Moonshine Couloir, Mount Arkansas
(13,802ft)
Group: Mark Koelker on 4.22.14
I'm gonna leave this TR short and sweet, just like this tour. Mark and I strapped on our splits and headed up towards Arkansas from hwy 91 at about 6:30AM. We opted to gain the ridge instead of wrapping around and booting the couloir. Not long before we were on the ridge and then eventually found ourselves on the summit about 2.5 hours later. With all the snow we have been having this season we were able to ski off the summit and then drop into Moonshine. The cornice is massive this year, I'm guessing around 15ft. Steep drop-in below the cornice I guess to be around the lower 50 degree mark. We enjoyed great turns down throughout the couloir and it seems there are some like-minded folks out there as we saw probably 6-7 old tracks in the couloir. Once reaching the base we slapped hands, food and watered up, and then were actually able to ride all the way back to the truck. Done by 10:30. Great line that I have been wanting ever since seeing her while skiing Traver Peak. Tick!