The Lookout North Couloir is a seldom skied line, mostly because most disregard it in favour of the popular Ravens slope. After all, you’ll need the right avalanche, glacier and snow conditions to descend safely. The loop starts and ends at the Illecillewaet parking lot, often plowed and maintained by Parks Canada staff. It follows the summer trail system to the Illecillewaet Glacier, allowing you to reach the Ravens Ridge to the west. A short, rocky descent a pocket glacier takes you across the ridge onto the west aspect where you’ll find the couloir dropping to the skier’s right from the ridge. The Lookout North Couloir consists of three north-facing lines spanning east to west with increasing complexity and severity. The loop is an epic adventure including glacier travel, crevasse navigation and a ski-mountaineering descent from the Illecillewaet to the Asulkan Valley, rewarding you with panoramic views of the area.

Related: The Ravens: A Burly Line For A Burly Storm, Lookout Col: The Scenic Way To The Ravens

Report from December 3, 2024

Jye and I rolled into the Illecillewaet parking lot around 7:30 AM, with a few cars strewn across the flat area. The owners were staying at the Asulkan Cabin since more folks avoid the Illecillewaet and Asulkan Valleys this early in the ski touring season. We glided along the Asulkan Trail and veered left onto the Great Glacier Trail.

Within an hour, we arrive at the Illecillewaet Moraines, a convoluted arrangement of gullies, pillows and narrow shoulders leading up to the glacial toe. The early season conditions were on display here. We scrambled over alders and followed an uber-steep uptrack to the toe at 2040m. There was no convenient way to get up there – it was an act of brute force!

With much effort, we made it to the toe of the Illecillewaet Glacier. It’s always more of a slog than I remember but it’s all worth it. To our right, we could see the Glacier Crest E face and the dogleg couloir, in good shape for early December. We decided to traverse east under the toe since the “standard” uptrack seemed very crevassed. This route would allow us to establish new ways onto the glacier.

Jye, fit as ever, broke trail for most of the ascent. We navigated the successive benches under the toe and eventually spotted a possible way through the glacier bound by two gnarly-looking crevasse fields. We roped up for the ascent – 12-15m apart with multiple stopper knots across the stretch of rope. We took all the safety precautions since we’d be crossing multiple crevasse bridges with little information about the depth and density of the snowpack.

We probed a snowpack depth ranging from 160cm in scoured areas to 250cm in wind-loaded zones with about 100cm of hard snow above ground. While those aren’t ideal crevasse bridging conditions, it’s good enough for travelling roped up and probing for big holes. We were through the crevasse field and onto the Illecillewaet Neve, the nearly flat top of the glacier.

We set a track up the rest of the glacier to the Ravens Ridge, circumnavigating around Lookout Bowl. We reached the ridge by noon. The views of the Asulkan and Youngs Glacier were amazing incredible and quite insightful. The 7 Steps of Paradise run was not in great shape. Rocks peppered the last two rolls above the valley bottom. We could also see the Asulkan Cabin in the distance, granting you access to this beautiful alpine terrain.

We transitioned for the descent. Due to an alpine temperature inversion, the light winds and mild temperatures were quite comfortable, even at 2540m where we stood. We poked around the leeward side of the ridge, on the hunt for reactive wind slabs. The mellow terrain would allow us to assess the wind slab hazard in the steeper sections. We found no signs of reactivity, only some old wind-affected surfaces that made skiing variable and challenging.

We followed the loaded slope and found a way across the rocky ridge onto the west aspect. Navigated by satellite imagery, we located the first entrance to the Lookout North Couloir. Peering into the void, we could see the whole line below us. While thin and rocky, there was a way clear descent route. We opted for the first and more serious line since the wind slab hazard was non-existent. Instead, we found 20-30cm of faceted snow.

Jye led the first half of the descent as I was taking photos. The couloir had previously avalanched and offered variable hard snow as well as blower powder. The skiing was challenging, resulting in slower-than-expected progress. Fortunately, we didn’t hit any rocks! We skied one at a time to manage our sluff and exposure.

Midway down the couloir, I took the lead and was met with variable conditions – the run had slid not so long ago. We railed some turns down the exit fan and exited into Lookout Bowl. The snow was exceptional, 40-50cm of low-density, faceted blower.

After celebrating the awesome run, we glided into the bowl’s gut and traversed back to the Ravens’ west slope. It’s worth transitioning for the uphill to make that move. Another lap of blower powder later, we connected with the Asulkan Valley Trail which we followed to the parking lot. It was a slog but we made it.

Route Info

7-9 h	1410 m	16 km	1200-2540 m