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First Flatiron Ski Descent March 1

Austin Porzak · · Boulder/ Vail · Joined Oct 2006 · Points: 1,475

Haha this all cracks me up! It would have been a stunt if I skied it in a clown suit. To the post above I know what the Landry Line is because I've skied it and it was a fun one too.

Landry Line, Pyramid Peak.
Here's a shot of the section that was very steep on the 1st.
1st Flatiron.

Jason Killgore · · boulder, co · Joined Sep 2008 · Points: 165

Just for context, plenty of novelty lines get skied and shared. Usually these lines are skied by very good skiers. Some people like the added challenge of rope work and risk management while skiing. Others not so much.

climbing.com/news/first-ski…

bigger mountain, similar tactics. I guess here it links an unskied face of a mountain, so maybe it gets to be counted... All ski lines on the grand require belays or rappels, and it is considered the birth place of north american steep skiing.

Here are examples where the skiing is just "some" patch or strip of snow on a mountain:

Snowpatch on Snowpatch spire in the bugaboos. Somehow I cant google details on this. It is literally just a famous hanging snowfield.

Whillans ramp on Poincenot. Fransson (one of the greatest extreme skiers ever) considered it a culmination of all his steep ski skills. The line starts nowhere near the summit, but was skeid in great style.

Precedent in the flatirons:
dailycamera.com/ci_13073342…
I wouldnt be surprised if the belayed line Bill refers to is the 1st...

Scott McMahon · · Boulder, CO · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 1,425

Damn barely above dirt skiing.

vid vid vid!!

nature · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jan 2007 · Points: 0

nice, you went out and did something fun. Double win! Had fun and got a bunch of panties all in a bunch.

Eliot Augusto · · Lafayette, CO · Joined Dec 2013 · Points: 60
MikeWh wrote:...but this particular event is just a stunt which could have cost us taxpayers a lot for a rescue or recovery.
Hardly. That area is covered by the RMRG. They have a $40k annual budget. That money comes from taxes AND donations. I know they get a rather large chunk off donations alone. If every person in Boulder County donated(or were taxed) a single penny, they would have enough cash to operate at their current readiness state for over 7 years.

@Austin: Share that video! Those photos are sick.
matt c. · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Nov 2009 · Points: 155

you skied down the lst! Awesome Austin! Screw the naysayers! I wanna see some video!

Nico C · · mt shasta, ca · Joined May 2013 · Points: 55


Ha ha lovin the critics! To summarize the event:
Endangering otherwise 100% safe climbers and costing untold taxpaxer money, a non-impressive, 35 degree, typical black diamond run was skied in poor style and was done solely to achieve fame, glory, and riches.

Don't the Flatirons have long and storied history of stunts? This only adds to it.

Stunts are rad and so are circuses, well except for the animal cruelty part.

Props!
Scott McMahon · · Boulder, CO · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 1,425
Eric Klammer wrote: From a field geology class and climbing Silk Road yesterday... The east faces of the Flatirons average around 50 degrees, and as this gully isn't inset (as Tony stated above), it will in general share this slope. On a smaller scale, it's full of small rollers and little "headwalls", so while you have some sections that are no more than 40 degrees, you have others that are 60 degrees.
Cool..thanks for the info. LOL I guess I ski steeper stuff than I thought. Just bought a peips slope meter to help me out!!

I think the lower and upper portions are the steepest. Everytime I climb it I come in from the right side over the roof, so I'm sure that I skip a bit of the steep lower section. I would imagine the runnel roof area would be quite tricky. Still feel like it can't be more than 45ish, but hell I'm not a geologist. Looking at some of the pics I can see that tho.

Shit what's a slope steep enough to jump turn> 60? Guess I really underestimate.

Yo Joe
The Blueprint Part Dank · · FEMA Region VIII · Joined Jun 2013 · Points: 460

Now that it's in the Daily Camera and on Rock and Ice's website, then we are all obviously unworthy of casting stones.

Scott McMahon · · Boulder, CO · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 1,425
The Blueprint Part Dank wrote:Now that it's in the Daily Camera and on Rock and Ice's website, then we are all obviously unworthy of casting stones.
Climbing too.
Pnelson · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jan 2015 · Points: 635
MikeWh wrote:This is more a circus stunt than an accomplishment, usually 'stunts' are done to advance career or try to stand out from the crowd, not establish a new quality route worth repeating. If this ski were a top 1000' section of a real alpine peak, finally making the first complete descent of a peak, it would be cool, but is a scrappy ugly brown slab with a little frosting on it. High risk for an inconsequential route, at least I hope it was fun.
I really wish that our climbing community would more vigorously enforce the "don't criticize it unless you've done it" rule a bit more. Like, seriously dude, STFU.
The Blueprint Part Dank · · FEMA Region VIII · Joined Jun 2013 · Points: 460
Pnelson wrote: I really wish that our climbing community would more vigorously enforce the "don't criticize it unless you've done it" rule a bit more. Like, seriously dude, STFU.
I wish that Kate Upton would bring me an omelette every morning when I wake up. But that wish is about as realistic as yours.

We see that phenomenon in most aspects of life, especially sports. "Is Julius Thomas really an 'elite' Tight End or is he just a product of Peyton Manning's arm?" "Was DeMarco Murray the best running back in the NFL last year? Or did he simply have the best O-line blocking for him?"

This unknowing criticism is simply a byproduct of a world where unfiltered commentary is easier than ever.

