Heart pounding high consequence line by professional skier Josh Daiek who used all of his collective skill and experience to fluidly ski this spine flanked by a potentially fatal 200 foot sheer drop off.
One false move to the left and Josh would have had a couple seconds to consider his mistake before impacting. Exposure like this should only be attempted by those who have supreme confidence in the snow conditions and their person ability to perform in high pressure situations.
Although Josh skied the spine cleanly, he did manage to knee himself in the face upon exiting. Read a full account of the line from Josh below.
Josh Daiek:
When I first laid eyes on this face, the standout feature was a prominent spine that teeters on the edge of a 200-foot cliff, running the length of the face before leading into a steep, fluted wall at the exit. The exit itself was tricky though with only one clean way out.
As I dropped in over the blind roll, my first turn completely white-roomed me. When I came out of it, I realized I was about five feet further right than I had planned. I tried to adjust at the last second, but it was too late. I was lined up straight for an uphill landing. As I came off the small air, I was sure I was going to explode in the compression, but I put the landing gear down and braced for impact. I slammed into the uphill, kneeing myself in the face upon impact. Somehow, I managed to stay on my feet and ski out the bottom. Not how I planned it, but glad it worked out.
One cool thing I’d like to mention about this shot, you can actually see the moment I knee myself in the face. My GoPro slams forward, pointing straight at the ground. If it weren’t for the GoPro Max, the shot would have been useless after the air, leaving viewers wondering what happened. But thanks to the 360-capture, I was able to reframe the shot to show the landing and the rest of the run-out. Pretty cool, I think!
Have a good weekend y’all!
