Conquering the Caroline Face: A First Ski Descent On Mount Cook, NZ
Hear the story of how 3 skiers took on a seemingly impossible ski descent…
It’s 2010 and mountain guide Tom Grant stumbles upon an article. The title read ‘10 of the best unskied faces’ which immediately caught the attention of the fast-developing ski mountaineer. On that list was the Caroline Face, a 2000m face rising to the summit of Mt. Cook, NZ.
Since that day, the mountain has seen multiple attempts at a descent route, taken lives and became an objective for three skiers — Tom Grant, Ben Briggs and Enrico Mosetti.
Looking at the face, you wouldn’t immediately see an obvious line through the ice cliffs, seracs and numerous objective hazards. However, the team felt confident there was something there.
The Story of a Descent
On October 27th, 2017, the three made the first successful ski descent of the Caroline Face after climbing the East Ridge to the Porter Col.
An incredible feat that can only be justice by those who skied it.
In an interview with FATMAP’s Editor Charlie Boscoe on his new podcast ‘The Winning Mentality’, Tom Grant talks us through the story of the line, the challenges on the day and how you prepare for such a feat.
Tom is mountain guide working out of Chamonix, France and also a contributor for FATMAP writing many of the freeride descriptions for his home mountains (more info at the end).
As a bonus, we’ve included a link to see Mt. Cook using the new global FATMAP at the bottom of this article.
Listen Now 👂
Explore Mt. Cook
You can explore the Mt. Cook and the rest of the world with the new global FATMAP. Just use this link on your desktop (mobile app coming soon) >> https://goo.gl/TyYh3o 🌏 👀
Useful Links
Tom Grant IFMGA and Steep Skier
The Winning Mentality
