4 Hour Couloir

A day of riding in the backcountry with friends is a day of bliss and an unexpectedly amazing day in the backcountry with friends, is well, something.

A buddy, Billy, had just come off of an ACL surgery and was making a full recovery with a large amount of stoke to get out. We usually got out about once every couple weeks and when we did it's always a good time. He suggested we get out and ride the Sliver, something he had never done. I agreed with some reservations as I have done it enough that I'd rather look elsewhere, but whatever. It's not like it's a bad time!

It was four of us as a group - a buddy of mine from work, Billy's buddy, Billy and myself. We were moving good, had good conversations, which is nice on a three hour skin track and we were making good time. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, Billy was starting to cramp up bad as he had spent several days in a row touring around the Tetons. He was stoked to be back and maybe overloaded himself. Because of this, Billy ended up bailing as he knew we still had 30 minutes of touring and another 1+ hour of bootpacking up the sliver. The three of us would continue on.

3.5 hours in, we made it to the top of Shadow and were looking at the Sliver from afar. We noticed weather was rolling in and the couloir was severally socked in, with wind picking up. You could see it was going to sit right in that canyon, too, as more clouds approached from the West. We all became apprehensive and much to my pleasure we opted not to ski the Sliver. I had mentioned that 4 hour Couloir is just below us and would be an easy entry.

I also mentioned I never skied it, so I might miss the entry.



We transitioned over for the ride down and picked our way looking for the entry into 4 hour. The snow leading in was fantastic, nice and light and deep.

We hit the top of 4 hour couloir, eventually, and got it right. Again, great riding in fantastic, hero snow. The beginning of the line is steep(er) with trees that eventually funnels into the couloir. Once in, the couloir is huge and plenty wide for large arcing turns. So with stable snow and not a huge slope angle, why not open it up!