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Backcountry Skiing blogs, videos, photos, and a whole lotta stoke.

One Sketchy Lap | Zero G- Jackson Hole Backcountry, WY United States | 03/17/08, by powderjunky

What was supposed to be a fun day of skiing the Arch Couloir, turned into a sketchy day of ice skiing. Our plan was to get to the resort early and head west to Pandora's Box. Delayed by work and meaningless web-surfing, (Damn you Stumble Upon), we got to the village around 11am. Since some weather was moving in, coupled with our late start, we decided to bail and ski some of the easier accessed resort backcountry.

We found ourselves on a chute called Zero-G which is usually a really fun 55+ degree chute at the top. It has a cool rock spire in the middle and surrounded by big cliffs on both sides. As soon as I skied into the entrance, the light on the snow changed and I realized that a good portion of the really steep part that chokes to a narrow passage, about 5 feet wide, was complete rock hard ice. The picture hides the 10 foot cliff to skiers left of me, and the only way down was to ski the five-foot choke to my right, or huck the cliff. Based on the snow conditions I was experiencing in the present I opted out of jumping the cliff. I contemplated booting out, but I soon realized that my efforts to kick steps into the steep hard snow were as useless as having a calculator at a spelling bee. I put my skis back on and slowly negotiated the slick ice trying hard to keep edge contact to the slope. This was harder than one might expect, due to the fact that my touring set-up hasn't been tuned since gas prices were under $2.00.


It was only about a ten yard section of sketchiness, but if I were to slip, I would schuss off the 10+ footer only to have the fall broken by that cool rock spire I mentioned earlier. Just then, snow started to come falling down over me like confetti at a New Years Eve party. I looked up to see and hear my partner yelling at two tourons, carrying no avy gear (only lift tickets), as they skied right on top of me. I wonder how they planned to find me if God forbid they set off a slide. They apologized and admitted to not having any avalanche or backcountry knowledge and inquired about where to go. My partner told them a safer way to get down, and later we watched as one of the skiers double ejected on his way out, solid.

And people wonder why some of us get amped when we see these folks in the backcountry. Anyway... with a short skip, hop and a jump I exited the steep entrance and enjoyed a nice powder run the rest of the way down.


My partner opted for a different run and we met at the bottom. Although I was quite peeved about skiing sketchy ice and being skied on top of, I came to realize we probably saved the two young Minnesota college kids from a huge accident. From the looks of it they were skiing a little out of control, at the same time, and if my partner hadn't stop them they would have entered the icy crux at high speeds- spelling out certain disaster.

Once down, I looked at my feet and realized I had skied the whole thing with my A.T. boots unbuckled and in walk mode. I had loosened up everything when I thought I might boot pack out and must have forgot to buckle back up. Geez! I blame it all on the fact that I forgot to wear green on St. Patty's Day.