Terminal Cancer Couloir in Nevada has become quite a popular destination
ski descent, but will skiers and slednecks now be competing for first tracks?
Recently, the narrow, 30 degree couloir was ascended by a snowmobile. After the ascent, the snowmobiles were then helicoptered off the mountain instead of being ridden down. To me, the removal of the snowmobile by helicopter part is pretty lame and kind of takes the some of the radness away from this feat. Yeah, 
I’m sure it takes (a little) skill and guts to ride up a couloir like this, but having to heli off the dang thing IMHO is…well…sorta meh.
What’s the point of going up an objective if you can’t get down? If that’s the case, it seems like your objective wasn’t really meant to be done in the first place and you are only achieving your goal by throwing mass amounts of artificial power at it. I’m sure Ueli Steck’s speed record on the North Face of the Eiger would have been scrutinized if he got a ride down from the summit in a heli. No?
Should have kept going at the top and done some kind of a superman thingy… is that what you call it, I dont’ really know what I’m talking about.
I would think that the next ski party after that stunt was pretty F’kin dissapointed to see three sled tracks in their objective.
I’d like to give a big thumbs up to the no sleds policies in most of the Alps!
hell…i’d be pissed off just to see other ski tracks in the thing if i made the long haul from JH….nevermind snow-mobile tracks.
A steep, deep, fluted AK peak w/ no reasonable way of getting to the summit- except a heli. So you get dropped off and ski down. “What’s the point of going down an objective if you can’t get up?” Same thing, no? Style points if they had turned around, placed anchors, and belayed the sled down? (there’s no way you could ride down that w/ any control) A new sport is born- snowmobile mountaineering!
This is what should have happened…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrDIDzeRiB4
I’m w/ Frank. Heli skiers are just kind of…….meh.
the music in the video describes the vibe.
chop and drops – oakleys – and portneuf valley come to mind.
thanks for ruining my day
I believe after Ueli Steck finished his record breaking climb of the Eiger North Face he walked down the ridge to a restaurant and then took the train back to town.
For the record, I love heli skiing. Just pointing out the similarities.
This is what happens when you advertise classic ski lines in coffeetable books. Deal with it.
First tracks? looked like that snow was pretty consolidated. Even if you are adamantly against sledding (which you should try a bit before coming to such a conclusion) you have to admit that is pretty cool.
Hey Steve, Where did you get the photo of tc from?
simple google search. looks like it came from here…
http://www.skiingthebackcountry.com/ski_photos.php?s=337&np=31
Im not a sledneck but its harder than it looks. But if I were I sure as hell wouldn’t get choppered off a peak, and any real sledneck would have launched the top of that ridge down the other side…looked filled in from what I saw.
very lame…
Copycats will tumble and deposit the flotsam (both oil and mangled metal) of their failure into this pristine cooler. Sledders in the woods are like smokers in a restaurant, aggressively flaunting their rebeldom to the detriment of your experience. What a cluster! I am imagining Colonel Kilgore pumping heavy metal out of the heli as they circle the sled’s objective. What is the opposite of “alpine” style? This crap. Boooo…
Thanks I’m not too good with the internet, But love this line and hope someday to ski it.
Yes Drew, “rebels” without a cause or clue. Besides I would have aired off the top and dropped the apron on the back side what a pussy!?
Should of had some sweet product placement involved. Chug a Monster at the summit or snap into a Slim Jim or some such “extreme” radness. Shaka brah! I was secretly hoping for a debacle like from Jason’s link.
I don’t think your average snowmobiler is going to rent a Heli to lift his sled off the mtn. I think the line will remain open 99.9% of the time. Drew, or should I say Mr.Happy, you may consider a dash of metal to your library, it helps on the up and the down.
I guess I can’t objectively say that this is any better or worse than booting the thing and skiing it. There’s no rule book out there to refer to and check on what’s okay and what’s not.
That said, these guys are obviously wankers and I would love to see them cartwheel down the thing like the famous video.
I’m actually surprised he didn’t ride out the other side. There’s a steep but short roll over right after the col, but then its a fairly mellow (< 30 deg?) and seemingly wide open bowl that appears to have an exit.
Of course the one time I've been up there, we only looked into that bowl and skied TC.
