Baffin Island It is the place where all your couloir dreams come true. This area was known initially for big wall climbing and then base jumping off of it’s plethora of 4-5,000 foot vertical faces. Cut into many of these cliffs is the highest concentration of the steepest and longest and most intriguing couloirs on the planet. The Polar Star Couloir is the couloir you dreamed might exist if you dream about couloirs. It is very steep and long but plenty of room for turns. The grandeur comes from the granite walls which shoot thousands of feet up on both sides. They seem to connect and it feels like a tunnel that almost blocks out the sky. The slope is fall line and direct with no messing around with dog-legs or chokes. While you’re dreaming, why not place this monstrosity into one of the most remote and inhospitable landscapes on the planet. It’s a full on winter expedition to ski here with sub-zero temps, camping on frozen sea ice and possible polar bear encounters. Dreams do come true.
The actual approach is too easy, boot right up it from the base. Getting to the base of it is a different story. Fly into the town of Clyde River on Baffin Island, hire a guide to snowmobile you out onto the ice in Sam Ford Fjord, boot up the chute and ski back down. It’s probably a good idea to stay for a few weeks and ski many more of the finest chutes on the planet.
Airfare to get there, frostbite, polar bears
The approaches between lines are flat and far away, much of the trip is spent slogging on the sea ice. If you can rent a snowmobile you’ll get a lot more skiing in!
