Skiing Pucker Face was completely unexpected on this day. We had just received a fair amount of snow and the wind had buffed everything out. I didn’t expect a blue bird day which ended up changing our plans. As we began our hike up the rocky ridge, my friend who works for Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Patrick Nelson, was hanging out at the beginning of the boot pack taking photos of random skiers.
I stopped and talked with him for a minute and noticed no one had skied Pucker Face yet. Pucker has always been known to slide often and when it does, it is deadly. A super steep, rocky face that has taken lives in the past. I told Patrick I was going to assess it from the top. I got to the top with my friend Jake Strassburger from Atomic and still no one had skied it. It was later in the morning and I was hesitant because everyone had passed it up. I took my skis off my pack, clicked in, and decided to ski cut the top. After I had cut the slope, it felt very stable. I looked over at Jake and told him I was going for it but as fast as I could.
I dropped in, took one big turn, then one more, and punted the diving board feeling like I just went into orbit. I came back to earth and dropped the landing gear for a smooth landing. The snow was perfect. I got to the bottom and had the biggest grin on my face. Jake followed after making it down without a problem. The enjoyment and hype of nailing a line like that is indescribable. Everything came together perfectly and is an unforgettable moment that keeps my love for skiing always growing.
i hope you had an airbag. Small price, big upside.
No speed check turns is sometimes the best, lowest impact skiing,. when it’s at all sketch that can make a difference. all the turns we see are pretty much flowing with gravity, not resisting it with choppy check turns, akin to ski cuts.
I guess all the tracks on the steeps in the background of the photo give a good hint at stability on that day. Regardless, you definitely sent the crap out of it. Leeeeerooooy Jenkinnnnnssss!!!!
Take chances go fast.
Skiing slow kills ya.
Life expectancy is lower if you do that too often.
Do you think you might have “got away with it”? Not a criticism per se, but some food for thought. Check out page 20 from one of Mike K’s friends who was there the day he died on Pucker. : http://www.americanavalancheassociation.org/tar/TAR32_4_LoRes.pdf
Great article. Every time we play in the big mountains, and get to come home, we “get away with it.” Both skill and luck are needed in equal measure. Every avy death, esp Mikey’s on Pucker, should remind us of that. Casimiro said it best: http://www.adventure-journal.com/2013/12/the-daily-pow-there-but-for-the-grace/
OP, that is a boss line. Hard to see the cliff huck down low, but that’s impressive.