Big Eyes Couloir, East Red, Gore Range 5.25.07

Skied the deep notch off the north side of East east Red last Monday. Stan Wagon stumbled upon this line a few years ago after skiing the Little Red Riding Hood line off the NE shoulder of EE Red. After showing me a couple of pictures of the line last spring, it quickly made its way up my to-do list for this season.

All route and ski photos taken by Stan Wagon.

The upper part of the line:

We picked a day we were both available and gave it a shot. Stan climbed up the opposing slopes on the north side and setup shop to take photos with a telephoto lens and camera. Mark, Aaron, and I began the climb from the Ryan Gulch TH and up the East slopes of Red Mountain. Somewhere along the way I got split up from Aaron and Mark due to radio malfunction, and didn’t see them for the remainder of the day. So, I was on my own when it came to skiing the couloir.

Some scenics of Red Buffalo Pass and East Thorne Peak:

Dropping into an unknown couloir without first climbing it isn’t exactly the best way to ski something new. If my radio were working I would have known what to expect, as Stan was perched across the valley with his own radio telling me what he saw. Unfortunately, I couldn’t hear a word he was saying as my radio couldn’t receive. So, I took a deep breath and hoped for a clean run as I made my frist few turns down the steep couloir.

Some ski shots:

Looking down about half way:

The snow was near perfect corn. Silky and smooth as I made some tight turns through the upper choke and then snaked my way down the deep walled and maze-like couloir to the bottom apron.