Related: The ACMG Ski Guide Certificate: What Does It Take?

What’s The ACMG Ski Guide Exam All About

For those wondering, the ski guide exam is a 9-day, hands-on assessment of a guide’s skills on snow. It is the final milestone in the ACMG ski guide certification. Think of it as an all-around, real-world exam. Small groups of 3 to 4 students take turns leading a rotating group of examiners through complex glaciated terrain. The routes selected often include technical alpine features like couloir skiing, rappels, and roped glacier travel, with the occasional foray into the trees.

Under the examiner’s watchful eye, each student rotates through the guide role by track-setting, assessing hazards, managing the group, and coaching everyone through challenging sections. Examiners may even allow mistakes to unfold to better understand a student’s decision-making and problem-solving skills, stepping in only when it truly matters.

Keep Your Head On A Swivel

As a ski guide, you’re constantly monitoring dangers, from avalanche hazards to hidden crevasses. It all boils down to minimizing your group’s exposure to hazards while managing the guests when the hazards can’t be avoided. That’s where backcountry experience in complex glaciated terrain, leading to sound decision-making, is critical. Without a doubt, the avalanche hazard is a major player. Ski guides will spend a considerable amount of time investigating the snowpack to accurately evaluate the avalanche hazard – whether that means sticking our head in the snow or ski cutting unsupported features.

In an exam setting or at work, you’re making hundreds of small decisions, almost every minute, from where you’ll ski down to how you’ll lower guests into a couloir and where you’ll take your snack breaks. All those decisions must work in tandem to complete the objective and deliver an unforgettable experience. Guides in training spend a considerable amount of time completing challenging ski tours to test their decision-making while facing hazardous conditions. Sometimes, you just have to get creative! We’ll “mock guide” our peers and perform a debrief after each day, offering constructive criticism.

The Art Of Track-Setting

On the ACMG ski guide exam, we’re expected to master the art of track-setting, otherwise known as uptracking. You didn’t hit that bench quite right – FAIL! Your uptrack is too steep – FAIL! You didn’t flatten the corners enough for your guests – FAIL! Jokes aside, setting an uptrack as perfectly through dense forest as in convoluted, alpine terrain is challenging. Fortunately, most apprentice guides have 2-3 years of ski touring work to practice those skills. It definitely gets harder when you’ve exclusively heli-skied during your apprenticeship.

Guides aim for an uptrack incline of 12-18 degrees, striking a balance between vertical gain and energy conservation throughout the day. It’s important to maintain a consistent angle across features while minimizing direction changes. I always tell myself: “Use all the real estate you can when setting a track”. Sometimes, it’s important to climb at an aggressive incline or speed up the ascent, such as when crossing crevasse bridges or to escape from sketchy overhead hazards. Like any other guiding skillset, it all comes down to good decision-making. Guides will spend many days purposefully uptracking through difficult terrain in hopes of mastering the art of track-setting.

Nail The Downhill Lines

Like most ski guides, we track uphill to ski downhill. I genuinely love the downhill component. It’s the reason why I spend 60-70% of my winter around helicopters. The ACMG ski guide exam will test your ability to guide your group on the descent in unfamiliar terrain. After all, you’re expected to navigate thoughtfully through zones you’ve never visited before, intending to deliver the best possible ski product. With experience, guides learn how to best manage their guests while avoiding objective hazards or reducing their group’s exposure.

There’s no substitute for hard-earned experience. I’ve been fortunate enough to land a dream heli-ski job early in my career. Heli-skiing allowed me to dial in my downhill guiding, often skiing 10 backcountry runs. Due to Selkirk Tangiers Heli Skiing’s massive tenure, I get to explore new terrain every day and downhill guide in a variety of weather and snow conditions.

Navigate Glaciers Like A Pro

Glacier travel is one of the core components of the ACMG ski guide exam. It takes years of experience to decode glaciers and understand what’s happening underneath the snow. An unroped crevasse fall is typically our biggest concern. With much practice, guides can determine the strength of a snow bridge based on outside temperature, bridge thickness and snow hardness – sticking our probes in the snow and feeling the resistance. It’s an essential skill when you’re travelling through an icefall.

As guides in training, we’ll spend days traversing icefields in a whiteout, testing our GPS and compass-based navigation skills when we can barely see the tip of our skis. Being able to decipher a sagging crevasse bridge in poor visibility is an acquired skill. Glacier navigation is complicated and inherently high-stakes. A mistake here and you might fall into a gaping hole.

