Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Mt. Langley Northeast Couloir - May 1, 2010

POV Album and "movies."


Alternate Titles:

"Climbing With A Con Man."
"May Day, May Day!"





I meet Speedy (Shifty) at the Hostel on Friday night and because of the forecast for HIGH WINDS, we decide we'll sleep in until a little before 5:00am so I can have breakfast at my favorite restaurant...

At breakfast, we agree we'll just head up Granite View to the Trailhead for a recon of the approach above the Stone House.

Shifty leads up past the Stone House and after about 45 minutes, I'm commited because I ain't putting myself thru this approach ever again! (We got suckered into following some tracks that we later discovered were as far OFF ROUTE as one could possibly be!)

Long Story Short: this is an excellent climb with outstanding ski possibilities. In my opinion, the Couloir is nothing but a long slog up, but the descent makes up for it. The crux for us was the snowfield we had to climb after we exited the Couloir. (I'd say if pitched up towards 50+ degrees, whereas, the Couloir probably doesn't even hit 40.)

Thanks to (insert name here) for getting off of the skins and booting it up ahead of us for almost all of the Couloir. It was fun watching you drop down the upper slope with incredible control. Awesome, excellent skiing! I wish I still had things like that in me.

I'll definitely be back! Probably even this year... With skis for the lower section of the route...

Nice!! Was it still windy Saturday? I see you're also rockin' the new style Walmart poles Richard :). They're not as good as the old ones unfortunately; I broke a few already :D

And to think Richard almost turned around near the top of the Couloir. Btw Richard, I might of fudged the elevation when you asked . You think I would let you turn around after we already climbed 7,000 feet? Just a few hundred feet more.....

Highlight of the Day: The last 400 feet of climbing once you exit the NE Couloir. This was the best part of the climb! We down climbed this section and then we got to watch JB ski down it. Simply awesome!

Pictures:
Mt. Langley NE Couloir - 5.1.10

Richard down climbing as JB waits up top:


JB in action:

Good one Mike. Great climb and awesome pix!!! And JB rocks...

I was enjoying a post-wild, wild west (10 miler) hike to the ashram that day and wondering what the skiing was like (figuring the ascent had to be beyond brutal)--thanks for the report!

Wow, that's awesome skiing!! Thanks for the pics, guys!!