Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage has many deadly cliffs, and a few skiable but very technical and dangerous couloir routes, that may or may not be filled in, depending on the season. Some of them are dead ends that abruptly end in giant cliffs. If the coverage is low, you might get cliffed out even in the sections that are normally skiable. It's smart to carry rappelling gear. You should never be in this zone if avalanche danger is present, or if you don't know exactly where you're going. Because of wind slab formation, there is almost always avalanche danger present. The skiable sections are huge terrain traps, and a lot of slide-prone snow above them can funnel down into them. It's about as dangerous as any area could be. The zone ultimately exits to the bottom of Endless Couloir, and then you'll have to hike through Granite Canyon to get back to the resort, passing underneath many more dangerous slide paths on the way.
Maps
*All Mapped Areas are Approximations
Avalanche Reports
Trip Reports
Guide Books
Jackson Hole Ski Atlas, Edition III by Angus M. Thuermer
(Links to guidebooks may be affiliate links)
Videos
All videos are Copyright their respective owners. These are 3rd party videos hosted on YouTube or Vimeo and we make no guarantees as to their accuracy or relevance.
Northwest Passage by Jon: 03/30/2011
Find Nearby Zones
*All Mapped Areas are Approximations