Camp Bird Mine Road (Ouray County #361) to snow closure

Mount Sneffels:
Chelsea Morgan, John Minier and I hiked/skinned up Camp Bird Mine Road into Yankee Boy Basin to the base of Mount Sneffels. We took off our skis and put on our crampons and ascended Sneffels‘ South Face "Birthday Chutes" to the summit.

"Birthday Chutes". Photo: Chelsea Morgan.  Annotation: Brian Kalet

 Climbing the "Birthday Chutes". Climber: Chelsea Morgan. Photo: John Minier.

We hung out on the summit waiting for ideal snow conditions, but got impatient due to high winds. We descended the firm, steep "Birthday Chutes" into Yankee Boy Basin. This is rated as a II D13 R4 on the D Scale.

Skiing the "Birthday Chutes". Skier: Brian Kalet. Photo: Chelsea Morgan.

In Yankee Boy Basin, the snow was much softer.