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Our first Summit attempt on Denali was 5 days into our trip. We had made it to 14 camp with 10 days of food and supplies in 2 days.
We climbed and skied the Rescue Gully on Day 3 and hung out at 17,000 feet for an hour of so.
We took a rest day in between and then went for it. We attempted to summit via the West Buttress and were cruising up the highest peak in N America until we hit a wall around 19,000 ft. We slowed to a snails pace and inched our way up Pig Hill to the Summit ridge.
At 8:30 PM we all turned to each other and decided that we had had enough. We had pushed for a summit ski too quickly and had been reminded that this mountain is different than anything we had seen before.
Instead of descending all the way down the West Buttress, we stuck to our initial plan of the day and entered into the Messner Couloir just after 10PM. The Sun highlighted the upper face and looking down the line sent shivers down my body.
I will never forget how low we all felt after turning around at 20,000 ft. We were so close to the main objective of the trip. As we cautiously hop turned into the Messner our energy levels increased as we descended in altitude. By the end, we were all smiles and the lack of summit was forgotten.
We had just skied our dream line at 10:30 at night! Almost 6,000 ft of no fall zone, steep skiing right back to our camp!
This photo is of myself @bigmountaincreative watching @rangercarl lead the way into the famous Messner Couloir.
@g.allen.smith
#bigmtncreative #kneedeepinwork #subarusnow #skipatrollife #skipatrol #k2skis #k2mindbender #builttoblast #denali #denalinationalpark #ski #skiing #skiing #skimountaineering #skimo #skiuphill #freeskier #mountain #mountains #mountaineering #alaska #sevensummits #couloirskiing
Popped a small windslab in the upper section of this chute... we knew windslabs where possible, we also knew they would be very thin, slow and manageable... makes for an exciting moment tho!!! @podiumsports @mo_pros @virtika @flint @seekoutside #gopro #avalanch #couloirskiing #backcountryskiing #colorado #springskiing
Like looking at the eye of a needle & wondering if you can thread it first shot.
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⛷:@steepskiing @jimwmorrison @myshellparker
: @christianpondella
Via: @clubsnow
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Not a bad way to spend a tuesday in June Kevin drops in to the 3/4 couloir above Moraine Lake earlier this morning. A little fresh ❄ and smiles for a good type 1 fun day. .
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#skiing #skimountaineering #backcountryskiing #couloirskiing #spring #june #climb #canadianrockies #getoutstayout #getuptogetdown #mountaincultureelevated #morainelake #banff
A glimpse into some of what the marvellous avalanche patrollers do for our daily safety on the mountain @whistlerblackcomb
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Via: @mountainlifenut
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Follow: @whistlerwango - avalanche blog
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Follow us: @loveofpowder
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#snowobsessed #loveofpowder #snowgoals #powdergoals #powdertothepeople #powderskiing #powdershredding #epicpow #offpisteskiing #powpowpow #deepow #chutes #couloir #couloirskiing #treeskiing #deeppowder #backcountryskiing #triggeringavalanches #springskiing #britishsnowlumbia