Apollo Couloir 3/8

Apollo Couloir runs off North Olympus right to the valley floor. It is a run I've wanted to check out for a while and with bad visibility at upper elevations, we decided to give it a go. After parking at the same trailhead for the West Slabs (Medusas Face), you continue up the trail past the creek leading to the face to the next gully heading up the mountain. There was a lot of avalanche debris at the entrance of the couloir, making it difficult to get up. Forgetting to bring skin wax led to a lot of snow sticking on our skins, and the quick transition to boot packing. Apollo Couloir has steep rock walls on the skiers left side and the west face of Olympus on the right. It was a really nice couloir and ended up being good skiing as well (minus the debris at the bottom). On our way out we tried to continue down the gully instead of branching out the way we came. This led us to a forest of shrubbery that was almost impossible to get through with getting stuck every few minutes. Eventually we found our way back to the car right as the clouds were rolling in.

Moving through the debris

Gaining the top of the couloir

First turns

Nico making turns

Justin making some turns

Half way down

Greg finishing up the bottom of the chute