If for some reason a heli is necessary to get a sled off/out of there, then that will limit this ascent to one time stunt instead of regular pactice. Still, good luck finding it w/out ski tracks in it, though …
~rc
TC is sort of a shitty disappointing line anyway(not that narrow, not steep, and its only rock lined for maybe 500vert. plus as of last week most of the line was full of basketball size avy debris. the snowmobiler could have easily dropped over the saddle and down into the other bowl, but i guess using a whirlyturd is so much more bro gnar. hella.
Easy to blame a coffee table book but, truth is, those sled necks have been hitting Lamoille Canyon longer than we thought of skiing the line. Way more sledders have spied that run than skiers. They just needed the modern machine to pull it off.
Great there wearing Ice Hockey jerseys….They must be hoser’s…
Sorry Devils advocate….Heli skiers only go down even on big lines….I usually do not see them climb up!
I don’t get the heli-ski analogy. Is there anybody who thinks heli skiers are a relevant standard for ethics and style?
Woopity fucking doo
Pat is spot on! I’ve seen people ride sleds down things steeper and more exposed than this…so the heli seems extravagent. What is backcountry???
Pretty weak performance using a heli. Who are these grandmas anyhow?
The Guido dabbed at the top-no goal.
Bwah, love the predictable sledneck hater talk. Meanwhile, most of you would, and some of you have, given your proverbial left nut at the chance to take a 300ft oil spewing yacht across the Drake Passage for two weeks of skiing. But hey, it’s only the penguins you’re annoying, so it’s ok, right?
derek, i think the point is getting your snowmobile heli lifted off of the mountain is fucking obnoxious and makes you look really lame, just like heli skiing in a range like the wasatch.
I don’t have a problem with slednecks really, all the ones i’ve encountered in lamoille(the two times i’ve been there) have been nice. In face last time I was there I was wishing I had a sled to get another 5 or 6 miles up canyon to some good stuff. However I do have a problem with ridiculous obnoxious waste of fuel and serenity in the mountains just because someone wasn’t committed to their line. Don’t go up if you can’t come down. Like heli’s in the wasatch i just don’t see why it was needed in this instance.
sail boats are cool and so are penguins, i dont get your comparison?
-Derek.
no generic sledneck hater talk here….just pointing out that these chumps have no style. Kinda like a sled version of the Compressor Route, not as bad but still a complete waste.
Heli skiing is great! Hiking for turns is Great! Sledding for Turns is Great! Skiing is Great! I don’t care how you do it. I don’t care how any of you do it. Just get out and make some turns.
I wouldn’t have ridden my sled up or down that thing… no way. It was probably cheaper to have the heli take it off the hill than buy a new one anyways… insurance was on his mind.
Wasatch Surf,
Most of the people visiting the territory of the penguins and crossing the Drake Passage to ski are not using sailboats. Rather, they are using gigantic ships with horrible emissions standards compared to any other motorized vehicle.
I find it ironic to read pseudo environmental posts and posts about alpine aesthetics from people who are flying to Tierra del Fuego, then hopping on a gigantic ship to motor across the 500+ mile Drake Passage, then idling around pristine wilderness to ski. Meanwhile, they complain about aesthetics in their home ranges, as if the style they approach mountains elsewhere is a non-issue.
derek…this isn’t an environmental post.
Steve,
You’re right, it’s an aesthetics post, and I addressed it as such, in part.
“Meanwhile, they complain about aesthetics in their home ranges, as if the style they approach mountains elsewhere is a non-issue.”
good point
that is by far the lamest thing I have seen in a long time……..
tandom rappel with Snowmobile! that’s what i want to see!
The is the predictable outcome of websites, books, and film dedicated to advertising experience. This site and others, Climbing/RocknIce/Alpinist/Backpacker/Outside mag, etc. are great but don’t expect to have too much more of the “secret stash” element to your favorite climb/ski/paddle/trek/bike area….expect more crowds and machinery. With all of the press regarding this line, it was only a matter of time before two things happened. 1) Hill-climbin’ slednecks were going to learn to read and use the internet. 2) More tofu-eatin’ randofolk in tight pants were going to start bitching about sharing space based on certain notions about the definitions of recreation. Maybe time to keep it between friends more and write/post a bit less, though it challenges your experiential upadana.
