{"id":492,"date":"2017-05-19T19:15:43","date_gmt":"2017-05-20T01:15:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.voile.com\/blog\/?p=492"},"modified":"2020-01-24T11:28:30","modified_gmt":"2020-01-24T18:28:30","slug":"pinch-me-an-ode-to-tight-places","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.voile.com\/blog\/pinch-me-an-ode-to-tight-places\/","title":{"rendered":"Pinch Me: An Ode to Tight Places (Couloir Skiing Season)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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As the season for charging powder filled bowls and popping pillow lines comes to a close, my mind wanders to narrower corners of the backcountry. The big boards have been hung up for the winter, but smaller rides like the Vector<\/a>, Objective<\/a> and WSP<\/a> are back in the regular rotation. A consolidating snowpack and peaking snow depth mean it\u2019s high time to search out the skinniest, steepest, and most aesthetic lines. It\u2019s couloir skiing season!<\/p>\n

Couloirs are like secret passages through some of the most rough and unforgiving terrain in the mountains. A natural trap for wind driven snow and often a focal point for avalanche activity, they often have artificially deep snowpack compared to the more open terrain in the same vicinity.<\/p>\n

As conditions change throughout the spring season and from year to year, no two descents in a couloir are the same. Different melt\/freeze patterns, snow depths, and shed cycles mean that even the crux can move to an entirely different location than it was during last year\u2019s descent.<\/p>\n

Why scour the mountains for this geologic wonder?<\/p>\n

Sometimes the attraction is the question mark as you enter a new couloir. Does it go? Is there water ice in the crux? Will I need my rope? How wide is this thing anyway? How long are these skis?<\/p>\n

Maybe I am really just looking for a little more constraint in the limitless backcountry. In a sport that is so focused on \u2018freeriding\u2019 maybe it\u2019s refreshing to have your focus limited to a snow filled chasm with one way up and one way out. Soaring rock walls to left and right seem to channel my energy as I trade skins for crampons and work my way up these wonderful constrictions.<\/p>\n