before the National Park was created, so it remains. It’s not all bad, though, it provides a very reliable marker, and you can use it to access various other basins. The road is plowed most winters though the timing varies. In 2022, the road was plowed by May 11, the following year, it wasn’t plowed when I went out on May 20th, but the snowpack was way above average. Again, the best bet to have a snow-covered road is to get out from March-early May, weather and avalanche conditions permitting.
• Last but certainly not least, backcountry skiing is dangerous. Make sure you have relevant experience before attempting. To my knowledge, there are no resources on Red Gulch online aside from this one. Since it’s in the national park, it gets outshined by Glacier Gorge and Bear Lake, etc., so make sure you can use and understand all the info presented here whether it’s photos, stats, or the Caltopo maps.
• For more information on avy safety, the Never Summers, the D-scale for rating, and maps visit the main page: Obscure Ski Lines in The Never Summer Mountains.

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Green Knoll North & Red Gulch Overview

Green Knoll is easily viewed from various portions of Trail Ridge (US34) as you come up from Grand Lake. From this vantage, the southern slopes look fun but very gentle. The northern part of Green Knoll is another beast entirely. Punctuated by steep cliffs and impressive spires, it’s a serious-looking side to an otherwise friendly mountain. The best part is that a set of couloirs and snowy shoulders exist here, providing everything from a gentle area tour to hair-raising descents. It’s a cool spot that provides a great amount of fun.

You can see some of the sharper sides of Green Knoll from the higher portions of Trail Ridge Road, especially at the Farview Curve. However, it doesn’t look as good (in my opinion) as emerging above treeline in Red Gulch and staring at it.

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Red Gulch Approach

• Park at the Colorado River Trailhead
• Travel north on the Colorado River Trailhead.
• You’ll climb a small ridge before descending down the other side.
• At 0.4, you’ll find a sign for Red Mt. Trail and a bridge across the river; take it. It is possible to shortcut this if the river is frozen, but if you’ve never been there, it’ll be hard finding the trail on the other side. The best bet is to eat the 0.4 and follow the obvious trail.
• Take the Red Mt. Trail as it rises and heads south along steepening terrain.
• You’ll cross a small sidestream on another bridge; take note.
• Following this is a steep traverse through a wooded slope. When it relents, a field will open up on your right with aspen trees. It is still steep here, just not as steep as before. Find either pre-existing tracks or a mellower slope angle and head east (right), climbing away from the trail and initially following one of these fields. You shouldn’t have to remove your skins for this. (~9,300 ft.)
• Stay east, rising with the slope. It’s a bit stair-steppy, with a couple of flatter sections followed by brief quick rises. As you crest the third or fourth rise, you’ll be able to see Red Mt. ahead of you. Follow the aspens and fields east until the slope steepens again. Atop this final rise is the Ditch Road. Either parallel the slope to the north to find an easier ascent path, or say fuck it and climb directly to the road.
• Once on the road, turn south (left) and begin about a mile’s worth of a road walk. This part is super easy with snow and doable without because it’s flat.
• Keen eyes will observe a small bridge with two sicks to your right a few minutes after you start going and after rounding your first turn on the road. This area leads up to Red Mt.; keep going on the road.
• Eventually, you’ll round a much more dramatic curve in the road with long-range views south and your first glimpse of Red Gulch. This is one of those corners with likely cell reception. Also, the picture below is what you’ll see.

• Continue on the Ditch Road until you see two large vertically placed sticks on the right side of the road. It is farther than you think.
• Once you find the sticks, leave the road (right) and follow the creek bed as it winds higher. This first part is well-defined and easy to follow. There are a couple of stream wells where the snow cover ceases and drops down to the creek. Mid-winter isn’t an issue, but come March/April, one or two will open up. Again, they’re easy to see, just don’t haul ass down this stretch on the way out, and you can easily avoid them.
• After a few minutes, the stream bead opens up to a large meadow. Head left into it with the spring chutes directly in front.

• Now, your goal is to ascend until you hit treeline. For the Dream Couloir, this is best done via an ascending traverse until you see this view.

• Orientation from here is fairly simple. Traverse underneath (and well away from) the cliffs guarding Green Knoll’s summit. You’ll see a misleading false couloir that has a really inviting apron but doesn’t get up to the ridge. Keep traversing until you see the view below.

• Now, climb. Crampons, an axe, and a helmet are recommended.
• Is it possible to avoid crampons and axe? Possibly, you could try to attack this couloir from the south via Green Knoll’s gentler southern approach. However, you then have to traverse loose, windswept talus, and descend to the start of the couloir which remains out of sight until you’re right on top of it. The extra kick in the pants is the return journey to Holzwath, which adds a few miles to the overall journey. I would highly recommend just climbing the couloir. You’ll get a more complete understanding of the conditions and possible hazards this way, instead of dropping in blind.

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Dream Couloir: Stats n Stuff

• Trailhead: (~9,040 ft.) Colorado River Trailhead
• Top Elevation: ~12,080 ft.
• Summit Ski?: Would be very challenging. The top parts of Green Knoll are notoriously windswept.
• Mileage to top of ski line: ~4.1 miles
• Max slope angle & avg. slope angle: 43 degrees (33-35 degrees)
• D-Scale: D8
• Risk: R2 (Wet slide potential on the west side (skiers left) of the couloir in its lower half. Cornice free start.)
• Distance/Elevation Skied:
  • Total (2 separate runs)= 3 miles (~3,007 ft.)
    • Couloir Only: 0.2 miles (~640 ft.)
    • Top of Couloir to Ditch Road: ~1.6 miles (~1,807 ft.)
    • Ditch Road to Colo. River: ~1.4 miles (~1,200 ft.)
• Line Orientation/aspect: NE, N, NE, E, NE, E, SE, N, SE, E
• Best time of year: March-early May
• Notes:
  • This delightful couloir is north facing. When it’s warmer elsewhere, you can usually find softer and cooler conditions here. This is both good and bad.
    • The good: better conditions when east and southern aspects heat up.
    • The bad: could harbor a more reactive mid-winter snowpack much longer into spring than other slopes.
    • Evaluate the snow conditions often and note significant changes.
  • There are risks. The couloir itself is lovely and wide but the initial turns are steep. Additionally, there’s wet slide risk from the western side (skiers left), right before you descend into the apron. I saw debris that had sluffed off cliffs and released across a portion of the run. 
  • Be aware of a large talus pile east and below the apron (right); it will dry out come mid-late May. I’d target a calm April day for the best conditions (avy conditions and weather dependent, of course.)

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GoPro Videos & Maps

Please keep in mind, the Gopro video makes the skiing seem gentle, it’s not. However, since I did it solo, it’s hard to gauge speed and slope angle without another skier to focus on. If you’re wondering, the photo above that stares down the couloir is what you will end up seeing anyway, so that may be a better mental gauge of overall steepness.

GoPro Video

Caltopo Map Link

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