Little Alien Couloir*
Original Trip Report: https://engineeredforadventure.com/little-alien-couloir/
Little Alien Couloir is one of those lines you travel by dozens of times before you commit to putting in the work to ski it. It's short, but steep, staring down at you as you skin across Chair Peak Lake. A few years ago, Kyle and I skinned/booted up to the base of the couloir where the rock walls start in earnest. But the booting became a wallow and we had other lines to ski, so we ended up just farming the apron. With a great north facing powder dump and a sunny/clear day, I really wanted to give it another try...even if it meant a full on wallow to the top. I had some work commitments in the morning, so it felt like a great way to 'spice up' an afternoon Chair Peak circumnavigation.
Trip Report
Todd, Shannon, Anthony, and I left North Bend around 9 AM and got a leisurely start from Alpental upper lot at 10 AM. We opted to ski the north slopes down towards Snow Lake to milk some good north facing powder. We bumped up a little ways towards Melakwa Point and wiggled our way down the north slopes.
Todd making wiggles down the north slopes of Chair. The day was clear, calm, and quite pretty. Once we reached the bench above Chair Peak Lake, we got great views of Little Alien. The snow looked really well kept and protected...but it was going to be DEEP wallowing haha.
Anthony looking small just above Chair Peak Lake.
There are 3 common ways to get into Little Alien:
1. The most simple: boot up the damn thing.
2. Climb up to Melakwa Point from the north slopes of Chair, which involves some 4th/low 5th rock scrambling. Then ski the north ridge of Melakwa Point down into it.
3. Climb up the W Face of Melakwa Point from Melakwa Pass, then ski the north ridge of Melakwa Point down into it.
The tricky part with #2 and #3 is the top of Little Alien, in early season/thin conditions, is really tight. Tighter than a ski's width. You ~usually~ don't need a rappel to get into it from the top-down, but your results may vary (please don't sue me haha). We opted for #1 and just committed to the wallow. We felt comfortable with the snow stability that we weren't worried about remotely triggering a slab above us.
We skinned up to the base of the apron where it starts to meet with the line itself, then transitioned to booting. For the first hundred or so feet, the booting was actually quite easy. We were bottoming out on a rain crust maybe 8-10 inches down. Once the pitch steepened, though, it became an all-out wallow. The alpine knee, overhead hand shovel, and pole grab-and-shovel techniques were used to the fullest.
Trenchtown, USA. Anthony refuses to smile for the camera.
We trenched our way to about 15 feet below the top of the couloir.
Here's where we started to face the existential crisis:
Do we boot to the top, where it's not ski-width...only to sidestep down? A straightline in this setting didn't make sense for any of us, as the couloir's fall line is INTO the rocks on skier's left.
Do we transition 15 ft below the top, where it makes more sense from a continuous 'ski' perspective? But will certainly leave us with an asterisk* feeling in our minds?
We opted for the asterisk* and transitioned where we could actually ski. In fatter snow conditions, the top becomes skiable when the rock on climber's left gets plastered with wet powder. Not today... As the photographer in the group, I claimed first tracks to "get pictures of everyone coming down"...LUCKY ME! It was really fun riding the fall-line ramp down skier's right-hand side of the couloir. I created a slough river that helped fill in our trench on the left.
Todd riding the wave of the couloir. The snow was exceptional, even if the couloir felt REALLY short. There were about 5-6 good turns then it opened up to the apron, which was more good turns but not couloir. STILL WORTH IT!
Anton riding backseat...as always. We added in a lap of the Cupcake Couloir off Melakwa Pass for good measure, then headed up to Bryants Couloir and skied out at sunset. Good freaking day!
Saw you over there from the bench N of Chair Pk Lake. It must have been during your "existential crisis" as you were static for a time. We speculated on the discussion that was going on. Wish I had taken a zoomed in shot. Good to hear that it was a positive experience. How was Bryant Couloir? We had intended to do the CP circumnav, but switched to Holy Diver thinking the snow would be better. It was, in fact, Primo.
Looks tight! Gets fatter come March (but still tight up top), which is when we skied it twelve years ago, an improvisation after skiing down the E/NE shoulder of Kaleetan down to the lake, hey look over there! let's go ski that.
I named it based on the shape of the snowfield that drops into Chair Peak Lake from the couloir in the summer looking like a little alien. I guess it caught on (i.e. got scraped from TAY into the guidebook).
There's also some great photos out there of a beam of sunlight coming through that gap like some primordial sundial giving it a very alienesque vibe.
I didn't know you can ski into it. From the East side of the ridge? West side (2nd photo) def a rappel...
@bigeo Bryant Couloir was downright bad haha. Very chopped up and nasty.
@cumulus super cool to hear the history of the line!
Slightly off topic, but - does anyone know the name of this line on the North shoulder of Melakwa Point? I imagine it must have been skied, but I haven't heard much about it.
melakwa shoulder couloir 1
melakwa shoulder couloir 2
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