“We need men who can dream of things that never were” JFK
After seeing Noah Salasnik ride “Super Spines” in TB5 my view of the ideal snowboard run changed forever. Since that time I have searched all over the world looking for that perfect wall of Spines. The more I looked for spines the more I realized finding rideable ones was not easy.
Spines are usually hidden behind bigger peaks or surrounded by glacial ice. They are formed by a precise combination of wind currents and snow densities. They consistently get two to three times the amount of snow and seldom see light. I am obsessed with spines because they are so elusive and because they are so technically difficult to ride.
Getting a good view of what you are riding is hard. There is your standard blind roll-over at the top of the run and then every time you cross over a spine there is also a moment of blindness. They are so steep that riding them is like standing next to a wall and your whole body is touching the snow. Often times both arms are needed to hug the spines to help keep you from getting peeled off the wall. The spray from each turn instantly turns into small avalanches and there is no way to beat your sluff so you are forced to work around it and often ride through it. Meanwhile, gravity is doing all it can to pull you off the face and often times you cannot stop if you want to. One slip or misjudged sluff and you may find yourself cart wheeling down a face at 60 mph.
I named this the Brothel. It took me five years to unlock this thing because there was so many crevasses and seracs in the out run. There is only a 4 wide section that is clean but it is in the sluff runnel so if you do get caught in your sluff you will be fine.
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