Got a little sketched-out skiing the North Face of Static Peak the other day, a first for me as it usually looks rocky and terrifying. Morning clouds and wind kept things firm on aspects that typically get sun at first light. I knew it would be icy, but went for it anyway. (It’s good training…right?) The first and third turns (to the skier’s right) were the scariest, since it was steeper (55) on that side of the line and if my ski edges didn’t hold, I’d be launching over some big cliffs. Luckily, they held…and I scored some great skiing back into Static Draw after cutting way right upon exiting the face.
Thanks to Thomas Turiano for the still images in this video.
More Static Peak videos here and here. Live to SKI!!!
More Static Peak videos here and here. Live to SKI!!!
nice turns, did your partner follow or opt for the east face? looked like grade A corn out of there.
Great job.it did look scary.
Do you prefer less sidecut when skiing step couloirs?
Been struggling with this question.
Nice video, Steve.
Looks Western – sounds Eastern.
Definitely gives the viewer the sweaty palms on those first few turns.
jay…he opted for the east face after my turns echoed all through the timberline lake cirque.
rod…i find i like side-cut in the 18-22m radius range for most couloir skiing. i try not to get overly anal about it though either.
a dual radius ski with more sidecut at the tip and less everywhere else might be fun to try.
If that didn’t do it, is there any non-avalanche related factor that would cause you to decide there’s too much exposure and bail on a line?
tom…of course I don’t think i’d want to ski a line like the otterbody on the grand teton in similar, frozen solid conditions. it is probably only about 1k’ from the top of static peak to timberline lake. yeah, you could worked over pretty easily with a slip while skiing this line, but the exposure wasn’t so bad as to not let me have the confidence that i could ski it in the firm conditions.
Nice video Steve! I think I can just barely hear my hoots from across the cirque. When I skied this with Scott Harris and John Scott, we found steepest part of the descent to be the bottom bowl rather than the ramp.