Paul
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No, I'm quite certain I'd foul myself. ;-)
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Vertical Drop: America's Most Dangerous Slopes
- Thread starter KingM
- Start date
No, I'm quite certain I'd foul myself. ;-)
Birdman829
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Well I guess I'm just young and dumb unlike you old farts 
but I definitely wanna do Corbet's if I ever get out to Jackson.
but I definitely wanna do Corbet's if I ever get out to Jackson.
RIDEr
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Doug -
The weather has been very iffy in JHMR this year (according to a friends sister who instructs out there)... there are more enjoyable chutes to play with without having to deal with another 15+ ft jump... rarely hear locals riding that without the good fluff (POW) below.
riverc0il
New member
it is pretty easy to sit behind a monitor and evaluate those images depicting something within your grasp and say "yea, i'd hit that." certainly would give me pause at the top looking down, i am sure. i think the trick would be to not gape too long, the likelihood of letting your nerves get the best of your skill always increases when you sit around looking and thinking about something instead of just doing it.
any ways, yea, i'd hit that.
any ways, yea, i'd hit that.
dmc
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I've been a few times - and each time was vastly different...
Believe me - I'm not really going to seek out Corbettes... i want to play around on the new terrain(hiking) that they opened recently... And hit my old favorites(Alta, Tower III, Mushroom and Expert Chutes,
Corbettes is Wyomings biggest tourist attraction... But if it looks good I want to get it... and mainly cause i gotta couple of noobs with me...
Corbets is a piece of cake...
Actually not. To me it is the scariest run I have looked down. It really really freaks you out at the top. My legs were shaking when I first stood at the edge and looked down. That said, I don't think Corbets anywhere near as challengeing as some of the other in bounds terrain in JHMR. Atla Chute Zero, for example is scary as hell and requires a lot more skill, speed control and experience to ski down. It also has much worse exposure/consequence. So I think Corbets is overrated, but its still a very very tough run to ski.
Anyway, here are a few pictures from my trip to JHMR last year. I took the steep and deep class that the author talks about.
View from below. It hadn't snowed in a week and the snow in there was hard but edgeable. No powdery landing of any sort:
View from the headwall. Really gives an idea of how big that first drop is. It was somewhere between 15 and 20 feet by most estimates when I was there.
Looking in from above. Starts to get kinda freaky:
Yeah, not pretty at all. Better make that first right hand turn or you will run into the rock face going 40mph. The landing looked to be 60+ degrees, which is actually a good thing to break your fall:
Actually not. To me it is the scariest run I have looked down. It really really freaks you out at the top. My legs were shaking when I first stood at the edge and looked down. That said, I don't think Corbets anywhere near as challengeing as some of the other in bounds terrain in JHMR. Atla Chute Zero, for example is scary as hell and requires a lot more skill, speed control and experience to ski down. It also has much worse exposure/consequence. So I think Corbets is overrated, but its still a very very tough run to ski.
Anyway, here are a few pictures from my trip to JHMR last year. I took the steep and deep class that the author talks about.
View from below. It hadn't snowed in a week and the snow in there was hard but edgeable. No powdery landing of any sort:
View from the headwall. Really gives an idea of how big that first drop is. It was somewhere between 15 and 20 feet by most estimates when I was there.
Looking in from above. Starts to get kinda freaky:
Yeah, not pretty at all. Better make that first right hand turn or you will run into the rock face going 40mph. The landing looked to be 60+ degrees, which is actually a good thing to break your fall:
MarkC
New member
Back in 2003 before i lost a good portion of my nerve for things like that i would say hells yea and not even think about it. Now it would probally take me a few days to work up the balls. For me a drop into a chute like that is 90% about balls. The other 10% is a combination of stupidity and a slight bit of skill.
it continues...
The groups went up to Corbets every single day and looked down it, and every time it looked super scary. On the last day, the instructors really wanted some of us to drop in and no1 could get the balls to do it. One of the instructors went it to give us a demo and due to a hard landing and hard snow (read high speed) almost crashed himself. This is the only run we did where instructors actually took a few seconds to gather their concentration and rehearse the moves in their heads before dropping in.
The next few photos were taken by one of the people in my class and were scanned in, so the quality is pretty bad.
A good view of Corbets:
Me in yellow jacket and grey pants, looking in. Really pondering the drop but just can't sack up. Spent a good hour straight up there:
Finally, one of the guys gets up the strength (what a trooper! mad props to him) and goes for it. Unfortunately, he doesn't hand well, gets turned around and wipes out. If you were wondering how steep Corbets is at the top, this image should put things into perspective:
After the flood gates were open, 3 more people went for it.
I finally got the balls to go for it. I worked out better than I thought it would:
At the end of the day, 4 or 5 people out of 40 or so students in the class actually went in. All of the skiers in this class were advanced/expert, but the top is so scary that you feel like you are jumping into certain death or something. Only 1 out of 5 made it without any falls (not me). I made it through the tough part but on my second turn down the chute, as it got wider, I got back seat probably cause of the fear I had just experienced and had my downhill ski release. It was a tough walk back up and very dissapointing considering I managed to somehow get thru the tough section and threw it away in the "easy" part...
