Peak Z: The Zebra Stripe

The doutheast-facing couloirs on Peak Z are prominently visible from Dillon and Silverthorne as one looks into the heart of the Gore Range. I had wanted to try the narrowest one for several years and on Memorial Day weekend, 2001, Jonathan Kriegel and I hiked and skied in with camping gear on the Pitkin Lake Trail from Vail. We camped at 11300 feet, and early the next day trekked over the pass near Peak X and climbed Peak Z’s west side. The Zebra Stripe had a runnel in its center so we chose the broad couloir to looker’s right for our descent. This measured 50˚ at its steepest spot and was a beautiful way down. The route back to camp involved booting up the leftmost shallow couloir, and offered more good skiing on the other side, and then more good skiing at the Peak X saddle. (Also some lightning as we raced over the last saddle to get back to the Vail side.)

The second photo was taken two days later from the wooded shoulder of Keller Mountain above Boulder Lake; lots of postholing for me, but it was worth it. Our ski tracks are actually visible in the 8-by-10 print. The third photo was taken May 26, 2007, from Keller and shows more of the great skiing opportunities in this area. Definitely a primo spot for a camp-out.

On May 7, 2008, Dan Hendershott, Matt Wentz, Dan Pedrow, and Mike Bennett camped up in the upper Boulder valley and skied the line that comes down from just west of the summit of Z. They measured it at a consistent 45˚. Probably the Zebra Stripe name should be reserved for the main couloir that goes right from the summit, as opposed to the one I skied to the east. Some call the Zebra Stripe the Worm.