(Roadside) Katahdin Coolers?

By:  Greg
March 21, 2010


KC was nervous about that close call and decided it was time to ski.

We decided to tackle the left (skier’s right) knife edge coole–I mean couloir first. KC schussed over the alpine snowfield, and toward the entrance.

As the mellow alpine terrain rolled over and became steeper, our hearts started to pump. Quickly rock walls sprung up out of the mountainside, and an abyss of a cooler plunged down into the valley. Without a doubt this is why this place gets its reputation.

Unable to contain herself, KC dove ahead.

As we descended what seemed like forever, I saw what appeared to be a mountain hut on the skier’s left. Surely this is the fabled Chimney Pond ranger station. I was excited to refresh my water supply. Sadly, it was just a huge rock.

We pressed on hoping to find a place to sate our thirst below.

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Read about the author:   Greg
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26 Comments

  1. Jamie B
    wrote on March 21st, 2010 at 5:42 pm  
    1

    Guy…
    Cool TR!
    Cheers, to keeping sacred places…sacred.

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
    • Zach
      wrote on March 21st, 2010 at 8:16 pm  
      2

      Jamie,
      Nice running into you up there. I was the guy chilling below, watching you absolutely rip the left side. Way to get it man. Keep on keeping on.

    • Greg
      wrote on March 22nd, 2010 at 10:04 am  
      3

      Good to meet you. See you in the mountains.

  2. powhounddd
    wrote on March 21st, 2010 at 8:20 pm  
    4

    Impressive lines and great pics as always. The bald eagle bit made me laugh out loud, because that’s a running joke with the kids, Look there’s an eagle! Works like a charm.

    I appreciate the disclaimer at the bottom. If you run into a bearded splitboarder who’s slowly plodding along behind in the skintrack, say hi. ;)

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  3. Chris
    wrote on March 21st, 2010 at 10:20 pm  
    5

    Looks like a fun day, nice work….

    The Author’s Note was a good addition.

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  4. Porter Haney
    wrote on March 22nd, 2010 at 12:13 am  
    6

    Classic ice visor.

    Will this cooler ever run out of beer?!?!

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  5. Jack
    wrote on March 22nd, 2010 at 8:57 am  
    7

    Nice. How long was the hike from the parking lot?

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
    • Greg
      wrote on March 22nd, 2010 at 10:01 am  
      8

      hey jack i actually made a mistake in my calculations originally. I fixed it now.. should have been (and now appears in the TR as) (60/(25)1/2)1/2 times 2 divided by the square root of 3 miles

      took us about 2 hours…

  6. Adrian
    wrote on March 22nd, 2010 at 11:08 am  
    9

    Wow, Katahdin’s lookin sweet these days! Hope it stays around for another few weeks so that I can get a chance at it this season.

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
    • Greg
      wrote on March 22nd, 2010 at 11:23 am  
      10

      have faith. pour a libation to ULLR

  7. Anonymous
    wrote on March 22nd, 2010 at 5:29 pm  
    11

    they must have paved the parking lot since i was there in september…

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
    • Greg
      wrote on March 22nd, 2010 at 6:58 pm  
      12

      I think we were in a different lot than you.

  8. christian
    wrote on March 22nd, 2010 at 7:15 pm  
    13

    jealous!!!! katahdin looks super rad, i gotta get up there one of these days. you can thank me for the weather though since i was down at wachusett all weekend fighting the crowds.

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  9. NordSki
    wrote on March 22nd, 2010 at 10:11 pm  
    14

    Those are fun lines over there on abe’s buddy. But I don’t see the point in hyping one sacred spot to keep another one quiet. Let the pictures speak for themselves. Watch out for that ice axe strapped close to the head, too, if you were to go head over heals. I would strap it to outside of pack securely, and consider a shorter axe for ski climbing.

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
    • skimohr
      wrote on March 22nd, 2010 at 10:24 pm  
      15

      Good thoughts… Ice axes can be super dangerous on the pack. I had one dig into the back of my neck pretty bad once. The shorter, titanium axes are where it’s at for non-technical (unroped) ski mountaineering. Longer axes are nice, though, for anchors and rope work.

    • Greg
      wrote on March 22nd, 2010 at 10:26 pm  
      16

      Thanks for the tips. We always stow our “pointy stuff” carefully. As to one hype vs. another: I’m just trying to have some fun. Look at elevations for “the Buddy” and “the Katahdin.” Kinda spooky, huh? What’s more is “the Buddy” is just estimated… might be = ! Anyway, I don’t think any hoards are going to the REAL Katahdin which is guarded by a 13 mile approach any time soon because of this TR…

    • Greg
      wrote on March 22nd, 2010 at 10:34 pm  
      17

      Brian’s got it right… we both carry 50cm axes. Mine is the superlight Camp titanium mtn axe–perfect for ski mountaineering. KC has the more traditional BD Raven, but I think she’ll be upgrading to the Raven pro soon.

  10. skimohr
    wrote on March 22nd, 2010 at 10:19 pm  
    18

    Cool pics. That’s a great zone over there. You might have seen us there that day had the nice lady at the grocery store in Millinocket not pointed out that we had been looking at our map upside down. Thanks for sharing…
    -Brian

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
    • Greg
      wrote on March 22nd, 2010 at 10:35 pm  
      19

      I lost cell phone service somewhere crossing the barren waste land of NH, and without google earth on my iPhone we were lost instantly. Just glad to be back safely ;)

  11. jumpin jimmy
    wrote on March 23rd, 2010 at 6:31 am  
    20

    Was up there last summer chasing moose on South twin lake–cool peaks! Not only are the pictures amazing, but the writing just keeps getting better and better. Love the humor angle! Keep at em.

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
    • Greg
      wrote on March 23rd, 2010 at 10:24 pm  
      21

      thanks JJ. we’re doing our best

  12. StuckinJersey
    wrote on March 25th, 2010 at 4:00 pm  
    22

    So how do I get to that parking lot? haha Man you cats busted some sweet turns up there. I have slid Katahdin before but it was end of January with 2 feet of fresh, so we stayed on more lower angle stuff. Next year I’m heading up for some spring time turns. Glad you two got the goods. Thanks for the stoke.

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
    • Greg
      wrote on March 25th, 2010 at 11:26 pm  
      23

      just turn right and then turn left and then right again… you’re there!

  13. Micky O
    wrote on March 28th, 2010 at 9:34 pm  
    24

    Awesome TR, cool Author’s note at the end too haha

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  14. Not-a-snob
    wrote on January 26th, 2011 at 10:51 am  
    25

    don’t look now but there’s a video of 2 chubby rednecks skiing this line on youtube for all to see…….

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2BLihn6myA

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
    • Greg
      wrote on January 26th, 2011 at 6:22 pm  
      26

      cool vid!

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