TR: Coon hill (west side of the tunnel)

[forum8fox]

This area has alot of fun lines with easy access. The line for this trip was really aesthetic and none of us had ever been in it or really gotten the best view of it.

This was the first time I had seen it up close, I was excited.



I found a safe spot out of the way and let the others come up to me. The snow was pretty solid and I was glad to have 2 ice axes!

Going up!





The final stretch


Virgin line!


Time to go down.














That is all, enjoy!

[Jong 3:16]

Thought I'd bump this cause posting a decent TR deserves a bump.

In hindsight would it had better better if you ditched the snowshoes at the bottom and booted the chute?

[fivefourtwo]

looks fun and like pretty easy access to an aesthetic line.

[Alpine Dreams]

Looks really fun!

[Tunco]

Well all right.

[doughboyshredder]

sweetness

[FrontRangeDrummer]

How have I never noticed that? Nice find.

[TeleHoar]

Isn't that area illegal to ski this time of year?

[Doughnuts01]

it is illegal, we should all stay away..... no good lines up there

[The Department of Homeland Security]

This is an ongoing issue. Beginning March 2nd, additional security measures will be in place. Consider yourselves warned.

[jon turner]

Looks good! I've always wondered if it was okay to park there and ski that area. No one gave you a hard time?

[bear]

any snow stability observations to share? usually wait on Coon Hill til spring. love the aesthetics.

[dmandave]

good stuff.
two questions:
1) were you able to park on the west side of the tunnel without any hassle?
2) how stable was the snowpack?

[pbourdon]

nice line..

[forum8fox]

First, I was actually happy to have the snow shoes as the snow was so solid I could not kick steps if I wanted to with my soft snowboard boots. I was having trouble sinking the shaft of my axe even. I thought stability was about as good as it gets IMO. Pretty much solid, a small fresh wind slab existed in spots(small pockets) on top of the solid crust but it was not consistent and less then 3 inches.

The only issue we had with parking was parking in the wrong spot initially then CDOT asked us to move the car down closer to the highway, No mention of illegality, No signage like you see above the sisters. I've hit this area up for 2-3 years now and have never heard this before although I have wondered. One time some one (CDOT)said something when I hit this pinner above the tunnel, we were on our way up and it was a good stability day. We stated we wouldn't be on this if it was prone to slide at that point in time (also stating we know it's illegal to bring a slide down on a road) and that there is no signage that says otherwise so were going up! They threatened there would soon be signs but I still haven't seen them. As for this line in particular, there is a big bench at the bottom that would most likely stop a slide before it even hit the tree's.

Where is the proof that this is illegal?

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Looks like a cool line.

Is this dude carrying a dead hooker in his pack? Or did he meet up with you on the ridge after a week long tour?

[Goatski]

Nice work on the Coon! I've pulled over @ 3:30 on my way back up to the mtns to hit that line and I love how uber-accesible it is - like a 1.5 hr. commitment - served up on a silver platter indeed

[soylent green]

Nancy from CDOT asked me to park at the west end of the lot and always leave a note on the windshield with a phone #. She was very cool about the whole thing.

[StanWagon]

Parked at the pulloff today with no problem, and I've been seeing cars there a few times in preceding weeks. Today Chet and I skied a nice line on the NE face that MontanaSkier spotted last week (and we also saw from Pettingell loop). Couple pics:

The line: Couloir lookers right of summit:




Chet in the heart of it:

[Tunco]

Nice!


678

[Mike_Records]

Cool, how did you get out, hike back out through the saddle?

[montanaskier]

sorry I missed it Stan. Wish I would have gone, had a bike crash instead..wish I was skiing.

[StanWagon]

How to get back out? Two ways, via the saddle on either side. Using the saddle to the W would put you in position to climb back to the summit and ski a longer line back to the tunnel. We went via the saddle to the E. and had the quick cruise out. We did not use our skins or our ice axes this day. As noted, there is plenty of snow out there, but somehow all this dust is affecting my and my friends' enthusiasm for skiing in June...