Corbet's Couloir

[kingslug]

Well one thing is for sure when trying to compare East vs West......the amount of time it takes just to get to the top of runs like this is a hell of a lot longer than anything in the east. To even get an idea of it you would have to go to Whiteface and then add another 1000. Plus the altitude gets you a little loopy. The biggest mind blower about the west is the vastness of it all. You just don't get that out here. Approaching Jackson from the road ,it's a sight to see, intimidating to say the least. But there is something for almost everyone there, and you don't need Corbetts to scare your self.

 

[dmc]

They could rename Corbetts "Tourist Trap" and the lemmings still won't get it. DMC is on the money...Jackson has SOOOO much more to offer...I was there for a week and we never once headed for Corbetts...too busy in No Name Bowl, Cody Bowl, Alta Chutes...etc etc etc etc etc

not to mention the slackcountry..
Four Pine... Pucker Face... Rock Springs... incredible... And not a person around when your there.. Well.. I do get passed on the hikes out occasionally..

 

[skiNEwhere]

Well one thing is for sure when trying to compare East vs West......the amount of time it takes just to get to the top of runs like this is a hell of a lot longer than anything in the east. To even get an idea of it you would have to go to Whiteface and then add another 1000. Plus the altitude gets you a little loopy. The biggest mind blower about the west is the vastness of it all. You just don't get that out here. Approaching Jackson from the road ,it's a sight to see, intimidating to say the least. But there is something for almost everyone there, and you don't need Corbetts to scare your self.

gonna have to disagree with you slug....

I've been an east cost skiier my whole life, and I hadn't skiied on the west coast until this year. I went to mammoth for the first time, coming from camp pendleton (with an elevation <100 feet), and even though the summit elevation was over 11,000 feet, I didn't notice a different or feel loopy (although I felt a little winded when I had to hike up to get to "beyond the edge")

I skiied the wipe out and avalanche chutes, and even though they don't compare to corbets, they certainly were intimidating with what felt like a 50 degree pitch and only 10-15 feet to maneuver in between the rocks at the top.

As someone already mentioned, its not only the drop you have to overcome, there is that intimidation factor you have to overcome because that it what makes you nervous and can cause even an excellent skier to make a mistake

 

[dmc]

I've been an east cost skiier my whole life, and I hadn't skiied on the west coast until this year. I went to mammoth for the first time, coming from camp pendleton (with an elevation <100 feet), and even though the summit elevation was over 11,000 feet, I didn't notice a different or feel loopy (although I felt a little winded when I had to hike up to get to "beyond the edge")

Consider yourself lucky... You gotta be in awesome shape if you were at Pendleton...

I don't have many issues with altitude.. the highest I've ever been was the top of ABasin which is a little over 13,000... not saying I didn't suck wind on the hike up...

I have friends that are REALY affected by altitude.. My brother tosses cookies when we ski Breck.. Another friend spent 2 days in the condo because of altitude sickness...

 

[cbcbd]

gonna have to disagree with you slug....

I've been an east cost skiier my whole life, and I hadn't skiied on the west coast until this year. I went to mammoth for the first time, coming from camp pendleton (with an elevation <100 feet), and even though the summit elevation was over 11,000 feet, I didn't notice a different or feel loopy (although I felt a little winded when I had to hike up to get to "beyond the edge")

It's not really about disagreeing/agreeing. Everyone is affected by altitude differently. One person can go from sea level to 10K no problem where another might pass out.
And being in good shape doesn't necessarily help. It's all about your genes.

 

[SkiDork]

It's not really about disagreeing/agreeing. Everyone is affected by altitude differently. One person can go from sea level to 10K no problem where another might pass out.
And being in good shape doesn't necessarily help. It's all about your genes.

Exactly. I've read some books on climbing Everest, and people think that if they're in superb physical shape that means they'll be able to handle the altitude. Often it just doesn't happen.

Guys like Ed Visteurs OTOH who can summit without O2, are just born that way.

 

[skiNEwhere]

Just throwing it out there that even if you are come from basically no elevation to over 11,000 feet, it doesn't necessary mean that you are going to feel altitude sickness

And generally there is a correlation between how fit the person and how much elevation sickness they get, just an observation

 

[JerseyJoey]

Exactly. I've read some books on climbing Everest, and people think that if they're in superb physical shape that means they'll be able to handle the altitude. Often it just doesn't happen.

