Glissading is fast and fun, but it also can be a shortcut to the emergency room

In no way does The Gazette recommend you try glissading, sliding down a mountainside of snow on the seat of your pants, with nothing but an ice axe for steering and nothing at all between you and the rocks below.

Sure, the Rockies are at their most beautiful when they're in a sea of snow. Sure, you won't find crowds like at the ski resorts, or on these same high peaks in the summer. And sure, zipping down in five minutes the peak you just spent five hours struggling up is a blast, and can help you get off the mountain in time for happy hour.

But don't try it unless you know what you're doing. By reading this, you absolve The Gazette of any responsibility for broken bones, cuts, heinous fractures, soaked pants or bruised pride that may result from this inherently hazardous activity.

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Plodding down Mount Shavano last fall, his legs weary from having hiked to the top of the 14,229-foot peak in the Sawatch Mountains, Igor Kulish saw an angel.

The Angel of Shavano is a snow field on the peak near Salida, which under the right conditions resembles a heavenly figure with arms stretched upwards.

"I wanted to save time and energy. I was tired," said Kulish, 28, a relative newcomer to Colorado who was climbing his 13th fourteener. "I thought, ‘Hey, a river of snow. It will take me 1,000 feet lower than I am now.'"

That he is alive today is a miracle, he says, thanks to the angels of Chaffee County Search and Rescue.

He lacked the right gear or experience for glissading - a mountaineering technique in which climbers slide down snow, either sitting or crouching, using an ice ax to control speed and direction - on snow that was much too hard and icy. He sat in the snow and slid, and lost control halfway down the snow field, slamming against several rocks before a large pile knocked him unconscious. He sprained his shoulder, wrist and left foot, bruised his tailbone and suffered severe punctures to his elbow and right shin. Rescue crews carried him off the mountain in the freezing dark.

"I really did think I was going to die when I was falling," he said.

If done right, under proper snow conditions, glissading can be a thrilling way to descend in 10 minutes a peak you spent five hours climbing, without the burden of carrying skis.

All you need is the ax, maybe some snow pants or sturdy rain pants, and a spring snow that is soft and wet, but still firm enough to dig an ax into. If it's a powder day, grab some skis instead.

But Kulish's story shows what can happen when it is done wrong. Several people have been killed in recent years in Colorado's mountains.

"At least with skiing or snowboarding, your body is not your slide surface. When it's just your body, you're taking all the impact," said Joe Slivka, a mission coordinator with Summit County Search and Rescue, which last May responded to the death of Breckenridge teenager Michael Henthorne, who was snow-sliding without an ice ax at Mohawk Lake and went over a cliff.

In the spring of 2007, experienced mountain climber David Worthington died after a fall on Humboldt Peak in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The Denver Post reported he was glissading and tried to control his descent with a trekking pole.

In March 2004, Kyle Fitzpatrick of Colorado Springs was killed in an avalanche on La Plata Peak in the Sawatch. A report by the Colorado Avalanche Information Center indicated he and two friends were glissading, with adequate gear, which triggered the slide that buried him.

Experts say evaluating snow conditions is the most important part of safe glissading.
"It's kind of good corn snow, that stuff that freezes overnight. You climb it when it's hard and you glissade down when it softens up. The key is to get off steep slopes before they get too soft," said Spencer Logan, an Avalanche Information Center forecaster.

Spring avalanches tend not to be as large as those in winter, but they can be heavy like concrete and "beat you up and push you around."

"If you sink your ice ax in and you can't hold yourself there off the ax, it slides too much, you probably shouldn't try to glissade off it," Slivka said.

Climbers should evaluate their own abilities.

Slivka suggests that, before trying a 2,000-foot glissade high on a fourteener, people hone their skills at lower elevations, with long run-outs in case they lose control. Climbers can also learn self-arresting techniques, controlling yourself on a slide, in mountaineering courses offered by groups such as the Colorado Mountain Club.

Kulish admits he didn't know what we was doing when he decided to glissade on Shavano. After three weeks in a wheelchair and months of recovery, he still has weakness in his left foot, which didn't stop him from summitting Mount Sherman recently. He still plans to climb all the fourteeners - he just may walk down.

"I think a lot of people don't realize falling down an icy slope is the same as falling straight down," he said. "My advice is just to stay away from the snow if you don't know anything about it."

FIVE GREAT GLISSADES

LITTLE ITALY

• This chute on Pikes Peak, above Glen Cove, is a popular glissading and skiing destination.

Upside: On the toll road, park at Devil's Playground and traverse west along the ridge. Little Italy is the most obvious chute descending into Glen Cove. Leave a car at the bottom.

Downside: You need a good spring snowpack to do it safely, and this year may not have it.

CRISTO COULOIR

• A classic backcountry skiing and glissading route on 14,265-foot Quandary Peak near Breckenridge, with more than 2,000 feet of vertical.

Upside: North of Hoosier Pass, take Blue Lakes Road to the lake, then begin climbing the south face of Quandary.

Downside: Steep, and a popular area. There have been injuries and avalanches.

ANGEL OF SHAVANO

• Slide down a gully on 14,229-foot Mount Shavano that holds snow late into spring, shaped like an angel.

Upside: Near Salida, follow the standard route up Shavano, and veer off at the top - or bottom, for a snow climb - of the snow angel.

Downside: Don't wait too long into spring or the angel may be too melted out.

CASTLE/CONUNDRUM PEAKS

• In the majestic Elk Mountains near Aspen, bag 14,265-foot Castle Peak and slide down without having to re-hike the steep part.

Upside: Follow the standard route for Castle Peak. At the summit, descend the saddle with Conundrum to the northwest, and descend the large snowfield between the two peaks.

Downside: This area holds snow late into spring, which can mean a long hike on the road in. Also, watch out for a crevasse around the frozen lake at the bottom of the run.

ST. MARY'S GLACIER

• Safe from avalanches, with a gentle slope at the end, this is a good place to hone your glissading skills close to the Front Range.

Upside: Take Exit 238 on Interstate 70 in Clear Creek County and follow County Road 275 nine miles to the trailhead.

Downside: Even in spring, this is a popular area on weekends, and parking fills up quickly.

PROPER GLISSADING TECHNIQUE

• Ensure the snow is soft enough to bury an ax, but not so soft you won't be able to control movement, and that you have a clear view of the slope.

• Sit in the snow chest forward, with knees bent and boot soles resting on the snow.

• Hold ice ax with both hands while sliding, using it like a rudder to maintain control.

• Keep your feet up while sliding, and remove crampons. To keep them on could, in the words of one climber on www14ers.com, "snap your ankles like a dry twig."

• Make sure to keep the ice ax away from your body, lest it injure you.

• To stop, dig the ax in deeper and gently dig your heels into the snow. Putting the ankles in too suddenly could cause a somersault.

• Don't go fast unless the path is safe and has a long run-out to slow down.

Consult an experienced mountain climber for more advanced standing and crouching glissade techniques.