West Hourglass Couloir
This was my third day in a row skiing the Tetons with Bernie and we were gettin’ it good for mid April. We skied a pow run down Glory, then the first ones up Taylor the next day, and there I was the following morning picking Bernie up at 4 a.m. We had to take advantage of the prime conditions tired legs or not. We pulled into the Taggart Lake lot and were the first car, perfect. Hard to believe after a foot or so new, then blue skies. The only other time I skied the Hourglass was years ago in early July with Bernie. I do remember seeing Coombs in the lot and he was climbing Irenes Arete, he was pumped that we were still skiing. We made our way up the ridiculous “multi use trail” that has become of the Garnet Canyon skin track, thanks to all you snowshoeing snowboarders.
Bernie arrives in the Meadows below the Middle Teton
We began our steady ascent of the couloir by skinning the lower apron, and began booting at the junction of the West and East Hourglass. The booting was pretty good with a foot on top of a firm base. You really get a feel for the snow quality and safety by booting up what you ski. There were a couple spots with 2 foot wind loaded surface slabs that were concerning me.
Bernie skins below the West Hourglass
We made our way switching lead booting duty’s and were at the top in no time.
Bernie takes the lead in the West Hourglass
Bernie feeling small deep in the West Hourglass
Bernie nears the top of the West Hourglass
We transitioned to ski mode and were ready to reap the rewards. There were a few touchy wind slabs to contend with on the way down.
Bernie skis the West Hourglass
Powder in the West Hourglass
Steep skiing in the West Hourglass
The couloir skied well with a few spots of sastrugi, but mostly just great Teton powder. The apron below the couloir skied really well, and we layed down some signature tracks.
Bernie lays down some tracks below the West Hourglass
Bernie on the apron
Tired legs
Powder in the park
Bernie nears the meadows
We skied out of the meadows, and that is when my legs began to feel the last 3 days. The snow was pretty sloppy down low due to the warming and it was difficult to ski. We got back to the lot and were both real ready to take a few days off. Little did I know I only had one day rest, then an overnight trip up Leigh Canyon which turned out to be a great recon mission. I’m heading back this weekend.
Bernie starts his rest day ASAP
10:26 eastern. colors fly- Providence. Well hidy-ho. finally something i can sink my teeth into. nice work, calla, bernie. thanks for the images. nice technique bernie in the “steep skiing in the west hourglass” photo. alot of nice pictures in there. i would have kicked those snowshoeing snowboarders asses if i were there. boosting highest grade cannabis lung-wards in t-minus 6.5 hours and counting. checkpoint alpha, beta, gamma (4-26-10) over
Yeah Nuge good to hear from ya again, sorry no Wasatch but I do have some scenics from there I can post. We skied the north side of Lake Peak, between Red and White Baldy. Only good snow in the Wasatch at the time was straight north. We did put in the booter up the Snowbird Twins for patrol though. It was pretty sweet, just walked on the tram at 730 with Dave and it was all good. Pow today on Glory with a foot or so new. admin over.
1:22 eastern. red, blue and gold fly- Providence. did you get that admin., red, blue, gold? what do these colors mean? has my country been subliminally hijacked from above? either way, greta nez perce phots. really puts me in the mood. roasting of chronic offering in t minus 3 hrs. and counting. checkpoint alpha, beta gamma 4-26-10 over
2:38 eastern. armenian colors fly- Providence. Greeting admin.. Thanks for the response. good to hear from you and see your marvelous work! spectacular! im jealous. no worries about wasatch. they had, what appeared from Providence, to be a terrible winter. not not because todd collins is a p.o.s.. i dont know though, wasnt there, maybe they had a good winter in which case todd collins is a living breathing heap. did you get that about armenian flag? dont know what to think about that. they do have skiing over there but it doesnt look very good. big diaspora country or place where everybody is forced to leave. finally lets leave things on a good note, smoke pot. checkpoint alpha, beta, gamma 4-26 over
9:40 eastern. colors, pow mia fly- Providence. Once again Calla, Bernie bravo! Quite an accomplishment! Nez Perce looks rad. Noticed a few questionable elements worth mentioning. Did the conditions depicted in “Powder in the West Hourglass” truly feel like powder and what happened to the wasatch? I like the Tetons too but where is the fort? dropping some L.S.D in t-minus 4 days and counting. checkpoint alpha, beta, gamma 10:00 over