Be sure to click 720p!
After a failed overnight attempt a few days prior due to ghosts haunting the Napeequah valley, we returned (last) Monday for a day trip. Left Tall Timbers at 5 am and cruised through the now-familiar creek and debris pile crossings to the base of the couloir in about 4.5 hours. It’s a beautiful valley so it wasn’t too sad to have to go back. The mountains are big and remote and there is wildlife everywhere.
Fortified with caffeine and sugar we started up the chute. About 800 feet up you get a straight-on view of the next 2500′ or so and it is mind-blowing. Two big hallways separated by an open slope about halfway up. It reminded me of pictures I’ve seen of Baffin Island. Booting went fairly quickly and we reached the top in 3.5 hours. The top is quite steep and made for some exciting first turns of the day. The first 2k’ was good powder and the second 2k’ was wind chunk and debris.
One of our group tragically broke a binding about 500′ into the descent and had to mono-ski and shovel-ride the remaining 3500′. Luckily, we were able to repair it enough to ski out the 6.5 mostly flat miles to the car.
A ton of fun. Crossed one off the list but added several more in the process. How others have done this in deep snow conditions without continually wetting their pants, I cannot understand.
