Rock Climbing – Ice Climbing – Ski Mountaineering
On January 15th, 2026, I skied a potential first descent on the North Face of Housetop Mountain, the most alluring and rarest skied north face in the west Tetons. It's difficult to know exactly what has and hasn't been skied on the heavily gate-kept west slope, but longtime area record keepers and ski mountaineers believe the line to be previously unskied.
On January 13th, 2026, I completed the first descent of The Blue Line, possibly the last unskied couloir in the Apocalypse area of Prospector's Mountain. The route features a 700 foot hanging couloir with 50 degree skiing above massive exposure, culminating in a 650 foot horizontal traverse across an unlikely ledge system to merge with the Son of the Apocalypse Couloir, a 3,300 foot descent in full.
The "Banana Couloir" is really not a couloir, but rather, a 3,300 foot slide path of epic proportions. The entire descent is pure "fall line", sustaining an average slope angle just above 30 degrees with no pitches steeper than 38 degrees, making for a incredible moderate objective catered to fast and fluid skiing.
I've skied the Boyscout Couloir two... or three... or four times over the years - I forget - because every time has been in marginal snow that should've been excellent. Today was my first time nailing this quirky 2,200 foot line in soft conditions, and today the snow was downright heroic.
On December 31, 2025, Julian Winston and I skied the Chouinard Couloir from 12,200 feet, 300 feet below the summit. We turned around due to firm snow conditions, a usually buried rock step that would've forced downclimbing, and overhead hazard from falling rime ice.
On December 28th, 2025 I opened my ice season with Erik Boomer on the Teton classic Right and Left Ghost Pillars (WI5 & WI4). Both routes were in virgin conditions with thin top outs. A few observation notes on nearby routes are included at the bottom.
On April 21st, 2025, Bobbi Clemmer and I skied the classic South Face of 10,636 foot Williams Peak in Idaho's Sawtooth Range. With 1,600 feet of consistently pitched fall-line shred, and 3,500 some feet of skiing in full, this must be one of the finest corn descents in the Gem State. We had perfect conditions.
The Northeast Face of Mount Woodring is an unassuming, yet intricate and at times rather severe, 3,000 foot ski descent tucked away in the deep recesses of Leigh Canyon.
Over December and January I climbed and equipped two new or seldom visited routes in the South Fork of Teton Canyon that may be "Rusty's Smears", with three different partners.
Ten Thousand Too Far 