Master The Ropes

Rigging skills are thoroughly tested on the ACMG ski guide exam. We’ll often lower our group into steep lines or belay a guest scrambling on a rocky ridge. Examiners dedicate a day to testing crevasse rescue techniques using various scenarios, including an unroped fall where the victim is unconscious and a rope ascent while passing knots.

I spent several days rehearsing rigging techniques, practicing knots while watching TV and running through diverse rescue scenarios with my peers. A few examples:

• An unroped fall with an unconscious victim
• Ascending a rope with knots
• Rappelling through knots
• Drop loop and z-pulley rescue systems
• Building bomber snow/ice anchors (T-slots & V-threads)

Ever Heard Of The “Backcountry Butler”

The often forgotten component of ski guiding is client care. Sure, when we think of ski guides, we immediately think of powder skiing through an untouched white canvas. What guides don’t tell you is that 50% of our job is about caring for our clients and optimizing their experience. Examiners will judge you on quality-of-life decisions like taking a break in a sheltered location or emphasizing sunscreen use. They’ll even evaluate your coaching skills when working through challenging sections. That’s part of the game, and how a guide gets a great tip at the end of a day!

You might have to teach your clients how to remove skins on a summit while the winds are howling. You might have to sprinkle some fresh snow on an overused uptrack to increase grip. All those small things contribute to the guest experience. At the ACMG, the bar is set high.

A Note On The Ridge Active Insulator

Premium outerwear designer Strafe was kind enough to send me their cutting-edge mid-layer, The Ridge Active Insulator Jacket, for testing. I’ve now taken it on a few ski tours, through old-growth forest, on huge glaciers and far into our backcountry playground. The Ridge Insulator is the perfect replacement for my old, raggedy mid-layer, which was falling apart at the seams. The fleece lining is not only comfortable, but also provides just the right amount of insulation for winter, high-output activities like ski touring or mountaineering. The insulation is strategically placed to maximize breathability. The jacket is also incredibly light, keeping only essential features such as a hood, wrist and waist elastic cinching and a few zippered pockets. The thin, yet durable, Pertex face fabric complements its low weight while granting it some water resistance when the snow starts flying. The Ridge Active Insulator is the only jacket I need for the ascent in mild to moderately cold temperatures. Since the synthetic insulation retains warmth when wet, I simply throw on my shell layer for the descent. The jacket just looks darn good, and the athletic fit is great for my slim, 6ft build in a size medium.

Features:

• Lightweight & air-permeable body mapped Pertex® Equilibrium NetPlus® & brrr° 4-way stretch fabrics
• Exposed body mapped PrimaLoft® Active Evolve insulation
• Fully lined integrated hood with elastic along the opening
• Zippered hand & chest pockets
• Mesh electronics sleeve inside right-hand pocket
• Elastic binding at sleeve cuffs, hood edge, & hem
• YKK® Vislon® & Regular Coil zippers
• Weight: 10.2oz/290g

The post The ACMG Ski Guide Exam: How I Trained For The Ultimate Test appeared first on The Uptrack.

Related: The ACMG Ski Guide Certificate: What It Takes.

An Unconventional Format

The ACMG Apprentice Ski Guide Exam is an 8 to 9-day practical evaluation of an aspiring guide’s skillset on snow, ice and rock. It’s the first step in the ACMG ski guide certification process and grants you the ability to lead groups in technical ski terrain under the supervision of a certified ski guide. It’s an all-encompassing test where 3-4 students lead a rotating cast of examiners through terrain commonly faced when ski guiding. The routes chosen by the examiners often involve a technical alpine component (such as couloir skiing, rappels, roped glacier travel) with the occasional tree skiing. Under the examiner’s watchful eye, the students take turns in the “guide” position, setting the uptrack, evaluating the hazards, instructing the group on how to move through difficult sections, amongst other things. Examiners will often let the students get into trouble to examine their thought process and error correction. They’ll pull the plug only when truly necessary.

Most would think the evaluation process is arbitrary and extremely subjective. To minimize subjectivity when giving out marks, the ACMG provides 2-4 examiners through which the groups will rotate. After the exam, the examiners meet and discuss in great detail the students’ performance throughout the apprentice ski guide exam, assigning a fair grade at the end. A passing grade of 70% is required to obtain the certificate and continue to the final ski guide exam, after up to three years of industry experience. The exam is broken down into several evaluation criteria.

One exam day is dedicated to a “sports” day where the examiners assess a student’s rope and crevasse rescue skills. It usually takes place on the edge of a wind lip, shallow crevasse or cliff. The challenges vary from a standard crevasse rescue scenario using the 6:1 drop loop to rappelling or ascending through multiple knots. The “sports” day is a welcome break from the stress of non-stop guiding in tiger country. Examiners will advise on the spot to improve your rope skills. Just be ready for the worst weather. I’ve had friends complete their “sports” day in wild winds, frigid temperatures or full-on whiteouts.

