I've skied the Apocalypse Couloir on Prospector's Mountain a few times, and it seemed like the right objective for this day--mid-elevation, sheltered from the wind, protected from solar heating, and it sluffs regularly enough to flush out many of the weak layers that we have in our snowpack. It would take significant assessment and management to get it done safely, but we agreed that it was a good terrain choice for the day's hazard.
I picked up Scotty Palmer in the dark cold of Jackson on Christmas morning, and what followed was a fantastic day of adventuring in fun terrain, with wonderfully stable snow.
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| Putting in a fresh skintrack through low-elevation facets was slow work. Good thing Scotty was there to keep me entertained. |
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| 39 degrees seemed like a good slope angle for digging. Scotty found sluggish storm snow instability. Nice scenery, too. |
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| Prepping the first rappel. What a lovely day! |
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| Starting the descent into the deep, dark of the Apocalypse Couloir. Photo: Scott Palmer |
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| Like a fish... Hoping that this is the final pitch before we get to skiable snow. (Big, overhanging ice bulge just where the ropes go out of view.) |
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| Let's put these ropes away and ski! Photo: Scott Palmer |
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| After stomping a ski cut with no results, Scotty commits to the line. |
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| Mmm, good. We found wonderful, chalky snow--great edging. Photo: Scott Palmer |
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| Boing, boing. |
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| Things got narrow for a good long ways in the upper couloir. Photo: Scott Palmer |
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| And then widened up at the dogleg. Photo: Scott Palmer |
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| The ice bulge in the narrows of the lower couloir definitely wasn't going to go unroped... |
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| ...So Scotty got all newschool-freestyle-jib-jabby with his twin-tip skis on rappel. |
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| And then skied the skinny below the rappel. Burly. Look at all of that ice! |
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| For a wider ski, these Voilé Charger BC's edge rather well when the snow turns to ice. Photo: Scott Palmer |
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| And we're out! Nice, soft turns to finish it up. |
Another amazing day in the Tetons. I'm thankful to be surrounded by this community of skilled and motivated ski partners to get me fired up, and then help me make good decisions.
Looking forward to the next adventure...
Looks like an amazing trip. Glad to see you giving the splitboard a try. I love my voile. I'm interested in what you are using for bindings. I have been enjoying my hardboot setup this year. My hardwoods are way more comfortable then my softboots ever were. Still trying to figure out how to make the voile plates a little light but other then that I'm pretty stoked. Clayton
ReplyDeleteYeah! Hardbooting is the answer, as far as I'm concerned. I'm using the Voilé Mtn Plates on their slider tracks, with Dynafit toepieces for touring instead of the touring bracket. (The bindings go in my pack while I'm skinning.) I'd love to get up in the hills with you--I could probably learn a few things from a full-time splitboarder!
ReplyDeleteAJ, Not sure how I managed to get this comment on the wrong post. Must have clicked on the wrong one after my tablet froze?? I'd love to do some riding together. Send me an email and maybe we can work something out. I'm basically riding the same setup with the Voile Mtn Plates and Dynafit toe pieces.
ReplyDeleteClayton, bieber79@hotmail.com
PS. Nice work in the True Grit. A 100 mile race is a pretty impressive first event. Nothing like jumping right in head first.