High Country Beta: May 2014

Access: Mt. Royal TH or the bike path in Frisco
Start: 0900, 5/2/2014
Total Distance ~6 mi R/T
Duration: 4 to 5 hours
Vertical: ~2000'
Aspect: NE
Weather: 30F-45F/clear, 10-20 mph winds above TL
Conditions: Wind compacted powder, corn

Peak 1 is the northernmost peak in the Tenmile Range rising prominently to the south of I-70 with Frisco in its shadow - especially in the winter when the sun sets at 1 PM over the western edge of town. The snowy summit stares at me every morning from my front porch so I've been itching to drop the Prom Dress for awhile. Save it for stable conditions with ~45° slopes crossing over cliffs and funneling into a 35° bowl.

The Approach:
There are really two choices. There's the obvious route from the Mt Royal TH that climbs past J-chute over Mt. Victoria with class 3 scrambling on the NE ridge to the summit. The summit often has a cornice that must be navigated to reach the east ridge and the entrance to Prom Dress. The traverse from the summit to the east ridge lies above 200' cliffs.

The other option is to skin from the bike path directly to the east ridge. The bike path option requires careful route finding as the summit is obscured by thick trees most of the way and there are several sub-ridges that can leave you removed from your destination.

Once you reach TL, gain the east ridge and proceed to the entrance on the looker's right of the ridge.

Tenmile Peak to the left

There are several line options along the ridge. Prom Dress is the upper most, roughly 3/4 of the way to the summit.

The Line:
Prom Dress Couloir has a 20' wide entrance. There is a vertical cliff band in front of a cornice of variable size with the entry of the line descending between the cornice and the cliff band.