TR: Shit for Brains Couloir (16 April 2015)
(Last Updated On: )
I didn’t name it. But, undoubtedly the name is comical. It gave my friend Alex a good chuckle when I proposed skiing this line to her a few days before – a line I’d been wanting to ski for 10 years.
Shit for Brains Couloir stands proudly over Arapahoe Basin ski area. Tucked away on Black Mountain, it’s actually a bit unassuming. It’s hard to even tell there’s a couloir there. It’s not until you view it from further away from other peaks in Summit County does it truly become a striking couloir to ski.
It was a trip that had been in the works for awhile – a girls’ trip. But, working around one another’s schedules and the weather was proving difficult. A tentative spring camping trip in Silverton was transformed when a storm was forecast for the whole state. Instead of hoping for sun and corn, we instead rearranged our trip in search of pow. Summit County seemed like it was going to get a good dumping from the system. But, Thursday looked like the “day-before-the-real-storm-that-would-only-snow-a-few-inches”. At least, that’s what I’d hoped. And we couldn’t have been more spot-on.
When we got out of the car to get ready for our Shit for Brains ski day an gust of wind hit full force, blowing snow all around us and piling flake into the car. I thought to myself, “Is this a good idea? Should we just give up now?” But, I was hoping the couloir would protect us from the NW wind. Susan and Alex still seemed into it, so we made our way up the slopes. Thank goodness for committed friends.
Still the skin up toward Black had some un-fun moments.
The apron was full of debris from warming earlier in the week.
Even though it was windy and cloudy, the couloir was balmy and protected from the wind. The boot up was pretty fun. Alex & Susan:
Alex taking the lead.
Alex got a couple of great shots of me climbing.
Shit for Brains Couloir looked creamy and good from the top. We were excited to drop in.
And the skiing was pretty good. Alex.
Alex getting her jump turns on.
Susan.
Me.
Alex taking it out to the exit.
We enjoyed some milky turns on the apron.
On the way down, we stopped to search for my GPS which I’d realized had fallen out of my pocket. We were fairly certain I lost it at treeline or in the apron. After nearly two hours of searching, we were unable to find it. So, it still remains on the mountain. It is a Garmin GPSMAP 60CSX. If anyone locates it, please let me know 🙂
We enjoyed some extra credit pow turns through a meadow in the trees on the way out. Alex.
Despite losing the GPS, it was a fantastic day out. Our timing for the Shit for Brains Couloir was great and we had some fantastic ski conditions. I’m so proud of my badass babes for rallying 🙂
Alex & I rock with Patagonia. Find it on sale now:
- Mount Buckskin (17 May 2020) - May 28, 2020
- Horseshoe Ski (14 May 2020) – The mountain whose journey nearly killed me - May 27, 2020
- Sayres X-Rated Ski (10 May 2020) - May 19, 2020
