April 30, 2012, Cannon Coulier

I have been itching to ski Cannon's for a long time, and knowing it was right at the edge of my skiing ability I wanted to go with partners that would be able to help, if I broke down and started crying part way down.  We had a perfect day for the try with clear weather forecast, and not a cloud in the sky.

We started from the gate on the Icecicle with the original plan to cross  Eightmile creek at the bottom of the coulier and take our lumps in the old burn till we were able to put our skis on, but the creek looked to scary so we amended the plan, and continued on up the road to the Stuart lake trail head. This turned out to be a pretty good way to go and we made our way 5000 foot snow in a fairly painless fashion.  As we made our way up through the burn we (I) was a little concerned that the snow was going to be a little firmer than I had hoped but the views were so satisfying that I was distracted from my worries.


We had a nice leisurely lunch about 400 feet below the start of the coulier enjoying the views, and the good company.   We were on the entrance around 1:00pm,  excited and anxious (me) it looked firm, but good enough to try.



As I suspected it was about all I wanted in the steep department,  there was a little softer snow on top of a very firm base, with some slough debris  thrown in for good measure.  I managed to hack my way down 20 or 30 turns and clear the breach for my partners.  They were much more confident and Mike on tele gear quickly descended below me,  Andy jumped in and in short confident hop turns did the same. 



My turn again, again I managed to worry my down another 500 feet or so before I had to take a break and quiet my over revved system.  To be honest, I have skied steeper ground, but something about the syke out factor and the exposure made it seem more than it probably was, but no problem feeling the adrenalin pulse for me.   As we descended the the ridges formed by earlier sloughing make picking a place to turn more demanding, and that section tested everyone's skills.  It was about in here that I had a ski pop off (did not pull the toes up on my Dynafits) and was able to test my ski pole self arrest skills, which must be OK.  It was disconcerting, but there was nothing to do but re group and keep skiing.  Another 500 feet or so and the snow began to soften, and I was finally able to relax and ski with greater confidence.  We continued down to the 5000 foot level enjoying the dreamy corn and the excitement of a very challenging (for me) ski. 

We put on our skins, climbed back up to the 6400 foot level and exited the coulier and took a nice break before the the ski across the burn and out.
 
It was a fantastic ski, and now that I have done it once,  I will not be so quick to ski it the next time I'm up there, unless the conditions are ideal.