Riding “Little Couloir” at Big Sky Resort, Montana.
April 14th started out as a typical day heading up to Big Sky Resort outside Bozeman, Montana. 6 AM wakeup in Belgrade, don ski gear, fire up the truck and head to Mama Mac’s for a quick breakfast burrito and coffee. This was a unique burrito, filled with ALL things breakfast; hash browns, eggs, bacon, mushrooms, peppers, sausage gravy, the “kitchen sink!” This burrito was too much for a mere breakfast, half being more than enough to satiate my hunger. The other half I wrapped up, planning to use as my lunch at Big Sky. With enough snacks and water, the sky is the limit to what is possible!
7:45 arrival at Big Sky, with coffee doing its magic, I am desperately in need of a bathroom… To my rescue is RJ, informing me about the 15 minutes/drop-off parking right in front of the Mountain Mall. Even at this early hour, the mall is buzzing with excitement as skiers and boarders prepare for a day on the slopes. Main floor bathroom, full to capacity with a small line already formed, I retreat to the second-floor bathroom. Unoccupied, clean and functional, thanks to the great facilities and staff at Big Sky Mountain Mall, I was ready to get on the Mountain!
My road-dog Ricardo had it all planned out; a 3rd chair on the”Swiftwater Express” quad chairlift, then full-speed ahead to the 6 pack chair “Powder Seeker,” all to make it into the 1st Tram ride up to the top of Lone Peak at an elevation of 11,166 feet. Standing in line for the 6-Pack, an avalanche gun set of a massive spray of snow, wild-style.
As we waited in the tram line, a skier dropped into the smaller, more technical and elusive “Little Couloir,” ski-cutting it, testing the slope for stability and avalanche potential. Finally at the steps to the tram, looking up at Lone Peak, the tension and excitement were palpable! Were we going to make the first tram?
-We made it, with RJ in the number 13 spot, me in number 11! There are only 15 spots in the tram per ride, that was a close one! Now we had the goal to ride “Big Couloir” the epic top to bottom run, right under the tram. We both had ridden it before, but the allure and challenge constantly remain! But RJ mentioned that patroller skiing in “Little” and if we should ride it. Know as one of the “Top 5 In-bound line s” by (check it out here), I was gripped by the opportunity.
To ride a few of these specific routes at Big Sky Resort, we had to check in and out with the Ski Patrol at the summit, and reserve a time slot. This allows ample time for riders to clear the area, and safely navigate the slope. We got our reservation, number 3 at 10:45. It was 10 AM now, so we had 45 minutes to wait. Enough time to stretch and relish the 11,166-foot view and oxygen(or lack there-of), but not enough time to take another run or tram-lap. We were number 3 group, behind one patrol group, and one group of skiers. This was getting very exciting, as others showed up in later tram laps, hoping for the 7th or 8th and final spots to ride this crazy slope.
“Little Couloir” and the “direct entry” are rarely open, with small groups per day allowed, due to snow and safety issues. As RJ and I prepped to ride, we listened to beta on the route from other riders waiting to ride their lines during their time slots, after us. “So stoked, I cannot believe they opened it today!” one shredder exclaims, high-fiving another. “You guys got the 3rd slot?” another asks us, openly shocked and excited. “Yep, we are!” I reply, nonchalantly trying to hide my concern and excitement.
The wind is howling, the sun barely peeking through thick clouds, as 10:45 arrives. We clean off the snow from our snowboard bindings, strap our boots in, and I follow Ricardo under the gate, to the drop in for our fateful line. “Looking for a cairn and goat path to the drop-in,” RJ yells over the wind as we traverse over the North Summit Snowfield. A scramble over rocks, stepping carefully on the steep slope, looking at the edge of a cornice into the nothing, there was the entry to “Little Couloir.”
RJ went first, into the abyss! You have to ride these slopes one at a time, making sure not to release snow onto riders below, always respecting the mountain.
After filming Rj for a minute before he dropped out of view, it was my turn…
Holy steep! I had to edge on my belly, dropping down onto a traverse, only my toe-side edge clinging to the wildly steep slope. Below, a no-fall zone including a 55-degree slope, littered with scree rock, avalanche debris, and variable snow conditions. The traverse into the “direct entry” was super rocky, with about a foot of fresh snow on top, slabbing off, threatening to drag me down the slope with it. I kept my edge, got into the first choke, through the rocky part and did my first jump-turn. It was so steep that after a few more jump turns and a few hundred feet, I was able to speed up and really rip some turns in the Apron. I could see RJ far below me, a black dot growing larger and larger as I sped his direction.
I had just ridden “Little Couloir” at Big Sky Resort and lived to tell the tale. With the growing tram line below us and smiles on our faces, RJ and I realized that these are “The good old days!” We took off for a few hikes up the “A-Z chutes,” another tram lap into “Liberty Bowl” some last minute park laps, and, boom, the day was done. Scary, exciting, fun and crazy, the day may be over, but this memory is one that will live on forever between friends, and a “Lone Peak” somewhere in Montana.
