VERBIER STEEP CAMP: Another Coombs POWDER classic

We do it all—skiing couloir after couloir that start out steep and end with huge run-outs. Our legs burn and turn to rubber several times during a descent. Each run feels like 10, by typical lower-48 standards. Some take over two hours to complete.

We finally stopped for lunch, and I’m surprised when it’s not the wine-soaked, three-hour affair I’ve expected. I quickly devour baguette sandwiches, pomme frites, and suck down espresso shots served from a machine.

Hours later, with the sun an orange half-circle on the horizon, our group of five stands in a 20-foot-wide couloir while Hans and Doug ski out of sight. We wait until they give the word to ski lower into the belly of the couloir. During my run I slowly move toward Hans without expecting to find him with his skis off, rope in hand, and a smile on his face.

Hans is the only American to ever pass the Swiss UIAGM guide test. Originally from Hawaii, he moved to Verbier 22 years ago as a ski bum. He never left. His fluent French and undying perseverance helped him survive two grueling years of ridicule and extensive testing.

At this moment, he’s set up an anchor using his ski, and I’m supposed to rappel over the 20-foot chunk of rock below. He ties my skis to the end of the rope and throws them out of sight. The rappel isn’t big enough to require clipping into the harness, so we use a technique of wrapping the rope once around the uphill arm, causing friction. I have total control of my body in my left hand as I fumble to gain footholds on icy rock. I conquer my fears and start lowering down, only stopping to second-guess Hans’ anchor.

“Be sure,” he says sternly. “I set it.”

In a few minutes he successfully lowers our group, including 225-pound Hugh, into the couloir. We ski into a partially tracked bowl that leads onto a piste where beginners still practice wedge turns in the fading light. Our bodies are limp, and my mind feels like it just finished a week of final exams.

“Not bad for the first day,” Doug says with his usual child-like smirk.