Pucker Up!

The Line: Pucker Up, 1,100', 45+° max

The Mountain: Broken Top, 9,175', Oregon Cascades

November 30, 2024

Pucker Up is in purple, approach is in blue. Image created in CalTopo.

Long time readers of the blog (hi Dad!) may remember Zach and my ill-fated overnighter into Broken Top in December of 2022. It was cut short when one of my skis broke during the first day, which stopped us from achieving the main goal of the trip, which was to ski Pucker Up. Although I hate to admit it, part of me was glad to have this line taken off the table. Frankly, it scared the hell out of me, and given my lack of experience with steep skiing at the time, I was perhaps right to be scared. In the time since then, even as I have racked up experience skiing lines of similar difficulty, Pucker Up didn't get any less foreboding in my mind. 

Zach, Axell and I decided to take advantage of the long high-pressure window, which came after some incredible November snowfall, to make an early-season run at Broken Top. Along with my Moonbike, Zaxell now have snowmobiles, so I am (mostly) done towing them. The sky was clear, the air was warm, and it was late into the day, so the lines on the east side of the crater were getting mushier just as the west side was going into the shade. I had been hoping to start my season of steep skiing with one of the friendlier lines on the east side, but to avoid any wet slide hazard we headed towards the shadier west. Towards Pucker Up. Gulp. 

We angled upwards into the crater in a long arc, passing the bottom of Pucker Up and Mini Pucker as we angled back towards the western wall of the crater. The skinning was slippery due to the crust sitting just below the only-slightly-less-crusty surface. We gained the ridge at the flat area near point 8107, then switchbacked up towards the top of our line.  

Staring down the barrel. Photo: Zach Smith.

Peering over the edge, things didn't look as bad I feared. The cornice was only about 2 ft high at its thinnest point, and the top section didn't look too terrible. Still, in the center of the hourglass the slope rolled over and out of sight, indicating that it was steeper than the already ~40° upper section. And of course, there seemed to be cliffs of all shapes and sizes to go hurtling off of if you couldn't stop your slide. 

Zaxell seemed un-phased; Axell quickly transitioned and dropped in. He launched off the cornice parallel to its face and landed on the slope in a smooth traverse. Watching this, and hearing the sound his skis made, gave me a more confidence. Things sounded distinctly more icey at the crux, however, but that section was just a turn or two long, and once below there is much less hazard. 

Ax Man dropping. Photo: Zach Smith.

As I stood contemplating whether to drop in or bail to Mini Pucker, I noticed that the amount of contact the heel pieces of my Kingpins were making with my boots was somewhat less than confidence inspiring. After a few minutes of fiddling with the forward pressure--I promise I wasn't just stalling, guys--I finally had to make a decision. I'm fortunate to have had a friend like Zach up there to encourage me, because after some time standing there teetering on the edge, I finally worked up the nerve to let my skis carry me down onto the slope. 

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I followed the same playbook as Axell, entering at a sideways angle and then cutting across to the last sliver of sun on the left side to carve a few cautious turns. Before dropping in, I had reminded myself how much I'd hate myself if I wussed out and sideslipped the crux. Although I can't say there wasn't any slipping, I managed to make a few jump turns through the small rock bands despite the icy, but edgeable, crust. 

The author discovering its not that bad. Photo: Zach Smith.

As the slope opened back up again, the snow turned into icy, bumpy garbage, but I was so psyched to have made it through the gauntlet that I hardly noticed. I stopped partway down to film Zach, who skied it in similar fashion to the rest of us. 

As we regrouped, I realized that I couldn't ask for better ski partners, and I told them that. Skiing with friends like these who make smart decisions, encourage each other, and just straight up get after it means the world me!

Not to mention good looking. 

-WCG