Corbet's Couloir Sans Snow Is Even More Intimidating
Corbet's Couloir, a line located at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Wyoming, is legendary.
Its imposing headwall is known for chewing up expert skiers and spitting them right back out in a flurry of lost equipment and snow.
While intimidating during the winter, the line takes on a distinctly fearsome persona when the snow melts -- more sheer rock wall than something that looks remotely skiable.
Check out the summer view of Corbet's by watching the video below featuring JHMR's tram.
It's on the left side at the 30-second mark. You can change where the video is pointing by clicking and dragging the screen.
The titular Corbet's Couloir comes from Barry Corbet, a mountaineer and ski instructor who helped scout Rendezvous Mountain as a potential ski resort location.
When Corbet stumbled across the line in 1960, he didn't actually ski it. Instead, he proclaimed that someone, someday, would eventually leap from the headwall. And he was right.
Fast forward 60 or so years and Corbet's Couloir is now home to one of the world's gnarliest big mountain competitions: the annual Kings & Queens of Corbet's.
During this event, professional skiers and snowboarders gather at JHMR and test their mettle by flying into the Couloir as they throw tricks. Whoever sticks the best line wins.
The competition has played host to several world firsts, with notable examples including Veronica Paulsen's first women's double backflip into Corbet's and Trevor Kennison becoming the first sit-skier to ride off the headwall.
Here's Paulsen's double.
That said, we're talking about Corbet's in the summer, right?
This has me thinking -- what if a mountain biker could ride Corbet's after the snow melts?
Admittedly, I don't know anything about mountain biking, so it might be a terrible, likely incredibly dangerous idea. But part of me wonders if the folks who ride the Red Bull Rampage course could pull it off.
I mean, just take a look at this video from Red Bull Rampage 2022.
(Fair warning: This might not be the best video to watch if you have a weak stomach. No one gets hurt, but the stunts made me audibly gasp several times.)
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