Guys like Ed Visteurs OTOH who can summit without O2, are just born that way.

so now you are saying that everest and corbets are the same?

 

[koreshot]

Just addressing some of the comments since my last post on this thread.

No, there is not much on the East Coast that compares to Corbets. There isn't even that much in JH that compares to Corbets. That is not to say there aren't more dangerous and challenging runs in JH. As I said before, skiing CC doesn't mean you are at a pinacle of skiing, it is just a really tough run that has a great combination of esthetic appeal, challenge, danger and history/publicity. So it really has a strong draw for a recreational skier...

In my exprience, most (not all) people that say "oh its overrated", do so as an excuse cause in reality they are too scared to ski it.

As far as the 15-20 foot huck goes, again it depends on the amount of snow and the year. I know skiers that are way better than I am (not hard to do) that told me when they were there, they didn't even think about going in because of how suspect the entrance was. Depending on the snow conditions and coverage Corbets can vary from pretty easy to very risky.

When I skied it the wall of snow as concave as mentioned before. The best way to "huck" it was actually not to huck it at all. It is easier to walk up to the edge until your boots are directly over the drop and just slowly tip forward. Keep the knees bent and try to maintain ski to snow contact against the concave/vertical wall as much as possible. This will allow for a smoothish transition from vertical to the 65 degree "flat" section. Better to transition onto the flat than to thump down onto it.

There is a rut that develops after a few days of snow compaction and a dozen skiers. This rut is both helpful and not. Its helpful cause it will push you away from the first wall on skiers left when you enter, but the luge effect will accelerate you towards the second wall... for me that is the toughest part of the drop, that second turn away from the wall on skier's right.

 

[SkiDork]

so now you are saying that everest and corbets are the same?

yes, how did you guess?

 

[cbcbd]

Guys like Ed Visteurs OTOH who can summit without O2, are just born that way.

Ed Viesturs does have an unusually high VO2 max and his lungs are bigger than average.

Just throwing it out there that even if you are come from basically no elevation to over 11,000 feet, it doesn't necessary mean that you are going to feel altitude sickness

And generally there is a correlation between how fit the person and how much elevation sickness they get, just an observation

Ok, I see what point you were making, but acclimatization is still something you have little control over (and don't anyone dare quote observations from Vertical Limit to support otherwise).

And I'll have to disagree - there is no correlation between fitness and the elevation you can get to before getting AMS.

Example - 3 guys. Me, friend1, friend2. All in great shape, friend1 possibly in the best of shape.
@13K ft - no problems for anyone
@15K ft - Me with migraines overnight, friend1 fine, friend2 blowing chunks and stumbling next day
couple days later:
@18K ft - Me fine, friend1 fine, friend2 excellent because he started taking Diamox before
couple days later:
@17K ft - Me fine, friend2 great, friend1 is wheezing, coughing and showing possible signs of HAPE.

One thing you can see here is that there is no pattern. You can be fine one day and horrible the next and even though you can acclimatize, you can't train for it.

Rob Hall's longtime guiding partner, Gary Ball, had constant problems with altitude and died of HAPE - and this was a guy who was running a guiding service up 8000m peaks, had seen plenty of altitude, and I bet he was in good shape - he just wasn't born with the genes for high altitude.

Being in better shape in general will give you an edge whether you're at 100ft or 20000ft - the difference between couch potato and olympian just becomes more pronounced when you're at your physical/mental limits.

http://www.ismmed.org/np_altitude_tutorial.htm
" Anyone who goes to altitude can get AMS. It is primarily related to individual physiology (genetics) and the rate of ascent; there is no significant effect of age, gender, physical fitness, or previous altitude experience. Some people acclimatize quickly, and can ascend rapidly; others acclimatize slowly and have trouble staying well even on a slow ascent. There are factors that we don't understand; the same person may get AMS on one trip and not another despite an identical ascent itinerary. Unfortunately, no way has been found to predict who is likely to get sick at altitude."

Good book on the subject:
http://www.amazon.com/Going-Higher-...2667001?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187795518&sr=8-1

 

[2knees]

In my exprience, most (not all) people that say "oh its overrated", do so as an excuse cause in reality they are too scared to ski it.

i would bet my left nut that is a fact.

 

[Greg]

i would bet my left nut that is a fact.

What? Are you saying it's possible that people actually talk shit on the Internet? :blink: No way!!

