Tanner on the rappel

Where does that couloir go that you can see from the top of the of the Jackson Hole Tram off the back (north west) side? That’s the Horseshoe Couloir. It’s an awesome, be it a bit short, ski with a rappel or a mandatory air for the bolder (on bigger snow years). The rappel is a good for learning rappelling techniques in ski gear, in my opinion.

Looking up from the top of the rappel

From the top of the tram, head out the highest access gate. Don’t be a jacksass and duck the ropes at the top- side step your lazy ass to the high gate, off the back and then traverse north to be a little less obvious (after all, from the top of the tam it looks pretty good and there’s no way to tell there’s a rappel for suckers). The rappel/mandatory is just about in the middle of the couloir. I’ve heard there are anchors, and I wish I could tell you where they were specifically, but I’ve never been able to find them. I’ve only used webbing that’s about 20-30yards above the edge of the cliff. Using protection from this high, you might want to bring a longer rope, or double up  a 60m- although this is substantially more gear to carry.

Looking down from the top of the rappel

After the rap, the skiing should be pretty straightforward to the bottom (and good, protected, north-facing pow). From the bottom, either hike east back toward the resort or north toward Granite Canyon.

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