First Descent: The Camel Toe Couloir

Unicorn

Definition:  A Fabled Creature, impossible to catch.

From 2007 to 2011, I've been trying to ski a line that has been burned into my memory, and constantly takes over my thought process when stable sunny weather arrives.  This line has become my so called "Unicorn," and has thwarted five attempts to ski it, making it even harder to think about.  The Camel Toe Couloir, as named by Jaime Bond when the Doglotion crew went out to ski it's neighbor The Supercouloir, is in my mind a crowning jewel of Couloirs in the Coast Range weighing at just over 1000m in length (1km long!).  (Photo Below:  The Supercouloir (left),  The Camel Toe Couloir (right))

The line itself is a quagmire of factors, all which must work together in unison, in order for an attempt to be successful.  It's far, requiring either multiple days to get in and out of, or a single fast pace day which will be very long and requires a serious alpine start, during the course of which conditions may deteriorate.  The conditions must be stable, as large avalanche paths run all throughout the valley guarding it's entrance and exit, not to mention the paths throughout the entire couloir, never giving you any point where you are fully out of harms way.  Temperatures must be cold, as most of the couloir is at a higher altitude, it's neverending length drop it quite low and wet avalanches can create a problem getting to the entrance.  Add all these together, and now you have half of the complex equation.  You will also be required to ski it in the early morning, before the sun hits the upper slopes of the couloir and surrounding area, so you aren't taken out by avalanches, and cannot ski it later in the evening as there are few places to camp in the evening and snow conditions crust over.  And the wildcard?  There is a hanging glacier with some creepy seracs hanging over the bottom ski out of the Couloir.  (Photo Below:  Trevor Hunt breaking trail over Garibaldi Neve)

Trevor Hunt, and myself, headed out early at 4:30am on April 22nd up the Brohm Ridge access road.  At 5am, we jumped on sleds and started to head up into the alpine.  It's pretty rare that I get on a sled (and my skill to drive one shows), but saving the never-ending skin up logging roads and flat ridges made for a great treat.  With the sun just rising, and daylight just cresting over the horizon, we quickly made our way past the Sharks Fin up on the Garibaldi Neve.  From there, we could see the top of our line poking out of the morning valley cloud.  With an incredibly long rolling descent covering 10km down to the base of the line, we were there by 9:30am.  (Photo Below:  Trevor Hunt skiing down the moraine to the steep valley to begin our climb) 

We put in as many switchbacks on our skins as possible, moving quickly to get out of the way of the hanging glacier seracs above, and racing the sun from destroying the snow.  When it got too steep, we began to bootpack and climb, for a long time.  The climb up the Couloir, was a wallowing knee deep sufferfest, up probably the longest Couloir I've ever climbed.  The crux, a 70cm squeeze through two boulders and some deep rock wells which guard various portions of the Couloir, made for some interesting climbing combined with some hard snow over ice.  All in all, we made our way up to enjoy a short 5 minute break on the top before clipping into our skis and skiing down.  (Photo:  Trevor Hunt, high up on the Camel Toe Couloir)

The first few turns into the Couloir were great quality snow, but quickly turned into hardpack chalk as it steepened to a mellow 50 degree roll before the crux.  Trevor managed to make his way through the crux with his skis on, doing some insane ski ballet, making it through unscathed.  With no snow leftover in the 70cm tight section, I was forced to downclimb a short 4 foot section but with our footsteps already kicked into the hard snow and ice we were on our way again.  Skiing great snow, with some sections of gritty snow, from safe spot to safe spot was enough to make the legs burn.  The length of the Couloir just kept going and going, and the experience that much more gratifying.  By the bottom, our legs were cooked, and we faced an 11km skin back up to where we left the snowmobiles.  (Photo Below:  Trevor Hunt shredding the post crux powder)

Skinning back, the heat beat us up pretty hard.  We were forced to stop and cool down three times, our feet soaked from the heat and exertion.  I ran out of water halfway out, then food, the sleds still far out of sight.  After 14 hours of moving, eating snow and pretending not to be hungry, we were back at the sleds.  A fast exit, made for a solid 14.5 hour round trip, ready for dinner and bed.  

It was fantastic to get out, with all the conditions and external factors of work, transportation, fitness, rest, etc, lining up to get to go push the body into this great Couloir.  A huge weight has been lifted, and another lesson in the mountains learned:  Failing time after time, it's the perseverance to continue trying which ends up breeding triumph.  Next mission....

Note:  We believe this is the First Descent, as we have researched quite a bit, so speak up if you know of anyone who has skied it, as we don't want to call first descent if it's not warranted!  We will call it "Possible" until otherwise.

Update:  Summer 2014, no reports of this ever being skied still, we're calling it:  First Descent.