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First Flatiron Ski Descent March 1

Original Post
Staney · · Durango, CO · Joined Aug 2012 · Points: 15

So I was hiking up Chataqua on Sunday and ran into a couple who had just climbed Silk Road on the First Flatiron. They said several parties were on the route during the day, and that one party was skiing down the East Face Gully aka Silk Road.

They said that the guy skiing the route was on belay during much of the descent, and also that they had quite a bit of snow sloughed down on them. Pretty freaking crazy! The skiing as well as the fact that people were below him on the route during this.

Someone sent me this link yesterday. Check out his recent pictures. Seems legit.
instagram.com/aporzak1/

Marc801 C · · Sandy, Utah · Joined Feb 2014 · Points: 65
MasonStaney wrote:... people were below him on the route during this.
Which would be pretty irresponsible on his part.
Austin Porzak · · Boulder/ Vail · Joined Oct 2006 · Points: 1,475

Yes, I skied 3 60m pitches of it on belay and for good reason. Once I realized climbers were below me I anchored into a tree and waited for them to get to me. We actually chatted for a bit then they kept climbing and I kept skiing. It was kinda funny we had quite a few mutual friends. This was a really fun descent and pretty challenging. Images were shot by Daniel Sohner.

1st Flatiron.

Steep skiing.

East Face Gully ski descent.

Staney · · Durango, CO · Joined Aug 2012 · Points: 15
Marc801 wrote: Which would be pretty irresponsible on his part.
If he didn't give any warning of his intentions then I would agree that would be an irresponsible decision, but maybe just a bad idea to climb an ice route with parties above you.
Staney · · Durango, CO · Joined Aug 2012 · Points: 15
Austin Porzak wrote: Once I realized climbers were below me I anchored into a tree and waited for them to get to me. We actually chatted for a bit then they kept climbing and I kept skiing. It was kinda funny we had quite a few mutual friends.
Wow! Pretty awesome stuff. Glad that you and everyone else had a fun day and made it home safe!
Austin Porzak · · Boulder/ Vail · Joined Oct 2006 · Points: 1,475

Wanted to say a little more... This line was rad and presented constant challenges. It was a puzzle from top to bottom. There was so much uncertainty dropping into it and it was really rewarding putting it all together on the descent. Three 60m sections had to be skied on belay because your skiing 60 degree? snow on top of pure slab rock and ice with fatal exposure. I kept my skis on for the entire descent but had to sidestep all the vertical rollovers otherwise your looking at certain death. There was no rappelling or downclimbing just sidestepping on belay! I've been scouting this line for years and I have never seen it come into better conditions than it did the other day so I really don't think this descent can be improved upon but it is in Boulder so who knows :) Wanna see the footage?

Frosty Weller · · Colorado · Joined Mar 2004 · Points: 1,145

"Wanna see the footage?"

Hell yeah!

And man no kidding about the conditions... that's awesome. Nice work and way to seize the moment Austin!

Em Cos · · Boulder, CO · Joined Apr 2010 · Points: 5

Forgive the naive question but my non-resort ski experience is limited - how does belaying a ski run work? I imagine you build an anchor and it's similar to lowering a climber, but I'm having trouble wrapping my brain around how you'd pay out rope fast enough for a skiier while still keeping good belay control - is there any special technique to it?

Thanks for sharing the pics, sounds like an awesome adventure!

SDY · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jan 2013 · Points: 10
Frosty Weller wrote:"Wanna see the footage?" Hell yeah! And man no kidding about the conditions... that's awesome. Nice work and way to seize the moment Austin!
Yeah! Unedited footage of the whole ski!
Austin Porzak · · Boulder/ Vail · Joined Oct 2006 · Points: 1,475

Skiing on belay is kind of a pain in the ass. I just had him give me 3 to 5 feet of slack at all times (when I was on skiable terrain and had him keep it tighter on the sidestep sections). Your not skiing a line like this really fast and only once did he ask me to slow it down so he could feed rope faster. Im not sure about the steepness but it was steep. I think the very top section off the ridge could maybe be 60 but I'm not sure, also was really steep about 90m into the line.

Scott McMahon · · Boulder, CO · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 1,425
CJC wrote:60 degrees? Having a hard time picturing where.
Not to take anything away from a rad run, but yeah this can't be more than 35ish degrees. Moving onto the direct to avoid the mando air on the left might go around 40ish to 45.

STILL...sick and ballsy. No base doesn't give a lot of decision making opportunities.
Chris Dickson · · Telluride, CO · Joined May 2011 · Points: 678

The real questions is, how are the bottoms of your skis??? Was there a base? Nothing but faceshots and coreshots down here in C.Springs!

MikeH · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 1,170

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.

Travis Haussener · · Unknown Hometown · Joined May 2012 · Points: 60

Very cool, but "circus stunt", "crazy" "!!!", this gets done all the time in SLC, see

tetongravity.com/forums/sho…

slc-samurai.blogspot.com/20…

Monty · · Golden, CO · Joined Mar 2006 · Points: 3,520

Wait, did your follower also ski the line?

goatboy · · Nederland, CO · Joined Jan 2008 · Points: 30

Please, oh please post this TR over on TGR.
Top roping the First and claiming a ski descent will,
blow,
their,
minds...

phil broscovak · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2002 · Points: 1,631

one of my roomates and their partner got up there to climb Silk Road as the guys were finishing. Keith dropped their rope to them as he climbed past. I look forward to some video.

morkel · · Fort Collins, CO · Joined Aug 2006 · Points: 455
Scott McMahon wrote: Not to take anything away from a rad run, but yeah this can't be more than 35ish degrees. Moving onto the direct to avoid the mando air on the left might go around 40ish to 45. STILL...sick and ballsy. No base doesn't give a lot of decision making opportunities.
If it's really only 35 deg. it would be very reasonable as a descent
Glenn Schuler · · Monument, Co. · Joined Jun 2006 · Points: 1,330
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.
Somebody piss in your cheerios Mike? What do you care if Austin likes to go out & enjoy himself in weird ways? Lighten up, Francis.
The Blueprint Part Dank · · FEMA Region VIII · Joined Jun 2013 · Points: 460
Glenn Schuler wrote: Somebody piss in your cheerios Mike? What do you care if Austin likes to go out & enjoy himself in weird ways? Lighten up, Francis.
I get his point. I'm all for going out and having an adventure and getting psyched on something in your back yard. And sure, I don't think it's fair to dictate the style of someone else's adventure.

That being said, the style can dictate the amount of credit an accomplishment deserves. So realistically, I can see how it is a bit off putting to see a big production to film something that isn't really all that mind blowing.
Cor · · Sandbagging since 1989 · Joined Mar 2006 · Points: 1,445

No one else did it… And I don't see people just soloing up the mere 35% (???) snow/ice route…
(Yes I know people do solo it. I am not blind to the game, so you all know.) Jus'Sayin

A fellow human being did something cool. Others asked to see more / hear more. Why belittle it?
Oh yeah, I forgot it's the internet. Carry on...

Good job Austin! (Not just for the 1st, but also making the BroBraughPossie all wishing they did it!)

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Colorado
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