Loving Life on Larrabee

By:  Sam
January 30, 2011


Allen and I made our way to the top of the chute in surprisingly good snow. Our first clear view of the chute revealed that, barring a major surprise in the icy crux, the rest of the chute would be totally straightforward. Allen started filming. Not one to intentionally take a header down a giant chute, I sideslipped closer and closer to the crux, simultaneously probing into the snow with my poles in search of firm ice under the soft snow. Finally, directly above it, I could see that the choke consisted of about 10 feet of very steep, rimed, snow followed by the lower-angled main body of the chute that appeared to be fairly soft. Taking a deep breath, I jumped and turned my skis 90 degrees into the fall line, sailed over the icy section and hip checked as I reached the soft snow below. I was elated, this awesome line down Larrabee was actually going to happen.


Allen soon joined me and filmed the rest of my run down the chute.


… and I did likewise upon reaching the bottom of the bowl.


We settled in at the base of the bowl and prepared our cameras as four more people committed to the chute and started dropping in.


Tom, part way down.


… and finishing up his run. This was only his second ski day this season.

Before long, the rest of the group had made their way through the crux and joined us on the floor.


Jason

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Read about the author:   Sam
Enjoy this TR? Read another: TR: Twin Sisters Range Traverse

Related Stuff:

  1. TR: Loving Life on Larrabee
  2. The High Life
  3. TR teaser: South Face of Larrabee
  4. Video: Larrabee South Face

10 Comments

  1. Chris
    wrote on January 30th, 2011 at 4:55 pm  
    1

    Amazing shots Sam, nice work. Those mountains are unreal. Glad to see you guys are getting after what you moved out there for. Great trip report, thanks for sharing.

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  2. Ben
    wrote on January 30th, 2011 at 8:51 pm  
    2

    awesome stuff!!! that looks like a great adventure, exactly what I imagine ski mountaineering in WA to be! I can’t wait to get out there this spring some time!

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  3. K_C
    wrote on January 31st, 2011 at 10:16 am  
    3

    Nice story and photos! The skiing wasn’t bad either…

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  4. Alex
    wrote on January 31st, 2011 at 1:00 pm  
    4

    Spectacular! That is what they call a TR. Nice tribute to those who came before you, too.

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  5. Anonymous
    wrote on January 31st, 2011 at 2:56 pm  
    5

    awesome trip! thanks for sharing!

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  6. christian
    wrote on January 31st, 2011 at 7:51 pm  
    6

    woof! way to snag first tracks ahead of the pack :) nothin’ like an overnighter for sloppy 6ths in some of the most remote mountains in the country. :P
    seriously though, awesome TR.

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  7. savantskis
    wrote on February 1st, 2011 at 1:50 pm  
    7

    sweet…thanks for writing this great inspiration

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  8. savantskis
    wrote on February 1st, 2011 at 1:51 pm  
    8

    sweeeeeet…thanks for writing this great inspiration

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  9. Nick
    wrote on February 1st, 2011 at 1:58 pm  
    9

    Wow, what an awesome trip! Glad you got to ski your line!

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  10. Eduardo Blanchard
    wrote on February 4th, 2011 at 6:16 pm  
    10

    Hey guys, fun meeting you up there- cool vid and pics too! You did well to ski out when you did- when we left, maybe an hour later, the top of the gully below the hut had frozen solid!

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