I'm personally psyched for the dude's going out and having an adventure, but I, along with many of the other detractors simply see the accomplishment as one meriting a bit less applause than it seems to be getting, applause that seems to be the goal of the spectacle more than the adventure itself.

Is that entirely fair of me? Probably not, I don't have psychic powers to see into the minds of these skiers, and so my opinion, and all of our opinions, must be based on observable events, and what I observe is a stunt that seems to be predominately intended to receive attention.
csproul · · Pittsboro...sort of, NC · Joined Dec 2009 · Points: 330
The Blueprint Part Dank wrote:... what I observe is a stunt that seems to be predominately intended to receive attention.
I could say the same of a lot of the posting here.
Brad White · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Sep 2006 · Points: 25
MikeWh wrote"This is more a circus stunt than an accomplishment, usually 'stunts' are done to advance career or try to stand out from the crowd, not establish a new quality route worth repeating. If this ski were a top 1000' section of a real alpine peak, finally making the first complete descent of a peak, it would be cool, but is a scrappy ugly brown slab with a little frosting on it"

You should investigate how extreme ski descents are actually done. How many times has the Grand Teton been skiied completely from the top down to 1000 feet below the top. I don't know the answer, but I have witnessed it being skiied and it was by no stretch of the imagination a "complete descent". There was down-climbing, rappeling and side-stepping for much of the descent. Nonetheless the descent of the Grand that I witnessed was featured in a Warren Miller movie.

Also, I don't recall Alex Lowe and Mark Newcombe being accused of accomplishing a "stunt" when they skiied the Black Ice Couloir. They belayed and side-stepped down part of their descent as I recall. Contriving adventures in the mountains (such as climbing the NoseIAD) is as old as the hills and represents the desire to apply imagination to something that has been done a more traditional way. It keeps our pursuits fresh and interesting. Nothing wrong with that, especially if it's not hurting anyone.

Anyone that knows the winter terrain on the First knows that while it is mostly easy, it is very thin and runout. The thought of these guys creating an adventure that no one had yet carried out on that terrain is pretty cool. The fact that they did it working out the logistics with climbers on the route is even cooler. Awesome job Austin for having the imagination to do this.
The Blueprint Part Dank · · FEMA Region VIII · Joined Jun 2013 · Points: 460
csproul wrote: I could say the same of a lot of the posting here.
And you wouldn't be wrong.
Scott McMahon · · Boulder, CO · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 1,425
The Blueprint Part Dank wrote:Now that it's in the Daily Camera and on Rock and Ice's website, then we are all obviously unworthy of casting stones.
haha that went viral quick..DP, DC, climbing, R&I and some assorted FB skiing sites.

Dood u famous!
tenpins · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jan 2007 · Points: 30
MikeWh wrote:I'm speaking on the mature state of our sport where due to better technology and 40 years of steep skiing most of all the respectable good routes have been done in Colorado and the Alps etc. At this point younger generations are scraping for some sense of identity or uniqueness. There are between 1000-3000 very good steep skiers living in Colorado. If you are in that club you will get respect from those who understand this niche area of the sport, you don't need to "rollerblade the roof of the superdome" or do anything really stupid to get respect. The 1980s were a time we should learn from, when ski stunts reached an apex. A lot of good people and great skiers died doing things which didn't advance our sport. The First Flatiron has all the worst features which kill skiers - dense waterfall ice hidden under powder, buried rock ridges and heavily textured rock which has crystals that catch edges. These "wildcards" kill the best of skiers and there is no skilled way to avoid some types of hidden features. If you ski down its just luck and not skill. We can all just hope that these features don't get us on an exposed route some day. Doug Combs, Hans Saari and others are not less of skiers than those still alive today just because hidden dangers or wildcard situations tripped them up. No one is immune from these type of hazards, so what does it prove to ski this type of face? Nothing. Other descents by Mr. Porzak of classic steep faces are awesome and do prove that he is a good skier, in the top 'club' of 1000 CO skiers, but this particular event is just a stunt which could have cost us taxpayers a lot for a rescue or recovery.
yeah what you are doing is called projection. Scraping for some sense of identity or uniqueness? you should try some therapy it will really help you identify your failings in life.
If you like this ski descent, wait'll you check out when I post a super awesome video of me climbing a 10' bulge of blue ice in north cheyenne canyon. It might be a first ascent, at the very least rarely repeated. Fortune and glory kid? Hardly. Just fun. you should try it sometime.
MikeH · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 1,170
tenpins wrote: yeah what you are doing is called projection. ... ascent, at the very least rarely repeated. Fortune and glory kid? Hardly. Just fun. you should try it sometime.
Dude, your scraping for insults, are you part of AP's highschool fan posse?

He was sponsored by some companies, hired a photographer, bent the rules to claim a F/A, was born into a rich family (this often leads to 'emotionally needy'), talks like he invented steep skiing... you might guess this rubs the pro skiing community the wrong way. Several local legends of skiing have been blunt and called APs descent BS. I agree.
phil broscovak · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2002 · Points: 1,631

"I find it interesting how people are so reactionary on forums/blogs. They quickly become 'personal' and nasty knowing nothing about the person who they are speaking or their resume of experience. I'd expect better behavior from our demographic,"

I would expect better too, were you apologizing?

SDY · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jan 2013 · Points: 10

Video! Video! Video!

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Colorado
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