Terminal Cancer Couloir 3/15

Terminal Cancer Couloir is an long thin couloir located in the Ruby Mountains of Nevada. It is easy to get to, fun to ski, and first-class in ambiance. Only about 30 minutes from Elko and with a very short approach, it should be a classic ski descent on any backcountry skiers hit list. The first time I saw pictures of it was in "50 classic ski descents of North America", and right then knew it was something I had to ski.

Terminal Cancer Couloir

It wasn't until about 8pm that prior evening when we confirmed our plans to try to ski Terminal Cancer Couloir the following morning. This gave us 6 hours to plan out the following day, get directions, and try to get a good nights sleep. We were able to accomplish two of those things. Coby, Justin, and I loaded up the car and were headed west on I-80 by around 2:30 a.m. About 4 hours later we had made it to our trailhead, the end of the maintained road in Lamoille Canyon. 

Lamoille Canyon

From the end of the road it was about a 15 minute walk down the road until we could see the couloir, a perfect split in rock running up the canyon walls for about 2500 feet. After finding a place to cross the river we quickly took off the skins and started booting up the apron and into the couloir. At the beginning of the day we were a little worried about the possibility of wet slides, but were grateful that the temperatures didn't get too warm throughout the day.

Booting up the apron

Even booting up the couloir was an enjoyable experience. Theres something special about being inside this couloir, with large rockwalls on both sides that almost seemed as if they formed just for the purpose of backcountry skiers. We made good time up the top of the end of the couloir. From the top, there is hte option to continue another 500 feet to a summit where I assume is great 360 degree views of the Ruby Mountains. However, to do so would have involved entering terrain susceptible to wet slides so we decided against the top out this time.

Inside the Couloir

At the top of the couloir, the skiing was tight, with just enough room for series of jump turns. The snow was a little bit harder than expected due to cooler temperatures, but still soft enough for very fun  skiing.  About 1000 feet down the couloir it opened up a bit where it was possible to make some wider turns. After only 5 or 6 of these, it then again gets narrow until the exit. The run down was a blast for all of us. 2500 feet of jump turns later, our legs were burning as we exited the couloir. Some slushy skiing throughout the apron, dodging trees, and then crossing the stream once again led us back to the road. Another 4 hours in the car and we were back in Salt Lake planning our next adventure.

Looking down from the top (The top 20 feet was the only rocky part)

On a side note, koby decided to switch things up a bit and do a BN ski descent (Butt Naked), an awesome line for his first BN descent. Many gnar points were awarded, even after his painful fall. We had borrowed a go-pro from a friend for the day and Justin was able to throw together a video of his ski descent. The video is below.