Pioneering a Couloir in California’s High Sierra
It's been said that the best way to run a race is to start slow and finish strong. We wouldn't necessarily say that Tim and Colter's road trip in their new Ranger started off slow, but their degree of difficulty definitely ramped up near the end. "The Bishop couloir was by far the trip's gnarliest objective," said Walter Wood, one of the team's cinematographers. "It really was the culmination of a month spent learning how to work together." Unsure of conditions in the couloir, the team flew one of their drones up to the line to assess the snow. "We quickly realized the bootpacking up the couloir wasn't an option," recalled Wood. "There were two cliffs which would have required serious mixed-climbing, so Tim and Colter decided to ascend via a nearby couloir."
Tim is a big fan of couloirs—the steeper, the better. Tim Durtschi/Eric Parker photos.
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The team spent a few days camped near the couloir, so they were ready to go when conditions lined up. "They got up super quickly," said Wood. "We were camped right below the treeline, so they had a really short approach to the line, and once they were bootpacking they really flew." The ascent might have been a breeze, but the descent got a little bit hairy. The line was skinny and steep, and the top three-quarters was a no-fall-zone due to the cliffs below. "Tim and Colter had to set up two rappels in the couloir, and things got interesting during the second," recalled Wood with a laugh. "Tim had made it down, and Colter was just starting to rappel when a massive line of icicles broke loose from an overhanging ledge." The human-sized spears of ice barely missed Colter's rope, and the camera crew below was treated to some truly terrifying sounds. "We radioed up to Tim to see what had happened," said Wood. "Eventually he figured out what had happened, but those few moments where we had no idea what had made the massive, reverberating boom were some of the trip's scariest." Despite the dramatic icefall, Tim and Colter made it down safely, and their team captured some of the most striking footage of the whole trip. "If anything, this was a reminder that even the best laid plans can get screwy," said Wood. "Luck will always play a major part—all we can do is try to stack the odds in our favor."