The Typical Exam Field Day

Starting in the wee hours of the morning, you’ll probably wake up around 5 AM thinking about the objective. After all, you’ve been trip planning until 10 PM the night before. You’ll have a calorie-dense breakfast either in a backcountry lodge or in your hotel room. You’ll meet your group around 7 AM for your AM guide’s meeting, where you’ll examine the weather, assess the avalanche hazards & risk, and discuss risk mitigation strategies. The examiner will introduce the daily runlist showing routes that can safely be completed given your risk assessment. In practice, the objective is already determined the night before, so you can prepare. You’ll then deliver your pre-trip briefing to your examiner in a clear, cohesive manner. Where to meet, what gear to bring, what conditions to expect on the route, etc. He’ll probably ask you pointed questions if your briefing is lacking details.

At the trailhead, the leading student will perform a transceiver check and an important equipment check. Throughout the field day, you’ll take turns at the front of the group. The examiners expect you to act as a guide, coaching your peers when you would expect the average guest to struggle or when the exposure justifies a careful approach. Good communication is paramount. For instance, let the group know what the route’s next section entails and when the next break will be. Instruct guests to throw a jacket on before travelling on a windy ridgetop feature. Laugh when you make small blunders. Keep things lighthearted when possible and be especially assertive when justified by the hazards. The examiner will drill you with questions. Don’t fret. The intention is not to challenge your thinking but to understand your thought process. They don’t know what’s going on in your head. I prefer to share my plan with the group during breaks to avoid the non-stop interrogation, which could affect my focus. The examiner will also ask you questions regarding navigation.

Hopefully, you’ll reach your objective within an appropriate timeframe. And, if you don’t, it’s all good as long as you can justify turning back given the hazards and weather. The examiner may try to push you towards completing the objective at all costs. Stick to your guns if you’re convinced proceeding further would compromise the group’s safety. By the end of the day, you’ll circle back to your vehicle or the lodge where you’ll meet for a PM guide’s meeting. The examiner will ask you how your day went and provide some key feedback. Next, you’ll have dinner and plan for the next day. Now, rinse and repeat on the next day. There’s no doubt: it’s an incredibly time-consuming process. On my exam, I barely had a few minutes of rest each day. Be prepared for the exhaustion that ensues.

The Feedback And Error Correction Process

Examiners will provide important feedback at the end of every day and in the field. After all, they know you are being certified as an apprentice ski guide and have barely worked in the industry. They don’t expect perfection, but they do expect the students to learn from their mistakes. It’s especially important to take their feedback with grace and apply the key points over the remainder of the exam. I remember one of my examiners described me as a “sponge”, soaking up all the feedback and “wringing” it out (applying it) on the next field day. Flattering compliment, I know! Be a good sponge.

In the same vein, the examiners value error correction. They are adamant about its importance. As a working ski guide, you’ll make daily mistakes, hopefully small, trivial ones. It’s important to assess your decisions with continuous introspection and correct errors that would put clients at risk or be detrimental to their experience. Examiners will happily have you skirt too close to a hidden crevasse, hoping you’ll turn the situation around and instruct your guests to backtrack while you find an alternate route around the hazard. That’s okay! On the flipside, they would rather avoid having you make the wrong decision and drag your group through hazardous terrain because you’re too scared error correct.

Managing The Anxiety

The ACMG apprentice ski guide exam is a stressful evaluation. The process is admittedly unforgiving, highly demanding, and very costly. Most exams range in the $3000-5000 range. A failed exam has to be reattempted at your cost the following year. Not only does the exam fee burn a hole in your wallet, but it also introduces a year delay to your career plans. The missed opportunity cost induces a huge financial hit since you won’t be able to work as an apprentice ski guide in the ski industry, a position that comes with a healthy wage bump. Just know, there are ways to ease the mental struggle.

The ACMG provides an insightful video series on stress management during the exam process. Some students even consult sports psychologists to arm themselves with useful coping strategies. Getting to know your exam group well and training in the field with them helped in minimizing the pre-exam stress. You’ll quickly get over the awkwardness of “mock guiding” your peers. During the evaluation, it’s best to get along with your examiner, laugh at your failures and find ways to enjoy the journey. After all, you’ll be bagging peaks, rappelling into couloirs and figuring out complex glaciers. It’s just skiing – we love it for a reason! I recommend working with your group when trip planning at night so that you’re all on the same page come morning. Healthy and effective group dynamics go a long way to easing the stress during the exam process. By now, you probably already know that. Ensure you follow an energy-dense diet and drink fluids often. You’ll be expending a wild amount of energy in the field. When I’m stressed out, I tend to forget the basics of nutrition in the backcountry.

