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Pikes Peak's Little Italy ("The Funnel")
from curve just above Glen Cove on Pikes Peak Highway
~1.8 miles
1:19 to top of Little Italy; 1:53 round trip
Scooby, Shep, and I
With Spring upon us, it's time to consult our to-do lists of various snow couloirs and other cool snow climbs. Pikes Peak's north face presents some irresistible couloirs...e.g., the two branches of the Y Couloir, the Railroad Couloir…but it's probably still too early to tackle these steep climbs, not to mention that the closed upper segment of the Pikes Peak Highway narrows one's descent options. The northeast-facing Little Italy couloir (also known as "The Funnel") was our best option for today: relatively close, easy access (the PPH is usually open to Glen Cove), not too long (~1000 feet bottom to top), not too steep (~35-40 degree slope). And, it's doggie-doable…Scooby and Shep missed out on this one when Hoot Gibson and I went last April.
I parked the truck on the sharp curve just past Glen Cove, and stepped out into howling wind and surprising cold. After I added an extra layer, we hit the trail at 12:00 p.m. It's just over 0.25 mile from the PPH curve to the base of the Little Italy.
I stayed with snowshoes for the brief ascent of the "foot" of Little Italy. We stopped at the rock outcrop just below the "heel," as this is a convenient spot to don crampons, whip out ice ax, and stash snowshoes. While I fumbled with my crampons, the wind whited us out several times. Great.
We tentatively engaged the main segment of the couloir. The snow was in reasonably good shape: several inches of dense newer snow over a hard base. Everything seemed secure. Unfortunately, the numbingly cold wind rolled right down this section, causing several heads-down stops; the blowing snow made a sizzling sound as it scoured my helmet. I capitalized on the brief respites to take numerous photos of Scooby and Shep excitedly running up and down above me. At the top of the couloir, the wind was a sustained 50-60 mph…I could hardly stand, and taking a group photo with my small tripod was out of the question. The dogs turned and looked longingly down the couloir...they were ready to get down out of this wind.
During the descent, the crampons stayed on for the hard snow of the upper section of the couloir. Once the surface softened a bit, I stashed the crampons and enjoyed several slow glissades...unfortunately, that newer snow precluded a fast ride. Within minutes, we were back at the rock outcrop, where I retrieved the snowshoes and hiking poles.
Back at the truck, I was surprised to see that our round trip was less than 2 hours. Wow, that was a lot of fun in such a short period of time. I hope to get back to Little Italy in a few weeks, when the "old" snow should provide a very rapid glissade. |
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