"Scariest Couloir in the World"? Skier Nikolai Schirmer Drops Intense Archival Footage

Five years ago, Norwegian couloir skiing master Nikolai Schirmer and his buddy Krister Kopalaset out for the island of Senja. Their goal? Squeeze through the walls of The King’s Gate, a lengthy line that, as its name implies, features a towering rock arch. 

As they sped down The King’s Gate, they encountered a mandatory air, a tight slot barely wider than a pair of skis lengthwise, and a bulbous ice feature that necessitated quick footwork. The skiing and snowboarding from the adventure is, of course, remarkable. Perhaps more stunning, though, is the fact that Schirmer was sitting on this footage for half a decade. If it were me, I don’t think I could refrain from sharing it for that long. 

But what do I know? These days, I’m excited if I make it to the bottom of a standard-issue mogul field in one piece.

Without further ado, here’s Schirmer and Kopaladoing what they do best. Tap or click to watch.

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Atop the line, Schirmer remarks that he’s about to ride “the scariest couloir in the world.” It’s a fair assessment. However, since Schirmer faced The King’s Gate, he’s ticked off several more lines that could also be in contention for that title. 

Such feats have become his thing. Go to the Norwegian’s YouTube channel, and you’ll find video after video featuring Schirmer as he hits Autobahn speeds in places where you can’t fall. Kopalais a formidable snowboard mountaineer, too. His descent of Chamonix’s Voie Fontaine qualifies, quite literally, as survival snowboarding.

Interspersed with the archive footage from Schirmer and Kopala’s trip to The King’s Gate are sound bites from Cody Townsend, known best for The Fifty, a web series that chronicles his attempt to climb and ski 50 of the toughest backcountry lines in North America.

This fall, Townsend and Schirmer are touring another, longer movie they teamed up to create: The Edge of Reason. It explores risk and evolving priorities, serving as a counterweight to the gnarly skiing done by Schirmer and others. It’s also likely to become one of the most discussed ski movies this fall. 

You can catch The Edge of Reason at Salomon’s Quality Ski Time Film Tour, which still has a few more upcoming dates across the U.S. 

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