When you drive up to Kootenay Pass my eyes were always drawn the steep face above the Twin Lakes area on the south side of the highway. Commonly mistaken as Ripple Peak, this peak has no name, rather it is just labelled 2234m. Just as reading Shakespear produces numerous different interpretations, different people will see different lines and ways of descending a mountain. My eyes were always drawn to a narrow ribbon of snow that slashed it's way down the face.
The only missing piece was how to get into the chute as a cliff blocked the entrance. After a little asking around I found out that the chute was totally skiable with a 35 m rappel into it and then 500m of fall line skiing all the way to Twin Lakes. With knee surgery fast approaching, a friend in town visiting from the steep skiing capital of the world Chamonix and reasonably decent stability, we decided it was time.
We skinned up Ripple Ridge to the Lightning Strike drooling over the awesome descent that we were about to have. The line looks really steep from the highway and approach, but rest assured it is much steeper then it looks. Skiing southwest off the Lightning Strike and down to a little pass we exchange whoops of joy for with every turn we are that much closer. Skinning around the backside of the peak gives us glimpses of the large steep north face of Ripple Mountain. More lines jump out and burn themselves into my memory for another day. I refocus my energy on the present task at hand. We skin to the summit, then take the skins off and do a combination of descending and traversing to find a little notch that marks the top of the line. After finding the notch, a short little boot pack and we are standing at the top of what we later find out is called “Satan’s Choice.” Peering over the edge only gives us more confidence, as the rappel looks very simple and secure.
Buzzing with excitement we find some slings that mark the rappel anchor. The slings prove to be in sound condition and the rope is fed through and tossed off the edge. A quick rock, paper, scissors to see who goes first. My girlfriend crushes Johnnos scissors with her rock and gets to go first. Skis on back, smile on face, rope fed through rappel device. Dustin wiggles her way through the constricted rock walls and descends to the bottom of the cliff and to the start of the chute. Dustin yells up, “Off rappel,” which signals that the next person can begin their descent down the rope.
Once everyone is down, we pull the rope. Everyone is simultaneously digging a ledge to put their skis on, smiling and giggling with excitement and readying themselves for a classic descent. One by one each person rips down the chute and loving every minute. 
Satan’s Choice starts out pretty steep and narrow, but with each turn the angle relents and the chute widens. The group regroups at the bottom of the chute and high fives are exchanged. Everyone continues to look back at the striking line and the grins last the whole way back to the car, and the whole drive home to Nelson. Future plans are discussed, memories are exchanged, and smiles illuminate everyone’s faces. It is these moments that we all feel so lucky to be able to visit and play on the features mountains have upon them. Like surfers catching a perfect wave, we feel like we have caught a perfect line and what makes it even better is we experienced it with such good friends. The glue that holds these experiences together.