 

[2knees]

What? Are you saying it's possible that people actually talk shit on the Internet? :blink: No way!!

lol, sad but true. I've learned that you need to have a bullshit factor built in.

I dropped a 30 foot cliff last weekend!!!!!

30 x (bs factor of .421) = 12.6 foot cliff.

The bs factor needs to be calculated based on the board however. this place would have a relatively low factor but other boards seem to be through the roof.

 

[JimG.]

lol, sad but true. I've learned that you need to have a bullshit factor built in.

I dropped a 30 foot cliff last weekend!!!!!

30 x (bs factor of .421) = 12.6 foot cliff.

The bs factor needs to be calculated based on the board however. this place would have a relatively low factor but other boards seem to be through the roof.

Being a fisherman, I use the same adjustment factor when I'm listening to fish stories.

 

[Greg]

lol, sad but true. I've learned that you need to have a bullshit factor built in.

I dropped a 30 foot cliff last weekend!!!!!

30 x (bs factor of .421) = 12.6 foot cliff.

The bs factor needs to be calculated based on the board however. this place would have a relatively low factor but other boards seem to be through the roof.

Classic! :beer:

 

[koreshot]

What? Are you saying it's possible that people actually talk shit on the Internet? :blink: No way!!

On the internet and in person. You should have seen the number of so called "core" people that skied by CC, looked in and then told their buddy in a all knowing manner "Yeah, its over rated"... then they would ski down the rendezvous bowl, which was hard, icy, bumpy and all skied out.

Corbets had far better snow, scenery and pitch than the scraped off rendezvous - if its no biggie to ski CC, why not jump in and at least enjoy the snow and pitch instead of doing lap after lap on the icy rendezvous bowl?

At first I felt like a tool, being fixated on getting CC done before I left JH. I soon figured out that these people were just too scared to even consider going in.

 

[catskills]

Personally I have never skied Corbet's. I have looked down and looked up it. Never skied it.

That said, I have been meaning to post these two must read Corbet's stories from JH local Bob Peter's. Look for post #53 and #59. Enjoy.

http://forums.epicski.com/showthread.php?t=34789&highlight=corbet's+couloir&page=2

Sounds easy. Oh one more thing. Before you leap, read post #68 .

 

[skiNEwhere]

Personally I have never skied Corbet's. I have looked down and looked up it. Never skied it.

That said, I have been meaning to post these two must read Corbet's stories from JH local Bob Peter's. Look for post #53 and #59. Enjoy.

http://forums.epicski.com/showthread.php?t=34789&highlight=corbet's+couloir&page=2

Sounds easy. Oh one more thing. Before you leap, read post #68 .

Thanks. I thought it was intimidating before, but now if I ever actually get there, I'm gonna have the thought of "I hope I don't break my leg and have my tibia stick through my boot" run through my mind, before I make the initial drop.

I see why you needed to bring that up though. I think anyone who says its overrated has either not gone down it, or gone down it soooo many times, that they know exactly what to do and it doesn't phase them.

Regardless, I think the first time you go down, no matter how good of a skier you are, there is that fear and doubt that makes you second guess yourself

 

[dmc]

I see why you needed to bring that up though. I think anyone who says its overrated has either not gone down it, or gone down it soooo many times, that they know exactly what to do and it doesn't phase them.

I've done it.. But it's not even remotely close to what i really enjoy about JH.. Not nearly..

Is it overrated...?? Maybe.. But only in the sense that it's a friggin tourist attraction.. i don't want to wait for some lame texan with pins on his hat to clear out his yard sale cause he ran smack into rock, skiing something WAY over his mulleted head... Too many people that shouldn't ski it - ski it all the time... And because of that - it actually sucks.. As mentioned most of the time you have to deal with a rut when your base first touches snow. that rut is not natural.. It would be a lot easier without having to deal with the crap that others created...
And someone else says do it and enjoy the steep runout... blah blah... I could show you a dozen faces like that at JH... Even more if you take 'em off...

The beauty of JH isn't what you go in thinking your going to experience - it's what you find... It's nooks and crannys... Secret chutes... Unexpected rock drops.. Trees so steep that they will make you forget about the skiing trees thread...

JH is awesome... CC is an incredible shot... But it's only .0000001% of what JH is..

i don't begrudge people for wanting to ski it.. Ski it... Add a pin to your hat... Toast it a the mangey moose... :beer:

I got stories... lot's of stories... Of the crazy stuff I've encountered there...