So ended up hitting Guanella Pass on Friday - wind forecast was looking really solid like high teens gusting to high 30's straight from the west. Road was supposed to be open but unfortunately was still closed by the time I arrived. Based on Avy forecast and family constraints, I wanted to be up there early and down early.
Based on my day up there, the area has huge potential but get the feeling it can also easily disappoint. For example, I got up there and struggled the 1st 3 hours to find any useable wind in the lower valley. It wasn't until about noon and when I had climbed up to about 11,800 ft that I finally got a consistent breeze. Was pretty flabbergasted at how dead calm and swirley it was down low based on the forecast; I have a feeling that the strong sun and thermals on the eastern slopes may have been killing off the breeze. The large mountains to the west I think also have a significant affect on winds from that direction. Friday the winds also came in much more from the south than anticipated, which also ended up being problematic. I had decided to make a run on climbing Bierstadt, and with the way the winds were coming in, they were kind of rolling in over a southern ridge, and that wasn't helping either.
At any rate, really beautiful area up there, but also might be a bit of a heartbreaker - with the visions and possibilities of what is possible often exceeding the realities. Would be fun to try on a lighter N/S thermal day when winds are pumping through the valley.