Mt Woodrow Wilson West Couloir 1969

West Couloir, Mt Woodrow Wilson in 1969. There was snow & ice all the way to the ridgeline then. The snow was rotten-- about 1 to 2 inches of crusty snow on top of hard ice. Crampons would not grip and our "ice screws" were useless. The rock was rotten as well; a piton would not hold reliably so we used slings over outcroppings where we could as belay points. Halfway up the couloir a storm struck with heavy snow and lighting was striking just above our heads. We were still descending at sunset and finally returned to base camp at the lower end of Upper Titcomb Lake in moonlight. Not a fun trip! The Bonney guide books seriously under rated the difficulty of this couloir during the time we were there.