The groups went up to Corbets every single day and looked down it, and every time it looked super scary. On the last day, the instructors really wanted some of us to drop in and no1 could get the balls to do it. One of the instructors went it to give us a demo and due to a hard landing and hard snow (read high speed) almost crashed himself. This is the only run we did where instructors actually took a few seconds to gather their concentration and rehearse the moves in their heads before dropping in.
The next few photos were taken by one of the people in my class and were scanned in, so the quality is pretty bad.
A good view of Corbets:
Me in yellow jacket and grey pants, looking in. Really pondering the drop but just can't sack up. Spent a good hour straight up there:
Finally, one of the guys gets up the strength (what a trooper! mad props to him) and goes for it. Unfortunately, he doesn't hand well, gets turned around and wipes out. If you were wondering how steep Corbets is at the top, this image should put things into perspective:
After the flood gates were open, 3 more people went for it.
I finally got the balls to go for it. I worked out better than I thought it would:
At the end of the day, 4 or 5 people out of 40 or so students in the class actually went in. All of the skiers in this class were advanced/expert, but the top is so scary that you feel like you are jumping into certain death or something. Only 1 out of 5 made it without any falls (not me). I made it through the tough part but on my second turn down the chute, as it got wider, I got back seat probably cause of the fear I had just experienced and had my downhill ski release. It was a tough walk back up and very dissapointing considering I managed to somehow get thru the tough section and threw it away in the "easy" part...
kcyanks1
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Alta chutes and Tower III I enjoy a lot and am completely comfortable with. I looked down Corbets and that was just scary.
RIDEr
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Just to let you know... Targhee is looking great right now. TGR just built a kicker off the back side for their latest movie. I have also heard and seen from photos that the Teton Pass is certainly worth the hike.
ski_resort_observer
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I hope to have a helmet cam on when I do Corbettes this March.. Last time I rode it it was a 15 foot drop from the "ladies tee"
"lol" , a 15 foor jump is impressive to me. It's not really skiing, it's gravity then survival.
Corbets can be pretty dicey in March if there is spring like weather. One year JH got so much snow you just skied in. There has been some pretty sensational crashes. I remember one year an instructor from CA got there before Ski Patrol got there to close it, it very icy and hardsnow. Story floating around the mountain was there were other skiers there advising the guy not to do it as it was obviously a stupid thing to do. He hit the landing, flew off and crashed so hard into the rock wall, skiers right, he suffered a compound fracture thru his boot. I played soccer in the summer with several members of the JH Ski Patrol so this was firsthand info even tho it sounds unbelievable.
There is another couloir that is much bigger just down the ridge called S&S, named for John Sims and Charlie Sands, there was an incredible pic in ski magazine showing Steve Hancock(local extreme skier who became a very successful real estater) going off the S&M launchpad of S & S with multiple images of the skier from take-off to landing. It was circa 1988 if anyone has old issues lying around.
CC is definately not Wyoming's biggest tourist attraction, only hard core skiers/riders even know about it. Yellowstone/Grand Teton NP's and Devils Tower are the big tourist attractions. If you mean the JH resort it is probably #2 behind the tram which by the way is still online and used by the Ski Patrol and others and will be replaced by an amazing new tram at a cost of 25-30m.
Not sure when Bob Woodall took this shot, it was several years ago.
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dmc
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I was actually joking..
dmc
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I remember hearing that story when i was there in the late 80's...
But i was told it was a snowboard instructor with hard boots...
Vert in degrees
I picked this up in another thread. Not sure the accuracy.
This is the steepest section on each run, as long as it was over 500' in length. Note: these are in degrees, not percent.
Starr @ Stowe - 31.1 degrees
Castle Rock @ Sugarbush - 21.3 degrees
Whiteface Slides @ whiteface - 36.3 degrees
Denton Hill's triple diamond run - 27.7 degrees
Goat @ Stowe - 33.6 degrees
Robin's Run @ Smuggs - 29.8 degrees
Outer Limits @ Killington - 28.5 degrees
Devils Fiddle @ Killington - 25 degrees
Ripcord @ Mt. Snow - 27.4 degrees
Tuckermans (steepest I could find) - 45.3 degrees (damm!)
