Central Couloir

One of the longest and most ephemeral chutes in the White Mountains. Central spends much of the year, sometimes multiple winters, being mostly a long stretch of rocks and ice bulges. However in rare conditions, this line fills in with snow and becomes an epic ski mountaineering objective. From Willey House, skin along the Saco River until you are below the drainage of Central. Skin up as far as you can, then switch to crampons and begin bootpacking. A tight constriction formed by the Lost In The Sun Slab to climbers left, gives way to a more open gully, broken up by large ice bulges. It’s usually possible to weave around all these ice bulges. A slabby, ice filled gully, soon gives way to a massive, high walled couloir that feels like it just might swallow you into the mountain. Each step gets steeper and narrower until you reach the last ice pitch of Central. Dig out a spot to put skis on a drop in. Exceptionally tight hop turns in a 50 degree couloir slowly bring you around the corner, until you arrive at the first big ice slab. Skirt this to skiers right and ski the long gully to the constriction formed by the Lost slab. Tight turns and sometimes a small commitment move here guard the lower runout. Ski back into the trees and retrace your steps back to Willey House.