Corbet's Couloir is an expert

ski run A ''piste'' () is a marked ski run or path down a mountain for snow skiing, snowboarding, or other mountain sports. This European term is French

located at the

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (JHMR) is a ski resort in the western United States, at Teton Village, Wyoming. In the Teton Range of the Rocky Mountains, it is located in Teton County, northwest of Jackson and due south of Grand Teton Nationa ...

Teton Village, Wyoming Teton Village is a census-designated place (CDP) in Teton County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 330 at the 2010 census. The village surrounds the base of the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. It is accessed from nearby Jackson and the s ...

. It is named after Jackson Hole ski instructor and mountain guide Barry Corbet who famously spotted the narrow crease of snow shaped like an upside down funnel and remarked, "Someday someone will ski that." It was first skied by local

ski patrol Ski patrols are organizations that provide medical, rescue, and hazard prevention services to the injured in ski area boundaries, or sometimes beyond into backcountry settings. Many have technical-medical certifications, such as Outdoor Emergen ...

ler Lonnie Ball in 1967. It holds an international reputation among expert skiers, and has been described as "America's scariest ski slope".Steiner, Christopher (2/1/2007
"Corbet's Couloir: America's scariest ski slope"
''Forbes/USA Today'' Corbet's

Couloir A ''couloir'' (, "passage" or "corridor") is a narrow gully with a steep gradient in a mountainous terrain.Whittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, p. 121. . Geology A couloir may be a seam, scar, or fissu ...

is to the skier's left exiting from the tram. It is about ten feet wide at the entrance with rock faces on three sides, but opens up quickly. Entrance into the couloir requires dropping off a cornice with a free fall ranging from 10 to depending upon snow conditions and exactly where the skier chooses to drop in, landing in the fairly narrow couloir with rock walls on either side. Skiers may opt to ski down the first part of the south face, dropping the rest of the way (actually the standard route to ski the couloir), in which case the drop is less, but they must then make a quick right to steer away from the north rock face. The rest of Corbet's is usually a powder stash because snow collects in the couloir where it is protected from both wind and sun, and relatively few people ski through. The rest of Corbet's Couloir is essentially an average expert run after the drop. Around the left of the large rock

outcropping An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth. Features Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most places the bedrock or superficial ...

(looking at the mountain) is the lesser known S&S Couloir. The run’s opening 20+ foot drop dwarfs Corbet’s and due to safety concerns requires permission from the Ski Patrol to ski during the infrequent occasions in which it is open. The trail was named for Charlie Sands and John Simms, the first two ski patrollers to make the run successfully. Toward the end of Corbet's Couloir, to the right (also looking at the mountain) is a small rock alcove called Coomb's Cave. Due to the depth of the snow in the area and the slope, it is generally difficult to get to Coomb's Cave without dropping down Corbet's.

References

*Bailey, Reade (Oct 1994
"Rites of Passage"
''Ski'' Vol 59 #2:114-116 *Casimiro, Steve (Feb 2003
"Over the Edge"
''Skiing'' Vol 55 #6:68-69 *Campbell, Stu; Moe, Tommy (Oct 2003
"The Half-Dozen Devil's"
''Ski'' Vol 68 #2:238 *Fry, John, (2006
''The Story of Modern Skiing''
Hanover, USA: University Press of New England pg 282 {{coord, 43.596088, -110.867774, scale:5000, display=title Ski areas and resorts in Wyoming Tourist attractions in Teton County, Wyoming