Drainpipe Dreamin’
The “drainpipe” as it’s colloquially known is a cherry line off the summit of Mount Parnassus. When Luke and I first moved to Colorado six years ago and discovered Ruby Creek Gulch on the back side of Parnassus we were blown away by the asthetic line that flanks the mountain’s northern slopes, we unromantically nicknamed it “Toilet Bowl Couloir”. It’s a curvy, steep, relatively narrow couloir adorned on both sides by gorgeous reddish granite. The stars never seemed to align on getting the send- stability, timing, and conditions just always seemed to get in the way. Add in a 3 year hiatus while I was out in California playing in the ocean and those six years flew by, but that beautiful veiled line always stuck with me.
The stars align
Luke, Cait and I planned to meet up for a Ruby Creek tour. Luke had bootpacked a decent way up Parnassus last weekend, albeit via a different route. He mentioned that stability was remarkably good and I had made similar observations when skiing Quandry recently. We both mentioned it might be worth doing some tests at the bottom of the drainpipe, just in case the stars were aligned. At the trailhead the wind was fierce and we observed significant snow transport at higher elevations. All the nooks and crannies on east facing aspects were getting nuked by snow. The wind loading made me a bit uneasy, especially since drainpipe has a fairly complicated anatomy and extreme windloading can have suprising impacts on stability via the uneven distribution of snow.
Our mega “training” block last week made the skin up the fire road seem like a walk in the park. We made it up the the base of the line in about an hour. The wind was savage, easily gusting 40+ mph through the exposed valley as we approached Parnassus. We took shelter at a perfect lunch spot at the base of the drainpipe. Luke and I dug a Rutschblock, the top three feet of snow was as bomber as I have honestly ever seen Colorado in March. Due to the density of the snow we only dug about four feet deep, but the snowpack was 1.6 meters where we dug the pit. There was still some evidence of small grain facets, but the early season corn flakes were no where to be found. We were unable to get any positive results, even when wailing on the block full force. That being said, a negative result at the bottom of a Couloir may or may not be representative of the snowpack up above, especially during a significant wind loading event. We decided to boot pack the bottom of the line and reassess midway upon reaching the choke.
The three of us spaced out, and began the hike up, Luke did the hard work of cutting trail and Cait sandwiched in the middle. Every few minutes the wind would hurtle down the narrow chute and we’d hunker down, trying to take shelter. About halfway up the first pitch, Cait decided she had had enough. I caught up to her, helped her get set up and watched her descend to the lunch spot. The powder looked sick. Luke and I continued on, making steady progress. The choke also happens to be the steepest part of the line and the wind furiously descending off the ridge made it feel spicier than it probably was. As we exited the choke, the view of the summit emerged. A large cornice guards the summit when approaching from below, and menacing granite shepards the ascent on the left, like some large perched midieval gargoyles. The snow quality past the choke deteriorated rapidly, turning from perfect blower powder into wind whipped bullet within a matter of 30 meters. The wind situation wasn’t improving either. Now that we were out of the narrow section of the line our cover had vanished and Luke and I would lay flat with each gust that came through and cut our face with blowing ice and snow. 400 meters from the top of the line, we decided to call it. The snow wasn’t worth it higher, and the wind was just too brutal. We ripped crampons, and strapped in. Luke made the drop first, and I watched him disappear into the abyss of the choke. I couldn’t hear anything but the high pitched wind, whipping snow into my face. I counted to 60 and made the drop. The line isn’t particularly consequential, but it does steepen to probably 45 degrees just past the choke, where a fall wouldn’t be ideal since you’d hit a rocky wall at speed. I kept it casual into the top of the choke to test the snow quality. The snow was good. Really good. It skiied like mid winter powder on the left side of the line. I got the signal I needed and took my foot of the brakes. It’s a perfect goofy footer descent. The wind loading had lined the left side of the couloir and it surfed like a crazy front hand point break that went for 800 meters. You could bank off the lip and then G-out the bottom. Rinse, repeat. So sick.
I hit the bottom and we were all smiles. Luke and I were beyond stoked, this was our first Colorado dream line, and we’d checked it off the list in perfect conditions. The ski out was beautiful, fast snow with fun powder side hits on the way down the fire road. An epic, gorgeous day out in the mountains.
Photo log:
Ruby Creek Gulch. Drainpipe is the windy “C” shaped line just left of my view: 
The line from below. Simply Gorgeous. 
Luke and I checking stability. 
Making the boot up. 
Bard peak in the distance. 
Strapping in. 
Heading home. 