Or get in touch with your inner deep ecologist and get more Wilderness established and maybe, though it pains your ego, take yourself out of the equation (if a skier skis a line in the mountains and no one hears/sees it/reads about it, did it really happen?).
2legit…i’m not bitching. i just think the sled being heli’d off the top seems pretty weak.
Derek took the words right out of my mouth. Certain unnamed folk around JH that bitch and stoke the flames against sleds in the region and their current access, are more than guilty of burning up their own lopsided Oil footprint using Cars, Airliners and those massive Ships just to get across the Drake passage and tour the Southern continent. Everybody uses a Oil burning form of transportation to access the Glisse. Tram, Boat, Sled, Quad chair, Motorbike, Subaru, Public Bus, Jet liner and Taxi- everybody has skin in this game of using mechanical and oil advantage for access. To take a my ride is holier than your ride stance against the SledHeads in the back country is Hypocrisy.
I’ve got the next gnarly ascent of T.C. SNOWCOACH!!!
It was a fun ski run while it lasted and will be a totally different experience with permanent sled ruts in it. I’m surprised they got heli-lifted off the top and bet future sledders will find a way to ride off the backside.
Just an FYI to all the clueless haters with the supposed 411 from their “one-time trip out to ski down Cancer… these guys are top-notch riders. The ONLY way off either side of the top saddled up on a sled will land the rider in “traction” (IF he LIVES!) and wad the sled up liked a smashed beer can. They have NO Problem coming down IF you can. I live up here… this line has been eye-balled as long as I can remember. These sleds were FULLY Turbo’d kickn easily 250+ HP… its not a “we’ll be lucky to ever ski it w/o sled tracks again!…” Someone had to do it someday… just like someone finally stepped up and SKIIED down it instead of yapping. The “wonderous, silent, ruined backcountry” is RIGHT OFF THE MAIN ROAD! Alla guy has t6o do is cross the river. The tracks from the climb?… it snowed over and slid within 2 days. Month: late April (theres the prime part of the season?) If your seriously worried about your CHUTE… a sled will never do it in fresh pow. Self-fish pussies…
I feel a little background is warranted here so sorry for the length of the post. I started skiing when I was five years old with my mother taking me to lessons at Targhee. I remeber the moguls were actually taller than me. I kept up the sport and by the time I was in high school I was on ski patrol and served on the patrol for several years as it was seemingly the only way I could afford to ski as much as I wanted to back then. I skied 47 days in a row my junior year. That was my record. A few years later, in college, with even less money, a buddy of mine and I decided to split the cost of a cheap sled and start skiing the backcountry as we grew bored of in bounds skiing and tired of paying the ridiculous prices for the lift. We tried snow cat and heli skiing but still were able to find better lines off the back of the cheap sled. The metamorphosis began! Sleds got better, we became better riders and slowly but surely the sticks stayed in truck as we started to explore the limits of the machines. Fast forward to present. I was the third rider in the video to climb Cancer. We were all riding custom purpose built Impulse Turbo powered Yamahas with over 350 HP depending on how high of boost you want to run. We have looked at Cancer for over 5 years now and the conditions have to be perfect for the ascent. The very conditions that make the ascent possible also make descent more difficult or even impossible and extremely hazardous. We could have belayed the sleds down the couloir and had the equipment to do so. We belay sleds down stuff all the time. It would have taken hours and into night fall but we were prepared for that scenario. Riding off the backside was not an option that particular day but we are planning that in the future. We did not have time to check the “way out” of the top of the next bowl and coming down would have launched you off of two 50 plus foot semi frozen waterfalls. We had taken a ride in the heli to check that option out before we made the ascent. There was a bunch of preparation that went into this for 90 seconds of action. I don’t expect all of you “riders” to like what we do, but some of you are so bitter! I still respect a sweet line taken by a boarder or skier whether they hiked it or used a great tool like the helicopter to get there. BTW the “hockey jersey” is actually a team sled jersey that we received from an outlaw hill climbing event in Revelstoke. It is what I wear on warm days and fits nicely under my avi bag. Hope there is room for all of us in the Backcountry! Later…..
thanks for the run-down skibumm. that would be sick to see you rage up the TCC and then launch off the back. good luck getting it done!