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Caroline Gleich Completes All 90 Steep Skiing Lines In The Chuting Gallery

April 17, 2017

The Chuting Gallery: A Guide To Steep Skiing In The Wasatch Mountains by Andrew McLean is the guidebook for steep skiing in Utah’s Wasatch. The legendary book shines the spotlight on 90 steep skiing lines handpicked by legendary ski mountaineer McLean.

Last week, Caroline Gleich became the 1st female to complete all 90 ski mountaineering lines featured in The Chuting Gallery. She is now the 4th person to log all 90 descents as she joins the ranks of @straightchuter, @noah_j_howell, and @tetonsandwasatch.

Sounds like there might be a film in the works according to the following Instagram post from @carolinegleich. Can’t wait to see it. Congratulations!

Yesterday, I finished my project to ski all the lines in “The Chuting Gallery,” a steep skiing guidebook to the Wasatch by @straightchuter. To my knowledge, I am the fourth person and first woman to complete the project. I remember when I first laid eyes on the book. I was 16 years old, I had no backcountry experience. A year before, my half-brother died in an avalanche on one of the lines. This book terrified me. I was drawn it to ways that I cannot fully explain. It took me over a decade to get my skills to the level where I could imagine tackling these objectives. There was so much to learn – avalanche forecasting, trad and ice climbing, not to mention getting my fitness to the level where I still had gas in the tank to ski after hours of steep mountain climbing. Each line provided a distinct challenge. I had to put it all together on Ciochetti’s Ribbon. Surprisingly, this was one of the most difficult lines in the book. As the author writes, it is highly condition dependent. The high snow levels created very steep conditions, and the abnormally warm mid-March temperatures metamorphosed the snow even on the highest north facing aspects. The pro is marginal, and cracks were heavily loaded with snow and ice. It was a full on alpine experience with skis. I cannot stress enough how important it is to have patience with these types of endeavors and to wait for the right days. As a wise man (climber and coach Scott Johnston) once told me, “Alpinism is a dangerous game and the learning process is very slow and risky. One of the most valuable lessons you can learn as an alpinist is when to back off. The mountains will always be there. You can come back to them when you are better prepared but not if you’re dead.” Huge thanks to all my partners and sponsors throughout the project. And to @straightchuter @noah_j_howell and @tetonsandwasatch (the 1-3rd people to do it) for providing inspiration. Stay tuned for a film about it next fall with @ducttapethenbeer, @acpictures and @rei!!! Photo: @rob.lea

A post shared by Caroline Gleich (@carolinegleich) on Apr 7, 2017 at 11:46am PDT