Sam was passing through Flagstaff on the way from North Dakota to San Diego so we planned on doing something. What we really wanted to do was some packrafting to test out the new rafts but I was unable to come up with a nearby legal whitewater paddling option with decent water levels. So we went with plan B, the Mount Humphreys Triathlon. The plan was to bike up to the end of the road, skin up to the top of the ski area, and then hike to the summit and reverse with a gravity assist. I didn't know how much snow would be left so I was a little afraid of carting up the skis only to have to hike anyway. We even considered driving up which would have been the easy way, but it wouldn't have been the Yogaslacker way.
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On 4-23-2011 we got up at 5 am and ate and finished the packing and bike assembly. We left around 6 am and headed towards the ski area. This was around 14 miles and 2500 feet of elevation gain (we started at 7,000 ft). Most of this gain was in the second half. We weren't pushing it very hard, but we kept moving steadily and made it up in about 2.5 hours. We parked the bicycles and switched into ski boots at the end of the road. The snow had melted a lot in the last 2 weeks but there was still a stripe up the mountain in the shade. After a short walk across a muddy meadow we started skinning up the mountain. The snow was pretty icy and there were a few spots where we had to follow a very thin strip of snow between rocks.
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We tried to veer off of the ski area at one point but it was too icy and steep for our skins, so we continued on the ski area up above the top of the lifts. We stopped to switch from ski gear to boots above 11,500 feet around 11 am. After I took off my pack I found my bike lock key in the snow. It had been hanging around my neck but the string broke. It must have been caught by the hip belt and then fallen out when I took off the pack. Luckily I saw it otherwise we would have been so unhappy when we finally got back to the bikes and they were locked up.
After stashing the ski gear and eating another slice of old pizza we traversed across and up on mostly snow and rocks. We probably should have put on our crampons, but we didn't bother and evidently didn't really need them. We went up over a sub peak on the ridge where we could mostly walk on what was left of a cornice on the lee side. Then on up towards the summit of Mt Humphreys. By now Sam was feeling the altitude although I was doing ok. I guess that is the difference between coming from 850 feet and 7,000.
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As we got closer to the summit, the wind velocity increased. We were both very glad to have ski goggles to protect our eyes and faces. I was unable to walk in a straight line even with ski poles so I am guessing the gusts were 60 mph or so, maybe 70 at the peak. I think we might have had to crawl a bit if we didn't have poles. We made it to the 12,637 foot summit around 1:30.
At the summit we hunkered down behind a rock wall, put on more legwear, and ate a bit more food. We tried to do some acrobatics, but the wind was pretty brutal. Sam managed a handstand for a few seconds. We were just above the cloud level, so when a cloud blew by we were surrounded. It was very windy and cold, even behind the small rock shelter (the bigger rock shelter was full of snow). I had a few fingers going numb even with my gloves on, so it was pretty rough. I didn't have any fat pills, but old beef and cheese sticks sufficed for our unhealthy calorie boost.
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Soon after we started down it felt like a string was whipping against my lips I had already tied up some loose pack straps that were smacking me so I couldn't figure out what it was until I realized it was fine sleety snow. It was plastering against my fleece pants but bouncing off my thermawrap jacket and goggles. We also got a bit of more normal snow and mini-graupel. You could see it blowing up the slope towards us. Once again we were very glad to have the goggles. As we descended the wind eased up a bit and the precipitation stopped. It felt like we were descending quickly but it still took a long time before we got back to the skis.
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Skiing down the slope was a lot faster, except it had cooled off again with the increased clouds and wind so it was still icy. Also there were rocks, trees, and steep slopes to dodge. This probably wouldn't have been a problem for a good skier, but for me it was a little sketchy. I did manage to avoid the rocks and cliffs, but I did blow one turn and go down. I also had to stop every few hundred feet to just stand there and let my legs recover. For some reason they were very tired. Near the bottom we had to detour through the woods to dodge a melted out patch. Luckily it wasn't very steep at this point. Back at the bikes we finished off the brownies and switched back to the bike gear.
The descent from the ski area was a lot quicker and easier than the ride up. It was a bit scary when a side-gust caught my skis though. Sam went a good bit slower because his skis were strapped on his pack like an air-brake. At the bottom of the ski area road I took off some more layers and we pedalled on back to Flagstaff. This part went fairly quickly - I think we even had a tailwind.
Sam got a vicious cramp just before we finished 11.5 hours after we started. We didn't feel totally wiped out, which either means I am actually getting in shape, or we managed to keep our pace under the "wipe out Tom" threshold. I think it was somewhere in between. That night I went to bed early and Sam drove on towards California.
I put together a quick video which I posted here on youtube...
Mounty Humphreys triathlon video
Sam did the videography with a waterproof point and shoot. I did the editing and audio.