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April 7, 2014, Terminal Cancer Couloir

4/7/14
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Posted by jtack on 4/10/14 4:44am
Driving back from a bike/ski trip to the South West we were in Salt Lake, and had to decide, ski the Wasatch or turn west and see what the Ruby's would be like.  A friend of mind had a friend guiding for Ruby Mt. Heli skiing, and I was able to find  there was still enough snow to make a trip worth the drive.  A night in Wendover is sure to be a cultural experience, and the wind a breezy 40+.



The drive to Elko was nice, with all the mountain ranges showing off with a nice blanket of snow. 

There is plenty to worry about on the way to the Terminal Cancer Couloir, and I was thinking about all of it, but in the end if you don't go you won't know. 

The Ruby's



I was a little later than I wanted to be getting up the valley, and the suspense added to my dry mouth.  When the couloir comes into view, it is stunning!





There was a vehicle already there, and he had a good start, his wife had gone part way, and was back at the car watching progress through field glasses.  I could not really think it over too much.  I just geared up and got moving, I knew if thought about it too much I would come up with a reason not to go.  Travel was fast up to the choke, on soft sun baked new snow and I made quick work of that part.  Timing worked out about right and the guy that was ahead of me was on his way down, making nice work of it, so I just waited for a few minuets out of the way as he made his way down. 









We had a short visit, and he was on his way, and I was on mind. The snow was very soft once in the tight part of the slot, and it was a wallow fest, sometimes waist deep.  Thanks to the the fellow that broke the trail it was somewhat easier for me, but it was still a slog.  I did not really check the time but it probably took me two hours to make the col, until the last 200 feet, it seems like the finish was still a mile away. 



 



On top, there is a nice little bench to take a break, and sit in the sun.  As conditions were this day, this was not a crazy scary decent, but I was still plenty nervous about it, not being a steep skiing guy, I caught my breath, had a drink and a bite of chocolate.  The first 20 turns are the tightest and then the walls open up just a little, snow conditions were great and once I made it to the wider part of the chute, I could relax and enjoy the turns.  By the time I made it into the sun at the bottom it was water skiing, I was a little worried about sluff, but everything stayed in place nicely.  This is a wonderful ski, and I have been thinking about doing it for awhile, it is well out of the way, but there is plenty of other skiing to be had in the area, and I'm sad to say I did not get to sample any of that.







"not being a steep skiing guy"

You are now!  Strong work, thanks for sharing.

Your photos are awesome.  Nicely done.


Spectacular photos!  Your boot track looks like it takes up half the width of that couloir, it looks super tight!  Great decision to go hunting for this gem.  Wow.

Thanks for the great photos!
1. Was the road plowed to the trailhead?
2. What time did you start? What time do you guess the other guy started?
3. How was the creek crossing?

Thanks!

author=Lin link=topic=31404.msg132089#msg132089 date=1397936673]
Thanks for the great photos!
1. Was the road plowed to the trailhead?
2. What time did you start? What time do you guess the other guy started?
3. How was the creek crossing?

Thanks!


Plowed/ melted all the way(as of 10 days ago) I'm sure it's dry road all the way by now.
I started about 10:00 I think he started about 8:00. 
Easy creek crossing (again 10 days ago)
Hope you get a chance.

A beautiful objective! What a couloir!

Wow!  Nice JTack !!!

WOW THAT LOOKS FANTASTIC AND WELL WORTH THE DRIVE--THANKS...

A couple of updates to Jtack's already great report:
20 April report: There is a lot of avy debris and those deep foot steps up the couloir which has been frozen and softened many times.  So, the snow was soft -ish but not great skiing right now.  You can boot right to the top but you can ski from about ten feet below the top due to rocks at the beginning. Photo of rocks at top.

Here's some handy info, and great thought process writeup:
http://utahavalanchecenter.org/blog-terminal-cancer

Of course it is a full-on terrain trap.  Would not want to go into the area with out fulling sussing the situation for "green". 

Still looks like the area is worth the drive.

Thanks for the post Silas--most excellent for heads up!

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2014-04-10 11:44:15