Dynamite @ Tremblant - 28 degrees
Black Hole @ Smuggs - 31.0 degrees
Ovation (lower section) @ Killington - 30.7 degrees
KT-22 East Chutes @ Squaw - 41 degrees
Huevos Grande @ Mammoth - 52.3 degrees (wicked steep)
51-50 @ PCMR - 47.9 degrees (and everyone says PCMR isn't steep)
Main Baldy Chute @ Alta - 44 degrees (but it's a dry steep)
Extrovert @ Blue Knob - 28.5 degrees
High Rustler @ Alta - 44.3 degrees
Great Scott @ Snowbird - 46.5 degrees
Upper Cirque @ Snowbird - 40.5 degrees
Peruvian @ Snowbird - 32.9 degrees
Under Powderhorn lift @ Solitude - 42.8 degrees
Under 9990 @ The Canyons - 29 degrees
Square Top @ The Canyons - 41.0 degrees
Upper Big Emma (Green Run!) @ Snowbird - 25.3 degrees!
Rumble @ Sugarbush - 27.9 degrees
Pitch Pine @ King Pine - 21.1 Degrees
Tuckerman Ravine Routes:
1 - 38.7 degrees
2 - 44.0 degrees
3 - 44.6 degrees
4 - 48.1 degrees
5 - 48.3 degrees
6 - 46.8 degrees
7 - 43.5 degrees
8 - 42.8 degrees
9 - 31.4 degrees
10- 30.3 degrees
Lower Wildcat @ Laurel Mountain - 28.1 degrees
Tower Three Chute @ JH - 43.1 degrees
Blowhole - couldn't find it on the map
Rumor @ Gore - 28.9 degrees
I picked this up in another thread. Not sure the accuracy.
This is the steepest section on each run, as long as it was over 500' in length. Note: these are in degrees, not percent.
Starr @ Stowe - 31.1 degrees
Castle Rock @ Sugarbush - 21.3 degrees
Whiteface Slides @ whiteface - 36.3 degrees
Denton Hill's triple diamond run - 27.7 degrees
Goat @ Stowe - 33.6 degrees
Robin's Run @ Smuggs - 29.8 degrees
Outer Limits @ Killington - 28.5 degrees
Devils Fiddle @ Killington - 25 degrees
Ripcord @ Mt. Snow - 27.4 degrees
Tuckermans (steepest I could find) - 45.3 degrees (damm!)
Dynamite @ Tremblant - 28 degrees
Black Hole @ Smuggs - 31.0 degrees
Ovation (lower section) @ Killington - 30.7 degrees
KT-22 East Chutes @ Squaw - 41 degrees
Huevos Grande @ Mammoth - 52.3 degrees (wicked steep)
51-50 @ PCMR - 47.9 degrees (and everyone says PCMR isn't steep)
Main Baldy Chute @ Alta - 44 degrees (but it's a dry steep)
Extrovert @ Blue Knob - 28.5 degrees
High Rustler @ Alta - 44.3 degrees
Great Scott @ Snowbird - 46.5 degrees
Upper Cirque @ Snowbird - 40.5 degrees
Peruvian @ Snowbird - 32.9 degrees
Under Powderhorn lift @ Solitude - 42.8 degrees
Under 9990 @ The Canyons - 29 degrees
Square Top @ The Canyons - 41.0 degrees
Upper Big Emma (Green Run!) @ Snowbird - 25.3 degrees!
Rumble @ Sugarbush - 27.9 degrees
Pitch Pine @ King Pine - 21.1 Degrees
Tuckerman Ravine Routes:
1 - 38.7 degrees
2 - 44.0 degrees
3 - 44.6 degrees
4 - 48.1 degrees
5 - 48.3 degrees
6 - 46.8 degrees
7 - 43.5 degrees
8 - 42.8 degrees
9 - 31.4 degrees
10- 30.3 degrees
Lower Wildcat @ Laurel Mountain - 28.1 degrees
Tower Three Chute @ JH - 43.1 degrees
Blowhole - couldn't find it on the map
Rumor @ Gore - 28.9 degrees
kingslug
Well-known member
Nice pic koreshot, I have that as my wallpaper at work. Gets a lot of stares. As for Corbetts, I'm going to do the same thing in 2 weeks that i did 3 years ago. Stare up at it on the the way to the headwall area. No way would i jump in that thing.
Skier75
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God, I hate it when that happens.....that was my post, not my hubby's, the last one with uphillklimber's name on it......
ski_resort_observer
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Kore...props for doing it and surviving, conditions look very challenging. You can see S&S, the couloir to the left in your first shot.
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wintersyndrome
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Went to JH in the summer (1990) took the tram up, this was when me and my older brother were budding skiers...when the tram crossed near Corbets. Dad asked that we not tell him if we ever ski something like that, he just didn't want to know. Now as I'm older and somewhat wiser and have had a thorough introduction to that guy called pain, I can see why...
For me to do that there would have to be a serious re-affirmation of the commitments in my life...first to obtain the skills and confidence, secondly to regain the balls I had before I needed hardware implanted in my ankle.
So much respect to anyone that has done Corbets, or anything else like it.
For me to do that there would have to be a serious re-affirmation of the commitments in my life...first to obtain the skills and confidence, secondly to regain the balls I had before I needed hardware implanted in my ankle.
So much respect to anyone that has done Corbets, or anything else like it.
