Spring and Summer skiing: Mount Evans

David Silver

Summit Lake with Sunrise Couloir looming above

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While many people put their planks or boards away come April, the core know that you can ski all over Colorado well into summer. Usually, this means hiking, but if you are lazy, and willing to get a big enough group together that two cars makes sense, then skiing Mount Evans is one of the best ways to get summer turns in.
Whether you are hiking up, or leaving a car, Summit Lake, at 12,830 feet, is where you can scope out the whole north face. To the west is Sunrise Couloir, so named because it faces due east, rising from the edge of the lake. A large cornice usually forms at the top of the Couloir, which reaches at saddle between Evans and Spalding. Sunrise collects tons of snow, and can usually be skied into mid to late summer.

To the south you can see the north face of Evans, which has several snowfields. Chris Davenport, in his Ski the 14ers project, skied right off the summit down a ridge to the road just next to Summit Lake. Later in June, this line is usually discontinuous, leaving the north face snowfields as the best skiing option. As the summer progresses, the starting point gets lower and lower from the summit ridge.

Here is a video shot by skiers hitting lines on Evans. Nothing like skiing or riding on a warm spring day in tasty corn!