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trash talkin'
mentioning split in another post made me remember I had a story about split....and it is a 14,000'er
Behold the mighty Sierra Crest: its spires rake the cobalt sky far above the Owens Valley floor. Spilling forth toward this "deepest valley" are many steep ribbons of snow and, to the ski mountaineer, this is Mecca. In fact, the intimate couloirs found nestled within the shady confines of vertical rock could be considered 'extreme.' "Extreme is such a relative term, however, that it's hard to say for sure.
When Glen Plake recently skied the difficult climb known as "Clyde's Gully" on Split Mountain (elev. 14,058), a rappel was required during the descent. And though many would call this crazy, he never considered it extreme. Instead, Plake just dealt with the task at hand. Almost every couloir of the Sierra Crest has been skied and all are extreme to someone. Literally thousands of snowfields stripe the technicolor crags of this mighty escarpment. A few stand out as classics. Extreme or not, these couloirs call out be climbed,skied or simply admired. The 50-degree couloir known as Clyde's Gulley is certainly a classic. Dropping 1,300 feet between towering blue buttresses, this line is steep, narrow and extremely dangerous. Near the bottom is a 60-foot-high icefall that is nearly vertical. Below this is the bergschrund, a gaping crack in the snow waiting to eat-any would-be sliders.
Just a bit north along the Crest lies the Palisade Glacier, and rising briskly above this glacier are many chutes and couloirs. The V-Notch couloir is it's jewel, set in the metamorphic stone of the Palisade Crest. Flanking Polomonium Peak (elev. 14,080+), the couloir rises 1,000 feet above the typical, high-alpine bergschrund. This 50-degree couloir is fairly wide and beautifully inviting. Farther still to the north, near Bishop, lies the Evolution Crest. Walter Starr Jr. wrote that this area is " the region where the grand crescendo of the Sierra touches at once the heart of the mountaineer and the artist. And in the granite heart of this "grand crescendo" are two of the steeper couioirs in the range. These couloirs located on Mt. Gilbert (elev. 13,106) and Mt. Mendel (elev. 13,710) exceed 60 degrees. The northeast couloir on Mt. Gilbert is a straightforward, relatively wide line with about 900 feet of vertical drop. The Mendel Right couloir, on the other hand, is a tight dog-legging line which drops 1,200 feet to the bergschrund. This is perhaps the toughest line in the Sierra to ski. Here, turns must be carefully orchestrated in order to comply with the harsh demands presented by this wierd, drifted couloir.
All of these couloirs could be considered extreme. Yet, for those who can suppress the fears which well up, they become just another challenge. Each time we master a new skill or slope, we look to the next phase, the next success in our skiing progression. And this progression of challenges is what leads us all to become better skiers. Pierre Tardivel of France is considered to be the most extreme of ski mountaineers. Still, he doesn't consider what he does as all that extreme. When asked what he thinks of all the media hype, he replied, "I don't like the word 'extreme'. Nothing I do is ever extreme." This, from the first person to ski Mt. Everest, including the Khumbu Icefall. In the Alps, he has more premiere descents of 65-degree slopes than anyone. But then he didn't start out on the super steep. He has carefully attuned his senses to progressively seek out steeper lines.
And so can you.
The High Sierra Crest offers some of the most varied terrain imaginable. Mt. Lamarck, Red Slate Peak, Mt. Whitney all offer other exciting options. This enormous playground will challenge anyone and entice all to try.
The level of challenge is up to you.
Tardivel when asked about being afraid, responds, 'To practice this sport, you mustn't be oversensitive, but you must be aware and know your limits. Another famous ski mountaineer, Chris Landry, is a person who has skied the Mendel Right Couloir. He looked at his descent this way: "Some people see it as some kind of a sudden heroic, daredevil act. Nothing was sudden, nothing was heroic. It was all part of a very gradual, very logical progresion in myself.' Tardivel does offer this definition: "Extreme skiing is accessible to any very good skier. It starts where the skier, because of a strong emotion, has to control himself perfectly. It is where he feels close to his limit." He further adds, "I do a lot of ski touring in the mountains; it's my favorite sport. I look for steep terrain, though; I don't care for long, flat glaciers."
It's all about perspective.
Landry coined the phrase which deflnes extreme skiing as being "...if you fall, you die" Landry then disproved this by falling during an extreme descent of Denali in Alaska and living to tell the tale. The late Patrick Vallencant (no, he didn't die skiing) defined the extreme in this way "The extreme begins on slopes above 45 degrees, at heights where a fall may be fatal." England's Sir Winston Churchill gave us perhaps the best perspective: "Play for more than you can afford to lose, and you will learn to play the game." Risk, danger and the ever-present fear are possibly the allure. Gorges Joubert writes, "Here, we live with risk. And if we die, we die doing what we like, which is to be on the edge of living." Vallencant's view of risk was very similar: "There is danger in the mountains and I know I risk my skin when I ski very steep and dffficult slopes. But I accept this risk with joy in my heart for, because of the risk, I live." He also admitted, "There is ego, for having done something very difficult and being able to say to yourself, 'I have done that.' But the mountains have revealed to me and, I am sure, many others that there is something better in us because of our feats in these mountains. We become more at peace with ourselves. "
Landry alludes to this spiritual satisfaction as well. "People talk about 'conquering' a mountain, or 'beating' a steep slope - that's exactly wrong. It's not aggression or warfare. To do these things, you have to force yourself into a kind of passive state, where you blend in as part of the mountain, part of the snow, part of the skiis, part of the environment. It is totally symbiotic." He adds, "I'd be the last to say that what I'm doing has any importance to anyone but myself."
I guess extreme skiing is really all about going where people say you can't.
Spiritual fulfillment, self-gratification and thrills-a-plenty are definitely available on the High Sierra Crest.
What are you waiting for?!?
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gilbert...arrow denotes potential dream line....note exit in other pic above...has a huge lip at top...
http://www.gomammoth.com/423gilbertchutesBW.jpg
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fuck yes, nice words, nice pixs
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nicely. been diggin your eastside pics and am getting stoked to make some trips down south now that you guys are getting some.
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yo hariy, those are niice but small. fyi.
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yes......I am truly sorry for that....thanx!
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hola mi nuevo amigos y amigas
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Ummm, can we get back to PM Gear vs. Colorado? Stoke is getting kinda played.
