Mt. Argentine: East Face: Voltage Drop, Amped, Short Circuit

May 28, 2009, with Elke Dratch and Maggie Gaddis. 6:40 start from Naylor Lake Road turnoff on the Guanella Pass Road. We reached the summit at 10:10 via easy slopes. Views were superb from this high point (13743 feet). We skied a couloir slightly south of the summit which offered easy entrance and 1100 feet of superb skiing. The climb back to our valley was 200 feet. We had to race down as the road closed at 1:00 pm. A mile from the Guanella Pass Road I dropped my pack and jogged down to the car, then drove it up the rough road to pick up the others. We beat the road closure by 10 minutes.

On June 1, 2013, Katie Larson, Chet Roe, and I headed up, this time via the Squaretop–Argentine saddle, since snow was a little thin in the valley; plentiful up high though. The entrance to Amped looked very steep, but Katie found a way in and skied this esthetic line, with a couple jump turns at the top. Chet and I opted for the easier line on the face to the north: Short Circuit. A wet snow avalanche cut loose from my traversing-in line, but it was of no consequence. There were a few rollers, but overall it was fine.