"I Was Screaming, out of Fear": Skiers Tackle Fearsome Tetons Line

When you step up to a line in the Tetons called Zombie Apocalypse, you'd better be prepared for some type two fun. 

Last spring, that’s exactly what skiers Clayton Herrmann, Erich Roepke, and Jim Ryan did. The narrow couloir, also known as the Cabin Couloir or Ichiban, is a true no-fall zone, with tight choke points and wickedly steep slopes.

“I enjoy this. But also, I was screaming, out of fear,” said Ryan, in a video documenting the descent. “That’s for therapy. Just kiddin’, I don’t go to therapy.”

(SCOTT Sports, which published the video, clarified that Ryan has, indeed, since started therapy.)

Get comfortable and check out the Zombie Apocalypse adventure below. One heads up, though: you may want to be seated for this one. Tap or click to watch.

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The day started with Apocalypse Couloir, a line the three knew and was well-documented.

But the undead version, Zombie Apocalypse, is rarely skied and, according to SCOTT, has more names than known descents. It’s easy to see why.

At one point, it becomes so tight that Ryan points his skis downhill. Then, he stabs them back into the snow, walking carefully downwards. By the end of that section, Ryan said, “That was one of the more f**ked things I’ve done on skis.”

Making it to the bottom of Zombie Apocalypse in one piece prompted a moment of reflection. After all, high-strung trips into the mountains tend to make time spent on solid ground sweeter. The same goes for the relationships those trips rely on and forge.

“I don’t know how to describe it, but when you pull something off on skis that seems impossible, you really appreciate everything in your life and the people you did that with more. Forever,” said Ryan.

The line is one of many documented in Ryan’s YouTube series, the Jim & Mads Show, which he hosts alongside fellow ripper and Jackson local Madison Rose Ostergren. 

Together, they've tackle numerous puckering runs, like one on the highest mountain in Lofoten, Norway.