Success Glacier Couloir

The Success Glacier Couloir is an ultra-classic line on the south side of Rainier, offering one of the largest continuous ski descents in the Lower 48.

Descending off of Point Success, a Tahoma sub-summit towering high above the road to Paradise, the Success Glacier Couloir route begins with a hanging face above a series of cliffs bands. Depending on current conditions and group preference, the choss ridden cliffs can be rappelled, down-climbed or skied, placing you in an incredible position high on the gargantuan ramps off the Success Cleaver.

The pitch down the primary couloir is never too steep but remains remarkably sustained, averaging 40 degrees for thousands of feet before exiting out onto the Success Glacier. The descent continues down a series of glacial rolls before making a traverse onto a large moraine. From here a high traverse can be made to get back to Paradise, or better yet even more fall-line turns into a canyon leading out to the Van Trump trail. This can often be skied past Comet Falls, a beautiful waterfall with a short walk out the trail after completing a monumental 10,000 foot descent.