Teenager Skis Rock Face Down Corbet's Couloir's Gnarlier "Older Brother"

Ian Greenwood
·1 min read
2

This morning, teenage skier Jack Kilmain ticked off an impressive line, riding a rock face down Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Wyoming's S&S Couloir.

Due to its high exposure, the couloir is known as the famed Corbet's Couloir's "big brother."

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S&S is adjacent to Corbet's Couloir and visible from the Aerial Tram. Like Corbet's, it features a large drop-in before the skiing begins. Unlike Corbet's, though, S&S doesn't have a goat's path that can be used to navigate around the drop, making the line truly all or nothing.

Well, that's not totally true. As Kilmain proves in this video, you can avoid most of the airtime with S&S—provided you don't mind riding a rock wall. Either option—leap of faith or free base grind—will shut down all but the best skiers.

Unsurprisingly, JHMR doesn't let skiers ride S&S willy-nilly. An article published by Buckrail in 2023 notes that daring skiers or snowboarders must "sign out" with ski patrol before riding the line.

It all raises an interesting question. If S&S is the real JHMR test piece, why, then, does Corbet's steal the limelight? Most skiers have heard of Corbet's—S&S less so.

I assume it comes down to accessibility. While Corbet's is challenging, everyday expert skiers can take it on and live to tell the tale, folding a broader audience into its mythos. That's not the case with S&S, where errors can be far more punishing.

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