Circumnavigation of Dragontail, Pandora's Box Couloir

Photo by Photo description of the route

Skied a nice clockwise loop around Dragontail Peak on May 9th, 2009.   From Colchuck Lake (elevation 5570), we ascended Aasgard Pass (7750), up to the summit of Dragontail (8809).   

Once we gained the summit, we traversed in a westerly direction to the false summit, also referred to as "Pandora's Box" in some climbing route descriptions.  The first photo was taken from the summit shows Pandora's Box off in the distance to the right.  We gained the ridge that leads to Pandora's Box (second photo) and then climbed/down-climbed to the top of the west facing couloir that heads down near the Colchuck-DT Col.  Getting up and over and then into the couloir proved tricky - a slip here could certainly ruin one's day.

Once in the couloir, we enjoyed a great ski down to near the Colchuck-Dragontail Col.  The snow had set up a few days and settled mostly, so we felt safe after a few turns.  The top is about 30-35 degrees, and about 3/4 the way down there's a steeper roll, around 38 to maybe 40 degrees or so.  Before the roll though, it's difficult to see the bottom and we were a little apprehensive given neither of us had been there before, but once in this steeper section, the skiing was enjoyable.  And from there to the lake via Colchuck Glacier conditions ranged from enjoyable wind affected powder heavy wet and dense snow. 

Gear- we brought a 30 meter, 8.5mm rope, light pro,  2 long slings, ice axe, crampons, skis.  We used everything and wished we had packed ski crampons for the ascent up Aasgard Pass. It's certainly possible to go ropeless on the ridge section across to Pandora's Box, but the rope weighed so little compared to the consequences of a fall off either side.

Thank you Monica and Kyle for the beta!