We’ve all seen Corbet’s Couloir at this point. The legendary run at Jackson Hole has become one of the most iconic ski runs in North America, if not the world. It attracts people from all over, with skiers and boarders of all types testing their ability on the couloir’s snow, and it’s home to Kings & Queens of Corbet’s, one of the coolest annual freeride competitions in the sport.
Every lift at Jackson Hole is spinning at this point this year, but as of January 2, only 58 of the mountains 131 trails are open. Of the mountain’s 27 double black runs, zero are open. And yes, that includes Corbet’s Couloir. The couloir isn’t usually open this early in the year, so it isn’t much of a shocker that there isn’t enough snow to get things running. But it is looking rather bare.
So, if you wanted to break the rules and duck the rope (don’t do this anywhere, ever, please) what would that look like in Corbet’s Couloir? Would you be able to do it? How big would that first drop be? Is there even enough snow to ski through? This TikTok from Owen Leeper gives us quite a good look into Corbet’s when the conditions just aren’t good enough.
Okay, so you’re not skiing that, I’m not skiing that, and probably no professional skiers are skiing that. Even if you make it past the first drop, which seems fairly doable depending on the side you try to enter from, the many rocks filling up the rest of the trail would certainly stop you.
Corbet’s is no joke, and it’s definitely no joke when there’s just a little more than no snow. I think if you showed someone who’s never heard of Corbet’s a picture of the couloir with no snow at all, you’d have a decently hard time convincing them that people are skiing it in the winter.
Related: Owen Leeper’s 2022-23 Season Highlights Video Is Insane
Image Credit: Owen Leeper via TikTok