plinko

I’ve been updating my blog and in switching servers some posts were deleted. This was a highlight from last winter that I’ve rewritten with more pics and info from the route.

We were filming in the area of the Pfiefferhorn last week when I spotted what appeared to be a ‘skiable’ line. I couldn’t stop my mind from piecing together this stout, steep and committing connection of ramps on the north face of the mighty Pfieff. It was one of those mind seeds that once planted keeps growing and gets deeply rooted. It wouldn’t leave my thoughts even once I was back down in the valley.

The trick would be connecting the correct ramps together and not tumbling to death over hundreds of feet of rock. However, it looked as if it would all ‘fall’ into place if you started in the correct spot. Kinda like a big game of PLINKO!

 

All I needed was a willing and able partner. Courtney was game, he even knew the right direction to go.

 

Busy Saturday in the wasatch backcountry. The beauty of picking such an ugly line is that you can avoid the crowds.

 

Started off the summit with  sticks on. Nice turns right off top.

I brought along a photo to aid in our inverse navigation. We kept referring to it as a ‘map’ and it turned out to be a very useful tool. Mountains look very different from above where everything just rolls off into space.

It’s ski mountaineering not ski ballet. No points for making it pretty. We made some turns and sidestepped through a narrow chute to reach the first rappel. Ok, it was mostly sidestepping. Mentally it’s very difficult to relinquish the safety of your edge and throw yourself into a turn with that kind of pitch and exposure.

 

We brought along two 60m ropes, but we managed the first cliff by doubling a single line over a prominent rock horn.

 

The first rappel landed us on the angling ramp we were hoping for, which was much steeper than we had hoped for. Committed to gravity and the downward pursuit at this point!

(Courtney all locked in and wondering what to do next.)

 

I’ve been on telemark gear exclusively for the past 12 years and this was my 3rd day on Dynafit gear. I had some serious issues clicking in here and came close to full on freaking out. Turns out I just didn’t have firm enough snow underfoot and the ski kept flexing. Great place to get your gear dialed in. Luckily I hadn’t pulled the rope yet so I could hang onto it while I fiddled around.

So you are probably asking “is this even skiing”? The answer is yes, because we have skis on.

 

 

I checked out the slope angle, but it’s tough to get an exact reading with the S1 beacon. There was no doubt everything on that line was in the mid to upper 50’s. Steep enough.

You can see Courtney down below working towards the rocks looking for a solid rap anchor.

 

Looking back at the sunny ramp where I took the slope angle reading. If it looks like sidestepping, that’s because it is. Lots of ass clenched tiny sidesteps. We contemplated but didn’t make any turns, and sitting here safely in the comfort of my office I’m happy with that decision.

Looking down with 2 raps still to go.

Court has a long history of rock climbing, so the pro placed the pro. We had to pound in a few pitons here for anchors after we dug around and found cracks.

This was a long rap that took the full length of both 60m ropes.

We were both all smiles when we hit the final hanging snowfield and knew we had plenty of gear and only one more rappel.

All the skiable sections were much shorter than they had appeared from below. The lower snowfield was very short, but had some nice snow so we decided to actually make some turns.

 

We made some high concentration and consequence kick turns.

 

The final rap!

The sweet relief of the mellow apron.

The transition from the vertical world was covered in classic Wasatch powder.

It was late and we had forgotten to eat or drink much so we had a quick picnic down in the flats beneath the line. The evening was warm and comforting. I didn’t want to leave.

(Insert cheesy team photo with project in the background here)

We didn’t see any signs of a previous attempts on this line (rappel anchors), but this is the Wasatch and pretty much everything has been skied. So, i’m not sure if we can call it a first descent, but it was new to us and a full on adventure. Having skied most of the graded routes in the Wasatch this is the most serious and committing line I’m aware of. We’re rating it at (II S6+ A).  We skied out Hogum to the road in less than friendly conditions.

There are certain turns and days and sunsets you’ll never forget.