3-5-2011 NW of the Pfeiff

4:00 start, fairly ambitious plans, pretty stable conditions, reasonable weather, Chad A, Andy; seemed like a great combo. North West of the Pfeifferhorn was up first. When we hit the ridge above Red Pine Lake it was still dark.

Andy boots the rocky section on the way to the Pfeiff

Bad picture, pretty morning

We were making good time, watched the sun rise on the summit, and were psyched to ski when...

Andy's 3rd broken binding in the last month

Happened 10 feet into the NW couliour. Andy still managed to make turns though.

Andy

Skiing was good/great.

Chad about to hit a few more turn before the rap

The rap was pretty filled in, Chad opted for the hip rappel.

Solid technique

Chad

Andy

The binding ended the day WAY too early. Oh well, still a great morning.

The Y-Not, NW Couloir Pheiff, Gear Failure #3

Here's how the last two days went down.

FRIDAY:

I backed into my garage door after the opener seemingly malfunctioned, destroying the door, my box, and crossbars. That made me late for our run at the Y-Not Couloir. It didn't matter though because we made good time, found our way, and I was able to forget about how pissed I was just hours before.

Here's CC finding his way up the Y-Not

JD turned into a little rage monkey at the top.

...Not sure why since the skiing was pretty good.

We leap frogged our way down to the rappel and found that the anchors are most inconveniently located. Completely exposed to avalanche and rock fall, they've been partially destroyed and are hard to safely access if the conditions are even slightly icy. We slung a large tree about ten feet up that I feel should be the permanent anchor. Adding to the cluster was a fixed rope some party left behind.

Here's a peek.

To gain the lower apron, there's a fun section of mandatory straightlining, crappy snow, and dark granite walls.

Y-Not rappel crotch shot:

While taking pictures from the cave, the rage monkey reappeared:

Untitled from andy dorais on Vimeo.

SATURDAY:

We had big plans to start at 4:00 AM, head up the Pheifferhorn, and then linkup big lines in the area until dark. It was supposed to be glorious. It was, until...



These POS Trab bindings are a disaster waiting to happen. I was clicking in at the top of the NW Couloir and after a couple tries discovered the heel pins had snapped in half, mandating that one heel be free for the rest of the day. First the toe piece breaks and then the heel. See here for more.

Back to the Pheiff...

CA came with us this morning and is an awesome guy. He was so psyched for us to be successful on our planned link up, that he kept jumping to the front to break trail. Happy from the get go (4:15AM), I'll ski with that guy any day.

Scrambling in the dark.

Wake up!

They boys on top of the Pheiff at 6:30 in the morning:

CA, above the rappel, with a few of our intended lines in the background. My binding broke at the spot from where this picture was taken.

CA, with a hip rappel down the surprisingly filled in NW couloir. It was 6-10 feet at the most. For those of you into airing stuff, now would be a good time for a ropeless descent. I was even tempted on the kid skis and broken binding.

So, we found ourselves in Hogum Fork at 7:20 AM with untrustworthy gear, torn as to whether to continue or nor. The voice of reason prevailed and a potentially remarkable day was cut short by six or seven lines. Each line is an adventure in itself, but I'm still interested in using light (if I could find some that didn't break) gear and a wild imagination to create something bigger. Pachinko is the game and it's becoming an addiction.

3-4-2011 Y-Not

Andy had work this AM, that meant a 4:30 wake up and 5:30 start, again.  I just wanted to rest today but how could I say no? First hour was by headlamp, before we knew it the sun was up and we were in the Y-not.  The top was great.

Andy moving pretty quick

Snow stayed nice throughout, a little variable but not too bad.

Chris Midway

Andy near the cliff

We thought the anchors were in a weird spot preceded with what looked like a patch of ice. A rather large tree seemed like a better option.

Andy

After the short overhanging rap the chute gets narrow.  It was a little hard to keep speed in check but a combo snowplowing and straightlining got us through the tight spots.

Chris pointing it, a bit steeper then it looks.

3-3-2011 Bonkers and Stairs

4:30 wake up ended with me driving to the point of the mountain and then going back to bed.  After yesterdays wet slide, we figured 48 degrees was too warm.  Later, Adam suggested Stairs.  Why not?  Adam, John, Zack, Ryan and I headed up to a white out.  Zero viz meant Bonkers was more appropriate.

Zack struggling to see

 First 500 feet were WHITE

Finally cleared near the bottom, Adam skiing

Lap 2 found John and I waiting in the clouds thinking Stairs was out.

John on top of Bonkers loving the cloud

As we all were waiting, Stairs Gultch suddenly cleared.  We figured we'd check it out and skin back up if the clouds came back, luckily them didn't!

Zack, powder, Stairs

Swain

Turns out Stairs contains a few rocks and a little ice. After a couple wrong turns, John found the alli baba.

John finds the way, Adam turns, Zack waits

"I really like skiing powder."
- John

Zack exiting

Adam

More Zack

Here's Y Not

Untitled from andy dorais on Vimeo.

I had an obligation until one and missed a beautiful morning. I needed some adventure and thought we might be able to force our way up the Y and out the Y-not. Just as we entered the Y, Jason stated rather matter of fact that I should get out of the way. I looked up and saw a wall of slush coming at us. After easily ambling to safety, we pulled out our cameras, confirming that wet slides can be outrun. Not wanting to be proved otherwise, we both sagely state in the video that it probably would be a good idea to turn around. Really? Probably? Probably wasn't a good idea to be there in the first place. Guess I'll live to ski manky snow another day.

3-2-2011 The Y and part of the Y

Skied the Y with Tom and Tom in the AM.  No camera, no pics.  Was still pretty good. The plan was to Ski the Y not in the afternoon and then think about something else. We had John and Jared driving across town to join when some wet sluff came dumping over the rock to the right of the choke in the Y.  Went shopping instead.

Untitled from andy dorais on Vimeo.

Andy hanging out in some wet debris

3-1-2011 Needle, Sliver, Coalpit, Y

Glad Jared hooked me up Chad for a little blind ski date. Lot of picture for the day, started with a pre-set booter in the Y.

Topping out the Y

Then a little traverse to the top of the Needle.

The Needle

Chad entering

Down the Needle and over to the Sliver for a little skinning and steep booting.

The Sliver

Topping it out into the wind

Wish I had a before shot. We pulled a cord out and cut a large chuck of cornice off, pretty fun to watch it blow up.

After the cut

Steeper than it looks,

Sliver Apron

After the Sliver it was over to the top of the Coalpit Headwall.

Wind

Summit pose

CP Headwall

Coalpit with some tracks

Finally it was over to the Y and out.

Chad looking hot

This skiing followed by a short run left me STARVING!