June Skiing TR: White Widow Couloir
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Nestled on White Rock’s western ridge, between the actual summit of White Rock and the Spider Face, sits a line that has become known as the White Widow. Some people have transformed this somehow to become the “Widow Maker”, but the name is intended to combine the name of the peak where it lies (White Rock) and the face that is adjacent to it (Spider Face). Hence, the name White Widow Couloir was born.
The White Widow Couloir has been a line that has been on my wish list for many years. But, skiing it in June is admittedly late. I didn’t know if the line would actually go through the choke. But, Jen and Ben decided they wanted to try for it anyways. So, we headed out Copper Creek once again in the morning light. White Widow seen on the right in the distance.
I call this area Mini-Queen Basin, because it is adjacent to the true Queen Basin, but smaller. It’s still holding snow quite well!
Jen skinning toward the apron of the White Widow Couloir.
Eventually, we dropped our skins and grabbed for the crampons to begin our ascent of the White Widow. Ben climbing.
Me.
As we approached the choke, things began to look a bit dismal. The choke didn’t really go. It wasn’t wide enough to ski – it had melted out too much at that point. Sure, there was th option to downclimb it. But, the snow was very firm since it had transitioned to a summer snowpack. We would have had to switch from skis to crampons mid-run in a fairly precarious spot. We decided that the rest of the line would be better skied at another time, and decided to descend.
Ben at the choke.
Our descent was pretty fun though. We milked all the good skiing we possibly could. Jen.
Ben.
Jen.
Ben.
Ben making turns through the apron below the White Widow.
Despite having to turn around short of our goal, it still was a great ski day. But, the White Widow still remains on my Wish List 🙂
- 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
Wow – you persistence is inspiring. And it looks like you have your new fristchi’s mounted on your BD skis. Are you liking that set up?
Art- Thanks! Yes I love the Fritschi Vipecs and my Amperages too! https://14erskiers.com/blog/2014/04/gear-review-fritschi-vipec-tech-binding/#more-6790
Guess one a couple of our names were ok
Yeah a lot of your names are great, Pete. But there may be a few too many “secret chutes” and “steep faces” ;).
Note to our readers: the name White Widow evolved from the cleverness of our friends Pete Sowar and John Jasper. They also named the “Spider Face”.
like!