Even after only a few days of warm weather, the snow pack in the Uintas had taken a hit. Our original destination was to ski Reynolds Wrap Couloir on Hayden Peak, but the warm weather had exposed some un-fun rock steps throughout the chute and left us no choice but to ski Reynold's neighbor, Mountaineer's Couloir. A bit bummed out that the 1st line of choice was a no-go after looking so delicious a few days before, we began to head up the mountain. As the Mountaineer's Couloir came into view, all thoughts of this being a second choice line disappeared as we began to realize we would be summiting in perfect timing to carve some beautiful June corn snow. The view from the top of the couloir was incredible, as is every view from anywhere up in the Uintas. The top was a bit exciting as the chute rolled over to 50+ degrees about 100 vertical feet from the top preventing a clean view of the tunnel-like couloir in its entirety. The corn was sweet, the top of the couloir was steep as hell, and the vertical descent was certainly significant (1400 ft. by our count).
Reynolds Wrap Couloir on the left and Mountaineer's on the right BEFORE the meltdown. Mountaineer's Couloir ended up being a great second choice.
Cutting across a couple other couloirs and some exposure to gain the saddle.
The uppermost, and steepest section of the couloir finally comes in to view.
The last few steps to gain the top of Mountaineer's Couloir. The East face of Hayden Peak also looks enticing.
( top) Making the first turn into Mountaineer's Couloir. It's a little spooky being blinded by the rollover.The lower half of the couloir. (right)
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