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Oh What Big Eyes You Have Couloir

 5.0 (5)
  1. Areas
  2. CO
  3. …Central Rockies
  4. Summit County
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0.5 Miles 0.8 Kilometers


Ski Line

3' 1 m

Ascent

-1,821' -555 m

Descent

69%

Avg Slope (35°)

104%

Max Slope (46°)

12,868' 3,922 m

High

11,047' 3,367 m

Low

Shared By Eric Internicola

Conditions

Unknown
History
Getting forecast...

Avalanche risk for Jan 15, 2019: Considerable

Dangerous avalanche conditions. Careful snowpack evaluation, cautious route-finding and conservative decision-making essential. Natural avalanches possible; human-triggered avalanches likely.

Full forecast for CAIC: Vail Summit Zone — Brought to you by CO Avalanche Information Center

Avy tweets from @CAICsummit

“1800 vertical feet of 15 foot wide, 45 degree sustained goodness!”

— Eric Internicola
Driving DirectionsGPX File
Type: Backcountry or Sidecountry

Need to Know

This couloir is pretty steep, needs lots of snow to be filled in, and it's not very wide. Don't fall or you'll likely be seriously injured.

Description

A long approach to some one of the most amazing couloir skis I've had the pleasure of doing. This is well worth the effort to get there. It's a very steep couloir (and it's sustained). It's not very wide which makes it somewhat challenging. If you're looking for a fun challenge, this could be the route for you.

This descent is featured in "Climbing and Skiing Colorado's Mountains: 50 Select Ski Descents": amazon.com/Climbing-Skiing-…

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Your Check-Ins

Check-Ins

Jun 2, 2018
Ben McGlenn
We were bushwacking to the base of the couloir and back using directions from a book, this late in the season would not recommend. lots of swampy a… 15mi
May 14, 2017
Britton Thomas
Very firm conditions around 11:30am. Connected snow patches on the ski out to around 9,400 feet.
Apr 30, 2015
Will Shaw
11mi
May 4, 2014
Eric Internicola
Skinned up the front face, skied down the couloir and skinned back around to the front. 0.5mi
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Trail Ratings

  5.0 from 5 votes

#1

in Summit County

#3

Overall
  5.0 from 5 votes
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Rankings

#1

in Summit County

#3

in Colorado

#3

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Photos

Half way down
Half way down
 4
Long Hike (roughly a 3000 foot ascent), but well worth the effort. The Couloir skiing was fantastic. Sustained 45 degree pitch for the entire couloir descent.
Long Hike (roughly a 3000 foot ascent), but wel…
 4
The bottom of Oh What Big Eyes You Have Couloir, looking to the east.
The bottom of Oh What Big Eyes You Have Couloir…
 3

2 Comments

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Garrett Akol
Boulder, CO
Garrett Akol   Boulder, CO
When were the photos for your route description taken? Apr 9, 2015
Eric Internicola
Westminster, CO
Eric Internicola   Westminster, CO  
May 4th, 2014. Sorry I didn't see your comment earlier (I didn't get a notification about it). May 24, 2015

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