{"id":6830,"date":"2022-05-23T11:40:08","date_gmt":"2022-05-23T17:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.voile.com\/blog\/?p=6830"},"modified":"2022-05-23T11:40:10","modified_gmt":"2022-05-23T17:40:10","slug":"embracing-the-fear-a-tribute-to-steep-skiing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.voile.com\/blog\/embracing-the-fear-a-tribute-to-steep-skiing\/","title":{"rendered":"Embracing the Fear: A Tribute to Steep Skiing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

All Photos Courtesy of Aidan Goldie-Ahumada<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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What is it about steep skiing that has enthralled so many? As the Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda said, \u201cSomeday, somewhere – anywhere, unfailingly, you’ll find yourself, and that, and only that, can be the happiest or bitterest hour of your life.\u201d <\/em>Both the happiest and bitterest moments in my life, the ones where I have truly found myself, have been on skis traveling in the most remote and inhospitable environments. From the highest highs riddled with growing anticipation on the summits of longtime objectives to confronting tragedy at the foot of a remote glacier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I first climbed Mount Tahoma<\/a> in the summer following my first year of college. With a growing interest in the summits beyond my backyard Colorado Rockies, a mentor told me that climbing Mount Tahoma could be an important stepping stone toward the world\u2019s big ranges. Tahoma is one of a few peaks in the lower 48 that combines a mountain of scale, heavily glaciated terrain, and challenging route finding. This prominent stratovolcano attracts visitors from around the world and has inspired generations of mountaineers. With Mount Tahoma on my mind, I took the first opportunity at the end of the spring semester to drive across the west and join some friends on the Nisqually Glacier to climb Tahoma via the Kautz Glacier route. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Objective In Sight<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Mount Tahoma first becomes visible on the horizon many hundreds of miles from the trailhead. Anticipation builds as the small mound in the distance slowly turns into a prominent, complex, and imposing mountain. After a quick parking lot gear explosion, we collected our permits, donned our mountaineering boots, and started our long approach to Camp Hazard at the base of the Kautz Headwall. To get to Camp Hazard, one first has to cross the Nisqually Glacier. Depending on conditions, this can be a good introduction to roped glacier travel. An opportunity to get our systems dialed in before making the transition to the Kautz Glacier and navigating the maze of snowfields, icefalls, seracs, and mafic ridges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traveling from base to summit is around 9,000 feet of elevation gain. The scale of the mountain is complicated by navigating crevasses, dodging persistent rock and icefall, and anticipating extremes in weather. Our group got an alpine start and started working around the opening glaciers under the faint glow of headlamps. Dawn breaks on the east side of the mountain and suddenly casts a large shadow towards Seattle and the Pacific. Another reminder of the scale and prominence of this massif. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon after the first rays of light hit our shivering bodies, the terrain begins to flatten as we gain the summit block of the mountain. With the Columbia Crest in sight, we trudge through the summit gusts and stand atop the highest Pacific Northwest volcano. After a successful summit, we take refuge in a volcanic fumarole for a snack before descending the same route. We set up a series of anchors to make our way down the steep Kautz Headwall. With the snow frozen from the night, we donated a few pickets to the mountain to rappel the steepest sections of the route. <\/p>\n\n\n

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The Turning Point<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Nearing the end of my rope on my last rappel, I hear the distinct sound of scraping skis above me. I look up to see two skiers making turns down the Kautz Headwall. They carve perfect turns in the sun-softened snow and quickly pass our group.  I watch, stunned, as they go up and over Camp Hazard and effortlessly ski down to the Nisqually Glacier below. They make their descent in a matter of minutes. I think of the skiers as we do the same descent in our mountaineering boots and a handful of hours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this point, the idea of steep skiing was pretty abstract to me. Existing only on the impossibly steep spines of Alaskan peaks I had seen in Warren Miller films. Steep skiing was something reserved for the pros and a helicopter ride. This trip to Mount Tahoma propelled me in a direction I was not initially anticipating. I was expecting to build skills to better climb large peaks, but instead, something new was instilled in me. A desire to learn how to more efficiently travel in complex terrain through the lens of ski-mountaineering<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Head-First Into Steep Skiing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I traded my mountaineering boots for touring boots and, years later, found myself standing on the amphitheater saddle looking towards the summit block of Pyramid Peak. Pyramid Peak is a landmark of the Elk Mountains outside of Aspen, Colorado. The iconic profile of the impossibly steep face can be seen from the summits of a few Aspen ski resorts. This line was first skied by Chris Landry in 1978 and is considered a significant inflection point in the sport of steep skiing. The face seems so imposing, so consequential, and so steep that nobody repeated the Landry Line<\/a> until it was skied again in 2006 by Chris Davenport and Neal Beidleman. These descents of the Landry Line, along with other steep-skiing test pieces like the Newton-Clark headwall<\/a> on Mount Hood and the Ford-Stettner Couloir<\/a> on The Grand Teton, demonstrated what is possible on skis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Gaining the winter summit of the Pyramid Peak requires navigating deeply faceted snow as it sloughs off the red bands of crumbing sedimentary rock that make up this part of the Elk Mountains. The summit block of Pyramid Peak is steep and impermanent, with thousand-foot falls on either side. Getting to the top is a practice of focus and finesse. Successfully skiing this peak is not only a test of confidence on steep terrain but also the ability to track the season’s snowpack and catch a small window of ideal conditions.  <\/p>\n\n\n