Coulier Season

It’s Coulier Season, baby! For those asking yourself, “What is he talking about this time?” I’ll explain: Wikipedia says, “A couloir may be a seam, scar, fissure, or vertical crevasse in an otherwise solid mountain mass.” Skiing these features can be super dangerous due to avalanche danger… But in April, the snow pack begins to become safer — hence, Coulier Season.

In general, the more desirable (dangerous) ski lines are safer to ski in April & May. This is when I get my best skiing in every year. This year, I wanted to share some of my best lines on and off resort (backcountry)

Breckenridge – Peak 6 & 8

Seeing more visitors than any other ski resort in North America, and having the highest chair in North America (Imperial), Breckenfridge has a reputation for being crowded and cold… But in April there are no lines and it gets outright hot! A perfect time to get to the less accessible hike-to terrain on Peaks 6 and 8. I’ve been skiing these ridgelines for 10+ years, but there are always more creative (gutsy) ways down. I tried a few new ones this year:

Peak 6 Chute – Max slope angle: 50 degrees; v.ft: 600; technical features: steep cornice drop-in, 2 steep cliff drops, narrow couloir section

Peak 6 Nose – Max slope angle: 46; v.ft: 600; technical features: mandatory narrow straight-line drop-in, 2 small cliff drops

Peak 8 Nose – Max slope angle: 47; v.ft: 400; technical features: cornice drop-in, rocky features to navigate

Mt Helen

South of Breckenridge is Mt Helen, which Stacey and I summited and skied together. The summit is just over 13,000v.ft. and the ski down is about 2,800v.ft. (a longer run than any ski resort in the area). The ascent and descents are mostly avalanche safe, but it is still pretty technical skiing. The final pitch to the summit got pretty rocky, but we couldn’t resist making the full summit. Skiing was mellow (35 degrees max slope angle – similar to a resort double-black) and super fun.

Quandary

A summit of over 14,000v.ft. is called a 14er and there are 58 of them in Colorado. One of the more popular 14ers to hike and ski is called Quandary — the highest mountain in the Breckenridge area. It takes about 3,400v.ft. of hiking to make it to the top and it is almost always super windy. We went on a day that was expected to have good enough weather to summit, but we still were dealing with gale force winds at the top, where we had to transition to ski gear alongside steep, rocky faces on either side. Needless to say, I was very happy when I was in my skis and off the summit. This was our second attempt at summiting and skiing this monster (too much wind and weather the first time). The ski down was extremely variable at the top and got better towards the bottom. Max slope angle 34 degrees (similar to a resort double-black). It was a major bucket list ski line and totally worth it!

Silver Coulier

Silver Coulier is one of the most famous ski lines in North America. Featured in pro skiier, Cody Townsend’s “50 Project”, this is a pretty notorious line that can often be seen from the town of Silverthorne. Silver features a 3,000v.ft. descent in a relatively narrow couloir, entirely in avalanche terrain (52 degree max slop angle) — so it is not to be taken lightly. If this moves (and it does), it’ll take you for a ride.

I met my ski partner, Jon at a party earlier in the week and I was talking about hitting Silver. He mentioned it’s a bucket list item for him and we both quickly bit at the chance to have a partner for this objective. We waited for the perfect weather conditions and got up super early to have a chance to ski it during a window of stability. Super fun and super worth it — another major bucket list line.

Tractor Bowl

Last, but absolutely not least: Tractor Bowl. I’ve had my eyes on this one for a few years but it’s a wildly dangerous line and it’s only ‘safe’ to ski during brief windows. Furthermore, it’s hard to find a partner crazy enough to do it with me. Fortunately, my good friend Tom was looking to hit a big objective and I pulled this one out of my tour book.

Maxing out at 59 degree slope angle, the line we took into Tractor Bowl was about as intimidating as it gets. As a reference point, most resorts max out their double-black diamonds at around 30-35 degrees and a few bigger resorts (like Peak 6 at Breckenridge) have hike-to or gated terrain that can occasionally get up to 50 degrees in places.

Tom and I had a perfect weather window to hit something this steep and we started super early to ensure we could descend before it warmed up and got too dangerous. Tom was an exceptional touring partner and, with good teamwork, we were ultimately able to bag this absolute monster of a line together. What a thrill!

Which line was your favorite? Let me know in the comments below!