
| Mike Schwartz and I climbed Black Giant via the gentle west slope on backcountry ski gear, on a beautiful sunny day with almost no wind. We switched from skis to crampons for the final 500 feet and summited in early afternoon. Then descended a steep narrow couloir to the unnamed lake between BG and Charybdis. As you look south from BG's summit, from left to right, there is a saddle in the south ridge which can easily be skied to the aforementioned lake; then to skier's right of that are two steep narrow couloirs with sheer rock walls; to skier's right of that again are some patchy rock and snow areas; then to skier's right again lies Black Giant Pass. Both the couloir we skied and the one next to it held continuous snow in the range of 40 to 45 degrees and it was in great "corn" condition. In a snow year heavy enough to fill these chutes, I'd definitely recommend skiing either of them.
The top of the chute we skied is visible in this image. |