Mali Noyes Becomes First Woman to Ski the Comstock Couloir

COROS Pro athlete Mali Noyes has built her reputation on big, committing days in the mountains, stacked back to back. In 2025, she skied all 93 lines in Utah's Chuting Gallery in 47 days, a project that tested her skiing, her endurance and her decision-making in avalanche terrain day after day. "I've gained a lot of fitness over the years," she said. "It's just come from skiing as much as I can and going for objectives and trips into far, remote places."

The Comstock Couloir is one of those objectives. Deep in the Selkirks and featured in The Fifty Classic Ski Descents of North America, it is famous for turning skiers away. Mali had been turned back from it before, with Cody Townsend's crew filming The Fifty. In January 2026, she went back with Spencer Harkins, Emrik Villeneuve and Laurent Mathieu for four days and three nights in the backcountry.

Day one was a long approach over Asulkan Pass with full winter camping gear. Day two was scouting the line and checking conditions. On day three, the team made their push: a 14-hour effort that took them up the glaciated face of mt Selwyn, traverses the ridge to the summit of Mt Dawson and then down to the col of the comstock. They rapped three times on the ridge and getting down to the col and then another two times in the comstock. On day four, they skinned back over the pass to the car. Mali became the first woman to ski the line, and her party was only the third ever to complete it. "This time I knew I was a good enough skier," she said. "I was part of the decisions and discussions."

Stats from the complete push of the Comstock Couloir

• Distance: 53.9km (33.5 miles)
• Elevation Gain: 6,980m (22,900 ft)
• Time: 34 Hours, 45 Minutes
• Calories Burned: 14,300 kcal

Planning, partners and judgment got Mali down the Comstock. Her COROS APEX 4 42mm was on her wrist the whole way, from the climb over Asulkan Pass to the exit four days later. Here's how it held up in conditions that leave very little room for gear to fail.

On a big objective, knowing where you stand against your plan is part of every good decision. On the Comstock, the team left camp at 5 a.m. and reached the ridge by 11, right on schedule. Then the knife-edge traverse took far longer than expected. By the time they reached the first rappel the sun was setting, and they finished the couloir in the dark. Delays like that can build slowly over a long day, and you may not notice until you're short on daylight. With the APEX 4, you can check distance, elevation and vertical speed live on your wrist. You'll know whether you're still on schedule, how much ground is left and how fast you’re moving, so you can adjust early and decide when to push on and when to turn around.

The Dawson drainage is far from cell service.  The APEX 4 carries downloadable global Topo and Landscape maps on 32GB of storage, so the terrain is on your wrist with no signal needed. Load your route before you leave the trailhead, and you can check your position against it at every decision point. The memory-in-pixel touchscreen is easy to read in bright light on snow.

The APEX 4 uses an all-satellite, dual-frequency GPS chipset, which is built to hold an accurate position in tight couloirs, along exposed ridgelines and in deep mountain terrain. On the Comstock, it recorded Mali’s full expedition, from the skin track up to the ridge, across the summit of Mount Dawson, and down through the couloir to the apron.

Cold is hard on batteries. In freezing temperatures, many devices lose charge fast or shut down when you need them most. Mali's APEX 4 42mm tracked the full Comstock push in a single continuous activity. That was 14 hours and 9 minutes from a 5 a.m. start to the return to camp around 7 p.m. The 42mm is rated for up to 34 hours in all-systems GPS mode. With that margin, you can count on tracking the whole day without carrying a power bank.

On a multi-day trip, the biggest day is rarely the only one that counts. Overdoing it early can leave you running low on the day you need the most. That costs you both strength and judgment.

The APEX 4 helps you keep track of your effort and recovery throughout a trip:

• Heart rate: Watch your heart rate while you climb so you can keep the effort steady on long approaches and save energy for the push. On the Comstock day, Mali averaged 113 bpm over 14 hours and peaked at 163.
• Training Load: See how much each day takes out of you. Mali's send day logged a Training Load of 558, far above any other day of the trip.
• Recovery and HRV: Check how well you've recovered overnight before deciding how hard to push the next day.
• Sleep tracking: Cold tents and nerves before a big day are hard on sleep. Mali's nights went from easy, to restless before the send, to a hard-earned recovery afterward. Knowing how rested you are helps you set your pace and start time.

When Mali skied the Comstock, she showed that one of North America's most demanding lines is within reach for women. Mali didn't get there by luck. It took years of learning, one turnaround, and the confidence to help make every call on the mountain. For Mali, the Comstock is now off her dream list, and she's already planning her next big objectives. "That's what drives me to want more," she said. The bar has moved, and she's already looking past it.