Training For The Apprentice Ski Guide Exam

Being admitted into the ACMG Ski Guide Training and Application Program (ACMG TAP) is extremely competitive. By then, you’ve got years of personal and professional experience under your belt and several advanced avalanche certifications. Your rope skills are ultra-dialled and probably better than most fully certified ski guides who haven’t rappelled into a couloir in years. In other words, you’re already most of the way to the apprentice ski guide standard. I spent the winter and spring before my late-April exam working as a tailguide for a heli-ski operation and volunteering at ski touring lodges. I also set time aside to complete classic ski-mountaineering objectives in complex glaciated terrain (see the Avalanche Terrain Exposure Scale).

A few weeks before my exam in the Canadian Rockies, just north of Lake Louise, I spent a few days with my exam group on commonly guided routes such as Mt Gordon on the Wapta Icefield, Mt Hector, Cirque Peak and Sub-Observation Peak. We took turns guiding our group in the manner we would on the exam. From a good vantage point, I photographed key terrain features and bought ski touring guidebooks to study the area from my home base. Spend some time locating popular trailheads to avoid any confusion during the exam and improve your pre-trip briefing delivered at the start of each day. I often practiced rope skills and crevasse rescue techniques in the evenings. Ask around for beta about the area in which you’ll be assessed. Local guides are a great source of information and will no doubt give you a hand if you mention that the information is for an apprentice ski guide exam.

Good Luck With Your Exam

Well, that’s about all I can think of at the moment. I’ll add some sections to this post as I think of additional insight. By all means, reach out through my Contact Page or Instagram if you’re looking for specific advice or beta on an area you’ll visit. I’ll do my best to help you out! I hope you’ll one day challenge the apprentice ski guide exam and be successful.

The post The Apprentice Ski Guide Exam (ACMG): Trials and Tribulations appeared first on The Uptrack.

Related: 1. Planning A Spring Ski Tour: Optimize Your Peak Pursuit 2. Spring Ski Touring Gear: The Essential Goes A Long Way

Temperamental spring weather

While advancements in weather forecasting models and access to free data have made planning for ski tours a lot easier, there’s no denying that spring weather patterns are temperamental and hard to predict. As the sun hangs high in the sky and warms up our snow surface, it creates a vertical air mass movement called convection. In terms, this forms convective clouds that can develop into convective storms, the same storms that generate hail. They come in with very little notice, oftentimes accompanied by strong winds and tend to generate a ton of snowfall. What it all boils down to: spring weather is unpredictable. You may find yourself skiing a sweet glacier on a bluebird day and navigating crevasses in a whiteout on the same day. Generally speaking, Spring weather is characterized by warm daytime temperatures (possibly above freezing) followed by cold nights and a re-freeze. That’s called a melt-freeze cycle.

Timing is everything!

When I say spring ski touring, you probably think of “corn” skiing. Let’s backtrack for a moment and discuss the “crust” cycle, daytime warming and overnight recovery. It’s called the spring diurnal cycle. In the BC Interior, the cycle usually starts sometime in April when a thick melt-freeze crust forms on the snowpack’s surface by either warm temperatures, high-elevation rain or solar radiation. During bouts of clear weather, daytime warming and solar radiation warm the surface snow until it begins to melt. Overnight, the melted surface snow will freeze if temperatures dip below 0°C, which they usually do. This phenomenon is called overnight recovery. Over many days of repeated solar radiation, a thick, supportive crust will form on the surface. That’s when the famed corn skiing comes into play. Timing is everything here! If you hit it at the appropriate morning timing and on the correct aspect, you’ll find snow that has just begun the melting process and where the crust is still supportive to skier traffic. The first time you get that feeling, it’s magical! Alternatively, you can also find great corn skiing at the end of the resort skiing season. Just seek out the solar groomers!

The fabled spring corn cycle

Corn skiing is a part of a cycle – all good things must end. With increasing temperature and solar radiation, the partly-melted snow will eventually turn to slush, worsening ski quality and making it more difficult to get down the slope. At the end of the spectrum, the entire snowpack will be slush: an isothermal snowpack. There’s no one way to describe the feeling. It’s like gliding through a thick stew and is especially hard on the lower joints. I’ve spent many days slogging up and down slopes in isothermal conditions on spring ski traverses. It’s horrible, downright dangerous and should be avoided if at all possible. Similarly, I’ve skied on refrozen snow where my skis were chattering to the point my teeth might fall out. The reality of spring ski touring is that you have to go out with a clear objective, knowing the ski quality might be lacking. At the very least, you’ll have a grand tale to discuss at the bar!

