James Barry Corbet 1936 - 2004

Posted Jan 6, 2005 19:31 UTC (Thu) by vinn (guest, #23971)
Parent article: James Barry Corbet 1936 - 2004

Jon, I'm so sorry to hear of your loss.

I've done my fair share of climbing and skiing, but the accomplishments of your father are amazing. The two expeditions you cited are some of the greatest in mountaineering.

A few years ago I got off the tram at Jackson and stood looking over the edge of Corbet's Couloir. Even in today's world of extreme sports, Corbet's is enough to send a shiver up anyone's spine. There's a famous saying in skiing - if you're brave enough to look over the edge, you have to ski it. It's the only time I've looked over the edge and backed away. Most of you probably haven't heard of it, but it's a classic line - one of the all time greats. The drop into the couloir (chute) is at least a 10 foot minimum with most entrances 25 - 40 feet. After you drop over the edge, there's a massive boulder that springs up in the middle of the chute just waiting to eat you alive. From there's it's a mere 4100' vertical (1250m) of skiing down some of the steepest terrain in North America to get to the bottom.