Grizzly Couloir, Rogers Pass: 3-Day Couloir Marathon

What could one do with three days off? There are many possibilities but I was already set on a goal. A couloir marathon of course. Three famous Rogers Pass couloirs in three days. To kickstart the adventure, Cedrik and I decided to stroll atop Grizzly Mountain and slay the Grizzly Couloir, a 1000m long, 45-degree crack in the earth. And, powder, we got… along with gale-force winds and frostbites.

This route is located within a Winter Restricted Area (WRA) governed by the Winter Permit System of Glacier National Park. Check the WRA status before travelling through it.

WRA STATUS

PERMIT SYSTEM

three skiers climbing the grizzly southeast ridge — From left to right, Phil, Francois and Cedrik climbing the Grizzly SE ridge. Photo: The Uptrack

Report from December 14, 2019

During my season in Chamonix, France, I fell in love with couloir (chute) skiing. Rock palisades on both sides, narrow chokes along the way, deep powder and only one way out. Here’s an interesting fact about couloirs: the skier and the snow share the same direction. Down! There’s little to no escape path if you trigger an avalanche. Even mere sluffing (loose snow) can pull the rug under you and send you careening downslope into rocks or cliffs. Needless to say, the stakes are high at all times in avalanche terrain, even more so in couloirs.

grizzly couloir with descent overlay — Our descent from Grizzly Couloir. See the dangerous choke at the exit Photo: The Uptrack

After sorting out our mountaineering gear, our adventure began at 8 AM at the Rogers Pass Discovery Center (RPDC for short). Within less than half an hour, we were deep into Teddy Bear Trees on the ridge looker’s left of Grizzly Mountain.

faceshot of cedrik menard in rogers pass — I raise my glass to Cedrik, a shredder from Clearwater, BC, spending a season in Revelstoke. Photo: The Uptrack

Thankfully, a brave one already had set a clean uptrack wading through the forest, although at a rather steep angle. Nothing a couple of tree belays couldn’t solve. The snow was so light and deep that my powder baskets punched through the surface by at least one meter. That didn’t stop Cedrik from powering up the shoulder. Man’s got a rocket up his ass.

skier touring up Teddy Bear Trees in rogers pass — Cedrik poking out of treeline past Teddy Bear Trees. Grizzly Mountain in the back. Photo: The Uptrack

Moments later, the ridge was narrowing. A few more precarious kick-turns got us past the crux into mellower terrain. From there, the ridge morphed into a large alpine bowl with undulating terrain, proof of the crushing burden of extinct glaciers. We stuck to the wind-blown snow on the ridge to minimize our exposure to potential avalanches overhead. At that point, the uptrack had been covered in wind-deposited snow.

teddy bear trees close up with overlay — Ascent of Grizzly Mountain through Teddy Bear Trees. Photo: The Uptrack

The avalanche hazard was at “moderate”, which meant we still had to be very careful about our ascent path. Most accidents happen on the “moderate” hazard rating: people are caught off-guard by the low probability of avalanches. Skiers and riders are still likely to trigger slabs in isolated areas of instability.

skier touring toward on an alpine ridge in rogers pass — The Grizzly SE ridge ahead. Two skiers in the distance. Photo: The Uptrack

As soon as we gained the very top of the ridge, we were blasted by howling winds so strong Cedrik’s nose turned white within minutes. He promptly covered the exposed skin with his trusty buff. Our faces were relentlessly pelted by icy snow crystals carried by the gusts. Frostbite is no joke. The wind chill must have brought the temperature down to easily -20C. The mountains were screaming in anger. Skinning was becoming increasingly difficult on the hard snow. We strapped our skis to our packs and began the long climb up the thinly covered ridge.

cedrik climbing an alpine ridge — Cedrik, battling the winds on the Grizzly SE ridge. Photo: The Uptrack

In the distance, we could barely make out two skiers climbing ahead. Dense clouds were rolling across the glacial plains, obscuring our visibility. We eventually caught up to them. Since we had similar plans, we joined forces for the final ascent. Thank you, François and Phil, for setting part of the bootpack on our way to Grizzly Couloir. A few words to describe it: post-holing, rock climbing, frozen hands and patience, lots of it.

two skiers climbing the grizzly southest ridge under high winds — François (yellow) and Phil (black), leading the way up the Grizzly SE ridge. Man, those winds! Photo: The Uptrack

With frozen fingers and toes, we gained the summit of Grizzly Mountain. Only a short exposed scramble was left between us and the couloir’s entrance. I thought to myself how awesome it is to blend ski touring with mountaineering. Fortunately, the scramble was oriented in a way that sheltered us from the high winds. I felt a relentless pain in my fingers as blood began to surge back into my capillaries. Good! Today was not the day I would become an amputee.

alpine ridge before grizzly couloir — Exposed ridge scramble to Grizzly Couloir. Cedrik and François, scambling. Photo: The Uptrack.

Our luck didn’t run out just yet. The moment we arrived at the entrance of Grizzly Couloir, a plateau sized for barely two skiers side-by-side, the sun pierced the fast-moving clouds, shining the most angelic rays upon the couloir. Looks like we were up for one hell of a run. I discussed with Cedrik the hazards at play. We would avoid the right-sloping wall of the chute where wind slabs would most likely be found after today’s strong SW winds.

grizzly couloir descent close up with overlay — Ski route from the top of Grizzly Mountain. Photo: The Uptrack

François went first, carving a few carefully placed ski-cuts along the way. The stability was all-time. Phil followed once François had exited the narrow lower choke at the bottom of the run. The snow seemed hella appetizing. Cedrik went third as I snapped a few shots that turned out pretty bad. I’ll let my footage tell the story now.

Ski descent of Grizzly Couloir. I expected choppy conditions. Boy! Was I wrong? Video: The Uptrack

Yew! What a sweet line right from the top of Grizzly Mountain! Deep untracked powder, gnarly chokes, a steep grade, and good snow stability. It’s pretty rare all those elements line up for the perfect descent. The snow was creamy to the extent where leaning back on my skis was pointless. My shovels would effortlessly bulldoze through the very cold smoke. I encountered the exact same outstanding snow conditions over the following two days of my couloir marathon. The universe wanted me to shred those lines.