The Y-Couloir
After a string of storms dumping over ten feet of snow in the Cottonwoods, it finally cleared up. The past couple days have been the first that we’ve really seen the sun all winter. With all the new snow finally settled, it’s been nice to get out on some tours. On Tuesday, I decided to go ski the Y-Couloir, a chute rated 3 stars by Andrew McLean in his book, The Chuting Gallery, a Guide to Steep Skiing in the Wasatch Mountains. He describes it, "Ta die for, A classic. Major in every sense. High quality. A must ski. Do it now." Every since I was a little girl, I’ve wanted to ski this line. It only stays filled in for a few weeks out of the year, so I knew I hate to nail it while it was good.
McLean further describes the chute:
"One of the more amazing and accessible chutes in the Wasatch. You can get a great, but exceedingly foreshortened view of The Y as you drive up the Little Cottonwood road, but until you’ve climbed it, it’s hard to believe that it’s really over 3,000 vertical feet. The most impressive aspect of The Y is that it hits 40 degrees immediately and never varies more than a few degrees in its entirety. It’s wide enough to turn where and when you want and the scenery across the canyon into the Lisa Falls couloir is spectacular."
We started hiking at about 7:00.
Here’s me at the beginning of the boot pack. Whoever put in this boot pack must have been really tall, because the steps were chest high for me.
Still climbing–it was steep! I really wish I had those Black Diamond whippet poles–they have little ice axes attached to each handle to help on boot packs and also to help self-arrest if you were to fall.
Great view from the top.
So there it is! Read more about my adventure on powder.com. Here’s the link to the story:
http://www.powdermag.com/features/onlineexclusive/Y_Colouir_Utah_08/
