The Abbott East Slidepath is an excellent option when you’re looking for a short-ish day of good skiing, especially when some of the winter-restricted areas are closed for the day. It’s a fast walk along the Asulkan Trail starting at the Illecillewaet parking lot. The true ascent begins just past the Glacier Crest Trail fork, with the hardest challenge often being crossing the Asulkan Brook by hopping across snow pillows. The ascent can be challenging in a shallow snowpack due to the bushy forest ahead. As for the descent, it offers 800m of east-facing powder, often well-preserved throughout the season. Keep in mind: there is often a sun crust on this run by mid-February as the sun starts affecting east-facing slopes. The south path offers the best open skiing while the north path requires a deep snowpack to enjoy – the upper slope is covered in dense patches of Christmas trees. In between the two paths, you’ll find a massive pillow field. Even on a good day, the pillow line descent requires some serious billy-goating. The straight-forward exit involves retracing your steps along the Asulkan Trail back to the parking lot which can be quite speedy on a day with good glide.

Related: Afton SE Couloir, Rogers Pass: High Exposure

Report from February 20, 2020

Let’s begin this story by mentioning I was on a hot date with Kaitlin, my now fiancee, plus two of her friends. The stakes were high, and I dressed to impress. Not literally – I had my usual ski touring attire – but I expectedly showed above-average confidence bordering on cockiness! I’ve come to resent that over the years and gotten rid of it for the most part. It wasn’t my most attractive quality (sarcasm intended)! This happened 5 years ago when I was but a wee inexperienced lad. Back to the story, we slithered along the Asulkan Trail for a little over 3km, whizzing by the Glacier Crest turnoff. Thankfully, the snowpack was mega-deep in 2020.

We crossed the Asulkan Brook and started the real ascent up the forest bordering the Abbott East Slidepath. With good avalanche stability in the forecast, we utilized the Abbott Mini paths, a series of small avalanche paths to the north to facilitate the climb, staying out of the bushy forest. Being a fantastic snow year, the north path was skiable with some trees still sticking out here and there. By following a broad shoulder leading to the Abbott Ridge, we avoided the Abbott Prohibited Area to the North.

We continued along the shoulder, offering efficient travel. While trying to break a consistent trail in the deep snow and impress Kaitlin with my uptracking wizardry, I face-planted when a pillow collapsed under my weight. Sometimes, you shoot and miss! We laughed it off. I was secretly embarrassed.

Eventually, the broad shoulder led us to a vast bench below the Abbott Ridge headwall. We traversed underneath the large overhead feature, spacing out to minimize our exposure to potential avalanches. I wouldn’t be there if the risk of natural avalanche activity lingered. With the warmer-than-normal temps heating the headwall’s surface snow, we voted against completing the final bootpack up the headwall to the ridge and transitioned on the bench, lined up with the south path.

We chatted for a moment before dropping into the line, also admiring the Sir Donald Range across the valley. We determined the quality skiing would be on the path’s north-tilted (right) flank or at its center, whereas the south-tilted (left) flank would have a buried sun crust. We followed our plan to the letter, and the skiing was phenomenal. We skied the line one at a time, cruising over pillows and buried stumps bordering the path. What a blast! The bottom portion offered adequate skiing even if the snow was a little moist due to the warming temperatures at valley bottom.

We landed right back where we began the ascent, on the west bank of the Asulkan Brook. We retraced our steps, side-stepping through steeper sections occasionally. We glided most of the way back to the parking lot. While the Abbott East Slidepath isn’t the best ski touring route Rogers Pass has to offer; it’s still a convenient option when you’re looking for a short day (1000m vertical) and grand views of the Sir Donald Range across the valley.

We landed right back where we began the ascent, on the west bank of the Asulkan Brook. We retraced our steps, side-stepping through steeper sections occasionally. We glided most of the way back to the parking lot. While the Abbott East Slidepath isn’t the best ski touring route Rogers Pass has to offer; it’s still a convenient option when you’re looking for a short day (1000m vertical) and grand views of the Sir Donald Range across the valley.

We landed right back where we began the ascent, on the west bank of the Asulkan Brook. We retraced our steps, side-stepping through steeper sections occasionally. We glided most of the way back to the parking lot. While the Abbott East Slidepath isn’t the best ski touring route Rogers Pass has to offer; it’s still a convenient option when you’re looking for a short day (1000m vertical) and grand views of the Sir Donald Range across the valley.

Route Info

5-6 h	1020m	8.3 km	1200-2175 m