Quite an adventure, but we didn't make it to the top. Keep reading and you'll learn why.

Ever since I had read in the Dawson's Guide To Colorado's Fourteen Thousand Foot Peaks that no one has ever climbed Capitol in one day from the road in winter I have obsessed with doing it. On New Year's Day 1999 I made my first unsuccessful attempt. An endurance climb in the best of summer conditions, with winter snow a one day climb is epic.

Kelly Bates and I met at the house in Breckenridge that he leases during the ski season around 2:30 P.M. on Dec 22nd. I met Kelly over the Internet--he had read one of the trip reports I'd posted on Usenet and asked if I'd be interested in climbing with him. We climbed once on a traverse of Peaks 1, 2 and 3 just west of Breckenridge in November--He was enthusiastic about a try on Capitol in winter, so we planned on the "winter solstice" under what would be a full moon. (not only a full moon, but because of the moon being at perigree and the sun closest to the earth at this time of year it was the brightest full moon in 133 years!) At Kelly's house we each cooked up simple meals (Kelly: burritos; me:couscous), then started the 3 hour drive to Snowmass Village (near Aspen). I had already driven two and a half hours to get to Breckenridge from my home in Colorado Springs.

The road to the trailhead is a county road ending after nine miles at the trailhead to Capitol Peak around 9400 feet elevation. The road had been plowed only to a ranch entrance about 2 miles before the end of the road. Since there were "No Parking" notices next to the ranch I put my truck into 4-wheel drive and plowed up through the snow for about 200 yards--difficult going but we were able to find a good flat spot to park off the road. By 8 P.M. we had finally sorted out our gear and were ready for sleep. I slept in the back of the truck in the open air in my 0 degree bag, while Kelly and Sam the wolfdog slept in the truck cab--Kelly slept sitting up in his sleeping bag leaning against the window, while Sam had his place in the extended cab area.

In the truck bed I slept for only one hour, then for three hours I just lay there--occasionally peaking out at the incredible moon, as clouds raced by its face. We were up at 11:30 P.M. climbing by 12:20 A.M. It was very cold--about 5 degrees Fahrenheit.

Once we started hiking we warmed up though--I had some inadequate gloves to begin with, but immediately stopped and put on my heavy duty Polypro liners with Goretex outer mittens. My hands were getting numb with Gore-Tex/thinsulate gloves only. We wore our snowshoes as we trekked up the road in the brilliant moonlight. Headlamps were not necessary--the light was incredible. We could see all the surrounding peaks just like it was daylight--not as well of course, but with all relevant details obvious.

This was a long hike even in summer without snow to contend with. On this morning we soon found ourselves on loose, unconsolidated deep powder snow. Often we would plunge 2 or 3 feet with every step as we broke new ground. At first Kelly led, but shortly I took over the exhausting duties. Losing the trail meant considerable difficulties of either crossing gullies--down and up steep drops, or going through forest and deadfall covered with snow--you can't tell where the actual log is because the snow is so deep it makes a log look 3 times its size--if you step on a portion that is only snow thinking you are going to step on solid log you will often fall. Of course it doesn't hurt to fall in snow, but it is exhausting to try and get up in the deep snow with a pack on.

After three and a half hours of steady climbing (nearly 4 A.M.) we had our first view of the peak since the trailhead. It was still a long ways off and we still had to go through a lot of forest--if we found the trail that wouldn't have been so bad--unfortunately we didn't. The consequence was some very trying deadwood manuevering and difficult stream crossings.

Finally seven and half hours into the climb we got another view of the peak. Below the peak is a lake called Capitol Lake. This would have been our initial objective. We could see that to reach this lake we would have to climb another steep ridge--if we knew where the trail was this would be hard enough, but without the trail we would have to climb straight up in deep snow--nearly an impossible task. We were already exhausted. We knew that even if we had made Capitol Lake--which we could have done with a great effort--with the loose deep snow the avalanche danger to reach the summit ridge would have been considerable. We were both cold--I was having trouble keeping my thumbs from going numb and my socks were wet and my toes were starting to numb. As the sun came up our thermometers still read 5 degrees F.

So we turned around--but we still had another five hard hours to reach the truck. When we finally reached the trailhead we were both on our last legs. The day was beautiful though--clear and cold. From the trailhead we saw snow plumes coming off the summit and ridge of Capitol, meaning the wind was intense up there. Combined with the cold even if we had continued on it would have been harsh. Strapping on our skis the 2 miles down the road from trailhead to my truck went by in a flash.

So we didn't succeed. There is a reason no one has ever climbed it in one day in winter. It is a hard mountain to climb in one day in summer. In fact it is considered by many to be the hardest fourteener in Colorado. I will not give up though!