Mt. Fay and the 3 – 3.5 Couloir

This morning I awoke to a faint tint of pink and blue filling the sky around the jagged mountains. It was 5:00am and Cody was up brewing coffee. A perfect start. With a coffee in hand I strolled out onto the deck to check out the the morning. The morning was brisk, the air still. I couldn’t ask for more. I just stood there for a few minutes watching the sun slowly light up the mountain tops near Lake Louise and ranges far into the distant.

Wolverine tracks on the way to the Three Four Couloir. Photo: Isaac Kamink

The morning before Cody, Mark, Issac and I left Moraine Lake and boot packed up the 3 – 3.5 Couloir and over to the Neil Colgan Hut. We dropped a bit of equipment and food and headed partway up Mt. Little straight above the hut. At an opportune location we dropped in towards the north side of Mt. Fay: two on snowboards and two on skis. A balanced crew. The snow was awesome.

The N. Face of Mt. Fay is simply a cool place.  The object that immediately grabs your attention is the historic ice bulge, which isn’t a bulge anymore.  These days it is a few giant seracs and they  look like they are going to fall off the mountain. The Roth/Kallen route is an ice couloir running up the face and it looked in rippable shape. It is a spectacular snowboard/ski line about 1000 ft long with a consistent pitch between 45 and 50+ degrees. It isn’t totally straight either, so you can’t see the top from the bottom or the bottom from the top. We headed up. Mark took on the psych and boot packed the whole way up and pulled through the cornice. On the summit, we spied the N. Face of Quadra and the main gully the splits the face. Someday….. Our descent didn’t go exactly as planned. Only three of us had the chance to ride the couloir. Mark got left out. He took alternative means, which is a completely different story.  And it will be a legendary one.

Upper section of the Three Four Couloir. Photo: Isaac Kimink

Cody made another pot of coffee and I into having another cup while packing up my gear for the day. By 7am we were hiking back up Mt. Little for a warm up run. Damn was it fun, the bootpack up and run down. Nothing special about it, but good company and a good mindset. For me it isn’t necessarily the line, but the overall feel of the situation.

In a quick moment we were back at the hut, scrubbing and packing up. A quick icy slide brought us back to the top of the 3 – 3.5 Couloir. It is an amazing feature. It is an ice gully that is about 3,000 ft high and maintains a width of a few hundred feet. It holds ice and snow all summer and fills and sheds its snow all winter. Our plan was to leap frog our way down. Rolling into the couloir this morning was intimidating and kept my thoughts honest. The first few hundred feet held great snow which is great because it is the steepest. I’d guess upper 40′s. The pitch maintains a honest 45 degrees for another 1500 ft+. The snow quality kept changing abruptly between ice and soft keep all of us on guard. But you know before we knew it, we wereat the bottom. Sick lines.

Neil Colgan Hut. Photo: Isaac Kamink

For me today was absolutely perfect. A bit of intense riding and the chance to be back in Revelstoke by 12:30 pm to hang at home with my girl. I enjoyed the rest of the warm spring day. I lounged and cruised my bike around town. Sitting at home, I watched the sunset and light go off on Mt. Begbie. Amazing day.

Gj. Photo: Issac Kamink.