A New Line (for us) on the Pfeiff...and Lars

Viking Lars came to town again and wanted to get a little scared. I thought a new linkup in Hogum Fork that might be deserving of the name, "Spicy Hulk," would be a good way to go.  Each line was to involve a bit of climbing and rappelling.  First up was the ever inspiring Pfeifferhorn.  We wanted to climb the North Ridge again and then ski the upper section back to the rock bands and then rap into a NW facing couloir lower on the ridge.  

Old photo by Jared with our descent labeled

 The day dawned partly cloudy and we were hopeful for Mother Nature's blessing.

JD and Lars heading toward the Pfeiff

 We booted up the North Couloir again, shortcutting the ridge a bit and then jumped on the rock.

JD got to lead the fun stuff this time since I got to do the majority last time

Here I am giving JD an attentive belay

Lars is from Nebraska and doesn't get a chance to do this stuff that much.  He did an admirable job and we gave him a solid B for the day.

Lars just after he got caught pulling on gear 

Looking back down the ridge

Past the difficulties and about to put away the ropes

Still looking for the summit

We sat on top for a few minutes hoping the visibility would improve.  It never did so we skied down the ridge until there were cliffs on three sides.  From there we slung a rock, threw a couple 60 meter ropes over the cliff and hoped they'd get us down to the couloir that we had spied on the way up.

Lars going over the edge

 The rap ended up being about 45 meters validating the extra weight of two ropes.

The viking on the lower portion 

 I know this line has been skied before but I doubt it gets done very often. Not sure of its name but viking themes come to mind given the company.    RPP?

Lowing down to where we put the skis back on

For those interested, the upper ridge is part of the NE Face/Couloir and is probably in the low 40s but with BIG exposure.  After the rap, the couloir starts in the upper 40s/low 50s and eases after a narrow choke that may not be filled in during lean years.

Oh yea, the skiing was good too

The skiing was a bonus even though Mama Nature frowned on us.  We decided to bail on the rest of the day rather than grope around in the soup trying not to fall off cliffs.  We'll be back though.  

And Lars...

He wasn't too scared today so we'll see what tomorrow brings.