This was an interesting trip. Having climbed and skied Ryan Peak’s north face last June, we got a great view of the north couloir on its neighboring peak, Kent. This was a low snow year so we thought there was a chance the couloir might not have snow in it. Rather than try to ski it, we decided just to bring gear to climb it if it was doable and walk off the other side to get back.

There was a slight chance of precipitation that night but as Andrew and I were leaving the truck at the far reaches of the North Fork Big Lost River Road, the weather looked nice so we just brought sleeping bags and pads, which is what we usually do when the weather is good.

We began the trail-less trek to the base of Kent Peak’s north face, and after about an hour of slow-speed tree hurdles we made it out of the trees and into the bigger and steeper than expected valley. From here we traversed steep slopes towards the base of the couloir, encountering a mountain goat along the way. Eventually we made it to snow, and tromped our way up to some small patches of rock right below the north couloir, which was disappointingly lacking enough snow for a good climb (and definitely wasn’t skiable!).

Bummed we won’t be climbing but enjoying the view and appreciating the fact that we didn’t have to wake up at 3, we laid our pads on the rocks (no, it wasn’t comfortable) and got into our sleeping bags as we prepared dinner, noticing the wind picking up and clouds moving in. As we went to sleep while it began to lightly snow, we joked about how exposed we were, with no tent, surrounded by snow and rocks, at 10,000′. We laughed and then tightened up our sleeping bags, going into mummy mode.

When I woke up an hour later, there was a mini blizzard outside, with snow blowing sideways all around us. Still warm, and glad this precipitation didn’t arrive in the form of rain, I burrowed back into my bag and tried to get back to sleep on my super comfortable rock mattress. It continued snowing and at one point there was about a half inch of snow on top of everything, including us. Somehow, we stay dry and mostly warm through the night, and woke up to blue skies! The walk out always seems longer than the walk in, but we made it back to the truck in a couple of hours. I can’t wait to come back earlier next year and ski this one.