Home > Trip Reports > Feb 10, 2013, Distal Tendon Couloir

Feb 10, 2013, Distal Tendon Couloir

2/10/13
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Posted by ryanl on 2/20/13 3:09pm
Dan, Eric and I skied a couloir to the climber's left of the Distal Phalanx a few weeks ago.



Pretty stellar route in an amazing part of the Cascades. Full TR here:

http://skisickness.com/post/vt440-distal-tendon-couloir
Awesome read; heal up for the spring/summer season!

Holy crap -- hell of a day Ryan.  Sorry to hear about your arm, though it sounds like maybe it saved your knee?  Heal up quick.

A great trip and photos. Good save on the fall.  ;)

Awesome TR, Ryan.
Hope your arm is doing well.

great write-up! and what an amazing line! 
Hope the surgery goes smoothly and you recover quickly. 

A descent like this is just an impressive physical achievement until it is interpreted by you. Then it becomes a vibrant mural. I'm not exaggerating. Well written, again...

Heal up!  We need to climb. Screw skiing, for now anyways...

Excellent photos.. line and writing. Not a bad way to be knocked off the horse.

great writeup - those b&w images with blurry skiiers are spooky!

Way to get it guys!  Looks yummy.  Hope you heal quick Ryan!

Exquisite piece of work gentleman.  Dave and I missed you Ryan on the Duffy.  Always bring your passport to Bham!!  Looking forward to having you back again this summer.

you guys are amazing !!

Amazing in every way! Thanks once again Ryan.

Bummer about your arm. get strong quick.

The black & white pics in fading light are wicked, hope you don't mind me  re-posting this one

Wow, that is incredible! Nice injection of humor to go along with a stunning TR, too Ryan.

Crazy beautiful! Get well soon.

Just to be clear, you skied what Beckey calls the North Route on Mantis Peak, correct? That's the line that my brother Gordy first climbed in May 1982. It's the couloir between Mantis and Distal Phalanx, somewhat left of where Eric is pointing in your picture.

yep you got it Lowell, the couloir is just left of my glove, just looker's left of the rocky ridge/summit that is DP--it winds down from between 7614' Mantis and Distal Phalanx (Mantis's sub-peak immediately west).    Mantis would be the logical top-out, but there was too much rock showing for us to imagine skiing the last bit from the top.

So...Gordy climbed our ski route, not that deep cleft on Mantis that faces a little bit more easterly?  (Which looks pretty cool, by the way--Scurlock has a nice shot of it somewhere.)  I'll have to break out the Beckey bible this evening...

oh btw, here's a link to more pics.

Outstanding work and the embodiment of the ski mountaineering spirit. I know well that time frame of the go-no go, good choice.

author=hedonaut link=topic=27596.msg116284#msg116284 date=1361842217]
So...Gordy climbed our ski route, not that deep cleft on Mantis that faces a little bit more easterly?  (Which looks pretty cool, by the way--Scurlock has a nice shot of it somewhere.)


Yes.

Here is a photo taken from Colonial Peak in April 1979:



The "Mantis Peak North Route" is the obvious broad, curving gully in the center of the picture. I does look like there are other (narrower) gullies in the neighborhood. I'm not aware of any of them having been climbed or skied.

It has a similar shape to Magic Mtn/Yawning Glacier! (Same general layout, with couloirs, cols, basins in the same places).

Spectacular photo Lowell. Thanks for sharing it. For clarity, here's our route:


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2013-02-20 23:09:22