[Tagging] Feature Proposal - Voting - Couloir 2

[Kevin Kenny]

On Thu, Feb 18, 2021 at 6:29 PM Joseph Eisenberg <joseph.eisenberg at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Re: " A couloir is a narrow gully with vertical sides (usually of rock)
> and a steep slope. Around here, the usual term is 'rock chute' rather than
> 'couloir', but the terms are nearly synonymous. Not every gully is inclined
> enough, or has enough gradient, to be called a couloir or rock chute. Where
> does the couloir end and the talus begin? Where there are no longer walls
> on either side.  Which means that there's no longer a gap to be loaded with
> snow in a crosswind, so you tend to get very different ice conditions."
>
> Thank you, Kevin. That is the sort of explanation I was looking for, from
> the proposal author or other proponents.
>
> If the tag is defined to be:
>
> "a small, narrow gully or valley between near-vertical rock cliffs, which
> is steeply inclined upward"
>
> That could be a definition that is specific enough to be used.
>
> However, I get the impression that a small, steep stone canyon in a desert
> (e.g. Utah, Arizona) would not necessarily be called a Couloir or "rock
> chute" if it is never covered in stone or ice. Is that correct?
>
> Does a couloir need to have a snow-covered portion during the cold season?
> All the example images seem to have snow filling the "chute."
>
> 1) Is this gully a couloir:
> https://www.americansouthwest.net/california/death_valley/golden-canyon-gully_l.html
>
>
> 2) What about these gullies:
> https://cdn2.apstatic.com/photos/climb/105848296_medium_1557863064.jpg
>
> 3) Or this steep slot canyon:
> https://www.roadtripryan.com/go/resources/content/utah/moab/sgr-canyon/user-submitted/xryancornia-1488896313480.jpg.pagespeed.ic.VxV1KW4RTx.jpg
>

I'd call all of those rock chutes.  I've only ever seen the term 'couloir'
in common use when there's ice and snow about, but I'm not a desert hiker.
Any rock chute in the Northern US is going to be choked with snow in the
winter.

I'd also call #3 a chimney, which is (pretty much) a rock crack that's big
enough to get your whole body into and climb with friction holds on the two
walls. (The walls need to be nearly parallel for this to work, otherwise,
it will be off-width at some point.)

https://youtu.be/5dzsWXicn-o?t=301 is a couloir in summer, I suppose.  It's
crazily dangerous in winter. It's mapped at
https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/493353882 just as bare_rock with cliffs
on either side.
-- 
73 de ke9tv/2, Kevin
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