Couloir
A couloir ( French for corridor ) is a channel on a mountainside or in a mountain wall, bordered by rocks and often filled with snow or ice . Couloirs are steep and mostly narrow and, due to their structure, are mostly exposed to falling rocks or ice. But they are often simply referred to as a gutter .
In contrast to the less steep giant , the rubble foot (scree slope) does not remain in the channel , but snow does. It is steeper than the angle of repose of rock, but snow can build up almost vertically. The couloir is therefore bare rock or old snow, but always at risk of falling rocks and a typical avalanche zone .
Examples:
- the Pallavicini channel on the Großglockner with 55 °, maximum 60 ° , first climbed by Pallavicini , Tribusser, Bäuerle and Kramser on August 18, 1876
- the Grand Couloir , which on the normal route to Mont Blanc is to cross
Couloirs are also used as routes in extreme skiing .
Web links
Commons : Couloirs, Gutters - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Couloir - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Individual evidence
- ↑ Pallavicini channel on www.bergstieg.com