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The Moonshine Couloir
Mt. Arkansas Ski Descent, April 26 2024
Mt Arkansas is the top of the Arkansas river valley and stands right by the summit of Fremont Pass. Following over a foot of fresh snow on a warm, wet snow base, the stoke was high. We were a little concerned about the wind speed, but were pretty convinced it would have bonded well with near-to-above freezing temperatures as the snow began to fell. The clouds had not parted in the morning and we climbed in the void. Whipping winds on the way up tested our resolve.
Slowly, but surely, however, the clouds parted and winds let down. The day became beautiful! Warm spring temps kept us pushing fast, but lucikly the protected aspect of the couloir along with heavy clouds to the east kept the snow surface reasonable.
After a what felt like long, long time we did eventually summit. We were presented with an incredibly steep, confined, and aesthetic line sitting underneath a mind-bogglingly large cornice. Because of it's NE aspect, the wind loading was a little questionable, however, it responded very well to loading and was not slabbing up on our test slope. We decided the best option for the situation would be a belayed ski cut. We brought out our favorite 8mm twin and set up a ski anchor. Ty bravely belayed me in as I tried to load the slope as much as possible. Despite over a foot and a half of fresh powder, the snow was loose and unconsolidated, but well bonded with the base. Despite 3 or 4 of my finest cuts, nothing moved. Here came the scary part.
Sitting underneath the gargantuan cornice, I quickly untied myself and stared at the impending snow. Almost 1000 feet of fresh, untouched, spring Colorado powder. All to myself. (for now)
Steep 50+ degree jump turns are usually followed by rattling skis and bones, but this was pure ecstacy. Slough management was everything, but for a few hundred feet I was floating down a cloud (life is good). I took the top quarter of the line, and gave up the first tracks of the rest so everyone had a slice of heaven. Man, in this much snow seconds are not too bad either!!!
This picture captures a fraction of the pure bliss of skiing this line! Writing this report in August I am dreaming of days like this again. Days like this take months of snowpack analysis, route planning, rope work, training, and powder skiing. They are limited to a few days a season. This year, I got more than I could dream. Three days at the Eisman hut, North Diamond & Machebeuf, Kessler Peak Mt. Tukuhnikivatz, Nohku Crags, Mt. Arkansas, Mt. Parnassus, Lenawee Peak, Castle Peak, and Conundrum Peak. Days where everything unimportant fades away. Stress, loss, anger, and the generall unpleasentness we encounter in life falls into the background. The hours we spend climbing, the days we spend training, and the months we've put into making it happen means nothing. If I can get even one day like this next year, it will all be worth it. If we can get Peru and ski this snow on peaks like Tocllaraju, Artesonraju, and Yerupaju, it will make a lifetime.
The mountains bring us together. It takes us into the realm of dragons. Where we navigate life and death and are constantly faced with choices. Choices that never get any easier. It gives us the highest highs and the biggest loss. It gives us everything we need to survive from water to shelter to purpose. Life as we know it in Colorado would not exist without the mountains. I trust the people with whom I travel with my life. Every time we step foot in the backcountry snow together we are taking on the weight of decision making together. Altitude, exhuastian, and the sunk cost fallacy are constantly encouraging you to make poor decisions. The very nature of avalanches allows you to get away with a lot, until you don't. This is the first year I have been in terrain and conditions capable of producing fatal avalanches, and I do my best ensure that I never get complacent. Open communication with your team is essential to making sure everybody is completely comfortable. A discussion before and after, making sure everyone is a part of the plan, and checking in regularly is necessary to safety in inherantly dangerous locations. I'll step off the soapbox now, but I touched on this because it is so easy to not take the right steps. To not check in, to not dicuss before and after, to push on even when you have that uneasy feeling in your stomach and not speak up. For myself, and for anyone else who recreates in the lair of dragons, I write this as a reminder of the importance of safety. For the people who I trust enough to go out with, I thank for their openess, communication skills, good decision making, and true love of the sport. To call out individually, Eddie, Ty, Jeff, Christian, and Spencer, you are all incredible outdoorspeople and I respect you all to the fullest. You are the ones who I felt comfortable with enough to go to another country to ski, to do our own analysis, and to push my own boundaries in a safe and open way. Next season is so far away, but closer than it has ever been. Until then!!