skistories: The Slot

When Conor and I arrived in Seattle, we went to King's in Ballard with the White brothers to have a few brewskis and catch up. Mike told me he had skied the Slot Clouloir this year, the impetus being his REI coworker Loren coming into work one day exclaiming, "I skied the Slot! I skied the Slot!!" Mike lit up talking about the cliffs of the slot and how it's one of the most aesthetic lines of his life. Conor and I were sucked in. I knew the general area of where it was but was not sure at all. I've only heard how hidden it is. Mike had to work the next day but Ryan was free and would be our guide.

We met at the Alpental lot in the morn and, after days of surfing and not using my legs, combined with Loren's, "I skied the Slot! I skied the Slot!!" reverberating in my head, I was amped to just run up the mountain to look for it. Almost two hours later, Cam, Ryan, Conor and I reached the ridge to peer into the Snot Couloir, the entrance of which might have been possible to ski without rappelling into it. But we kept going up, me being very nervous about the avalanche conditions of the slope we were on. Then, in the lead, I looked to my left for no reason and, though the trees, I saw the Slot right next to me. It really is hidden!

We were very unsure of what the snow would be like inside this north facing socked in couloir. The top looked like a sheet of ice. I didn't want to be the first to go so Mulroy stepped up. He snowboarded across the top with his ice ax handy, jumping up and down to try to get anything to move, but the slope wasn't going anywhere. Then he rode down to the dogleg under a cliff to wait for us to go one at a time. Cam had not skied much this season, being more of a climber, and was nervous at the steep and icy entrance. He said, "I mean I'll give it a shot but . . . jesus."

After the dogleg the snow turned to powder and huge cliffs engulfed us. We went down hollering of course.