BY WILL BRENDZA
Athletes Christina Lusti and Andrew McNab venture deep into British Columbia’s Monashees on a quest for adventure, solitude, and the thrill of a first descent of the third-highest summit in B.C.’s Gold Range
British Columbia is home to some of the most gnarly skiing in the world. The mountains jut up at near vertical angles in many places, reaching from sea level up thousands of meters. Many of the peaks, couloirs, and glaciers in this region have never been skied.
Which is exactly what draws Black Crows athletes Christina “Lusti” Lustenberger and Andrew McNab to the southwest couloir of Mount Niflheim in their new film, Chasing Niflheim.
No beta
“The allure of first descents is you don’t have beta,” Lusti says in the film. “You have to figure it out for yourself.”
The film documents the skiers’ second attempt to climb and ski this couloir. A year prior, Lusti and McNab climbed Mount Niflheim only to arrive at the ridge they thought would take them to their target, and discover it was impassable. So, they returned in 2023 to try again. And this time, the plan was to skip the ridge and climb the couloir directly.
The descent is a monster. It zigzags down the face of the mountain steeply and leaves no room for error. But, if there are any two skiers capable of shredding it (and making it look totally steezy), it’s McNab and Lusti. Lusti is a past Olympic skier, and McNab is a local to Revelstoke who grew up skiing these mountains.
The film Chasing Niflheim follows the Black Crows athletes as they assault their target, climb the couloir, and ski down it in an amazing display of talent and cinematography. The views are incredible. And the skiing is so radical it’s hard to wrap your head around.
This story originally appeared on GearJunkie.
