Over the weekend, I made the mind numbingly long trip from Austin, TX to my former home of Colorado Springs to attend my old school's graduation. Between arriving in Colorado Springs Friday afternoon and graduation Saturday evening, I enjoyed a little playtime in the mountains, specifically on Pikes Peak. We should have heeded the ranger's warnings at the bottom of the toll road because we experienced some treacherous conditions. At 13,000 ft. or so we encountered severe winds in excess of 85 mph. At one point, one of my friends was literally blown over and slammed to the ground. Another friend took off his pack to make sure the other was OK, which was a mistake. The wind blew the pack over a massive cliff band into The Chimney, a well-known couloir on the Pikes Peak massif. The pack probably weighed 40+ lbs. but it looked weightless in the air. At one point, I was sprinting as hard as I could to clear the ridge so I wouldn't get blown into the mountain...the wind was so strong that my efforts were reduced to a near tip toe. It was unreal. Sorry for the long story.
Oh, how many times I've watched long plumes of snow ripping off the ridges of Pikes Peak and thought to myself, gee self, I really wouldn't want to be up there right now. These are cool photos. I like each one more than the one before it.
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