Watchtower Couloir

When I try to judge a line's aesthetic nature, I can't help but take into account other factors that you might not think would affect how nice it looks. For me, a line is more aesthetic when it has a certain mystique, a certain unknown-ness to it. Last year's winning line, the West Couloir on Grey Wolf, was an easy choice because not only is it stunningly narrow in appearance, but it hides out of sight until you put in enough effort to get on top of an opposing ridge, and only then does it reveal itself in all its raw glory.

I first saw a photo of the Watchtower Couloir on a summit post page for Tower Peak online. Immediately my eyes were drawn to the thin white strip cleaving Watchtower Peak from the main Tower Peak summit massif. It looked like something out of a fairytale, and I knew I had to ski it. I found absolutely no information online about it being skied, which only added to my excitement. The line is so far back from the nearest trailhead (~13 miles to the base of the peak) that it only made sense to go after it as part of a longer, multi-day spring outing...which we did. The best part was approaching it from the backside, with no idea of whether or not it even went cleanly through. Dropping into the perfect stone hallway was just sheer excitement. A special form of satisfaction lies in forming an intangible objective in your head, and achieving it in the physical world.

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