Early December Backcountry Touring News

Last Problems and Last Great Lines

A week into December, the weather gods have turned the spigot off for now. Stay tuned; a rain/snow event is coming in the PNW. Let’s get a news roundup to close out this first week of a holiday-ish month.

Whatever one has to say about Outside Magazine, we’ll admit they have done good work over the years. Their model, click-baity content, and new social media-oriented platform are another story. (It does seem that routinely hitting the Outside Mag punching bag is a blog/social media post ecosystem. But, we digress. Either way, Outside does have a not-so-obtuse way of writing clickable titles and articles. Like this: “Everest’s Hornbein Couloir Is the Greatest Line Never Skied.” The article, which we will have some follow-up on, is a solid introduction to the Hornbein and the efforts to ski it.

Piggybacking on the title, “Greatest Line Never Skied,” sorta has the whiff of the phrase “Last Great Problem,” which is often used in alpinism circles to describe an ascent of such complex technical difficulty that it is the apex in difficulty. “Last Great” and “Greatest Line Never” definitely are attention-grabbing. And for sure, as far as difficulty, elevation, position, access, and on and on, no one would argue with the significance of a ski/snowboard descent of the Hornbein. But, young people, you should know this: over the years, mountain cognoscenti have loved to declare certain routes or lines as the last remaining problem to solve.