Apocalypse.
Climb what you ski, right? Not in this case I guess. Jon, Phil and I decided to go for the Apocalypse Couloir from the top down on Tuesday. I read a few trip reports on the internet and the couloir looked filled in. By not climbing it first, we did not have the luxery of knowing the skiing conditions. We did have the gear to rappel the crux if it looked icy and narrow, so off we went.
Jon, Phil and I had attempted it from the bottom up two years ago. We turned back when dangerous sluff came down to the crux on our way up.
I skied it 4 years ago with Phil and Jim from the bottom up. The conditions were great that day. It stayed cool preventing sluff and the crux was an easy ski through.
Jon at the crux 2 years ago, moments before a wave of sluff almost knocked us off.
We wanted to try it from the “top down” this time. We took 2 ropes, an ice screw, a nut and some cord.
Jon on the first rap.
Phil deep inside Prospectors.
Jon on rappel.
We made a two rope rap to an anchor and then another short rap to the “cave” to start the descent.
Phil on the second rap to the cave.
It was borderline ski-able from midway down the first double rope rappel. There was a small hollow created by rock and ice right before the cave that would have required a technical move on skis.
View from the bat cave.
It snowed the night before and it was cool and windy for most of the day. When we dropped in we were greeted with 8-10 inches of dry snow on top of a firm base. The snow was pretty sluffy so you had to make a few turns at a time and then let the sluff go and repeat.
Phil in the upper Apocalypse.
Mike manages the sluff.
Phil manages the sluff.
Now came the real uncertainty of the day. We skied farther down into the couloir toward the ice-bulge section. The skiing got worse as we descended. There was a hard gouged out runnel down the middle with wet snow and powder snow all on either side. The bed surface got more icy as we went down, which challenged us all. We leapfrogged down until Jon and I were standing above the bulge, in the belly of the beast. This is the zone were you do not want to dilly dally. It is a dangerous, yet stunningly beautiful constriction with blue ice and lichen covered rock walls all around. Decision time. Phil was still above us and I really wanted to move fast. I thought maybe we should rappel, but it takes time to build a v-thread, deal with the ropes, one at a time down, time consuming I thought. Jon decided to take a look. Once he started sidestepping he was committed. As Jon descended it became apparent that this was going to be difficult. I had a rope, so Phil and I still had the option to rappel. There was a icy rocky runnel to the left with a 65 deg icy flank to the right just wide enough for our skis. It then funneled into a 4 ft constriction encased in blue ice. Really? I thought about the options: “speed is safety” mantra to side step down, or to rappel.
Jon gets committed.
Jon side stepped his way down using his whippet pole to anchor himself. As he neared the end of the crux he pointed his skis down the fall line and slid face first into and ice wall. He was fine. I chose to side step down it.
The deep, steep, dark, scary, icy crux.
Technical descending.
I started sidestepping and soon I was completely gripped. It was intense. It felt like I was down climbing with skis on my feet. Slam the whippet in, left ski step down, right ski step down, repeat. It would not have been so bad if it wasn’t so icy. Every part of me was focusing energy, seeking purchase for my edges through the crux. 10 minutes of technical ecstasy.
Lot of base showing on those skis.
Just checking the camber.
Okay… we should have rappelled the crux. It would have been faster and safer. Jon Woodens quote comes to mind, “Be quick, but don’t hurry.” With speed, there is a fine line between being efficient and making mistakes. Were always seeking that balance in the mountains. The crux was a mentally and physically exhausting affair. My whole right side is sore today. Jon and I have a lot more time on skis than Phil. During his time in the crux, Phil made a huge stride in his technical ski mountaineering experience. I believe his climbing background helped him to focus on the task at hand. Falling was not an option.
I feel that we should have “smoked a cigarette” so to speak, at the top of the crux. This would have given us more time to think about sidestepping or rappelling. As an all-star “Wednesday morning quarterback”… I recommend rappelling.