The spectrum of avalanche hazard in spring

Due to the spring diurnal cycle, the avalanche hazard varies widely throughout the day. At first light, when temperatures are cool and the surface is capped by a widespread crust, the hazard may be at an all-time low. The avalanche problems are essentially frozen in the snowpack. As the day rolls into the afternoon, solar input and daytime warming will break down the melt-freeze crust, spiking the avalanche hazard. Dry loose avalanches will begin to pour down headwalls, and the likelihood of skier-triggered avalanches will naturally increase. Snow shedding from trees and pinwheeling is a telltale sign of rapid warming (see signs of avalanche instability). That’s why timing is so important when planning ski tours in Spring, whether you’re travelling on northerly aspects to avoid the sun or on southerly aspects to chase some corn. For more information on the logistics of spring ski tours, see Planning A Spring Ski Tour: Optimize Your Peak Pursuit.

Here are a few avalanche problems commonplace in Spring.

Fear the heat

Drastic warming events happen all the time and are becoming more frequent with climate change. I’ve seen those stinking-hot weather systems barrel through the middle of January. Most often, they’ll arrive in two forms during the bulk of the spring ski touring season, in March and April.

The post Spring Ski Touring Basics: Weather, Corn Skiing And Avalanches appeared first on The Uptrack.

Related: Afton Southeast Couloir, Rogers Pass: High Exposure (East Variation)

Report from December 1st, 2020

Generally speaking, I’m not a big fan of ski touring in large groups, but this day was different. The crew, comprised of Rigel, Steph, Freddy, Phil, Kaitlin, and me, assembled at the Loop Brook parking lot, ready for a fun day of introductory ski-mountaineering. For some, this was their first couloir. Phil and I picked the Afton SE Couloir as it seemed like a good appetizer for the newcomers to the sport.

After a thorough gear check, we slithered along Loop Brook, engaging early up the west flank of Mt Abbott. With the season being young, the snowpack was quite shallow. We battled surface crusts and faceted snow through the steep forest, laying down technical kick-turns and using trees for belay. There’s no sugarcoating it, the forested ascent is heinous. I broke my skin tip twice by stumbling on deadfall and buried rocks. You have to stay focused and punch through the treeline.

As we emerged from the trees, we could peer across the Loop Brook Valley. Mt Green and Ross Peak were standing proud. I took the opportunity to scope out the Ross SE Couloir, an objective I completed a few days later after it had shed during a storm cycle. We took a solid break, replenishing our energy while we basked in the early-season sun. We then continued along the wind-scoured ridge leading up to Mt Afton.

Once the snow got too hard to travel on skis, we strapped our skis to our packs and started bootpacking up the Afton NW Ridge. The shallow faceted snow would let go at every step, punching through the thick wind crust to the depth of the boulders underneath. Progress was tiring and slow, but we eventually made it up the ridge. Freddy took a wild tumble down a few boulders after he lost his footing, a stark reminder to check your holds when climbing even the simplest ridge. Due to short daylight hours, some of us avoided the summit. It’s such a quick detour that I decided to complete the ascent and bag Mt Afton. This also gave me a premium view of the Afton SE Couloir and an opportunity to scope out the snow conditions.

The couloir had been battered by high southerly winds. The snow surface was visibly wind-affected, which is pretty common when ski mountaineering. I figured the wind slabs were more than 72 hours old and wouldn’t pose much of an issue. To make things worse, solar input over the last few clear days had changed the snow. This was expected, being a SE aspect. As usual, I would first assess the conditions before committing to the descent.

The sun was setting behind the Bonney Massif. At this time of the year, daylight is scarce. While I descended from the summit to join the group, the crew readied up for the short scramble into the couloir. Phil, Freddy and I led the way, looking for the easiest way through the narrow band of rocks spanning skier’s right from the couloir’s entrance. We helped the first-time couloir skiers through the scramble, assisting them as they mounted their skis. I truly wanted to avoid a ski rocket down the hard snow.

Ready for the descent, Phil launched down the line after a powerful ski cut. The skiing was challenging, to say the least. The top section was heavily wind-affected. Phil was cutting small chunks of unreactive wind slabs as he descended the couloir. I was snapping photos. The lower portion offered excellent powder skiing since the mountains across the valley provided shelter from the low-lying sun. With the hour drawing late, the Asulkan Valley was shrouded in darkness.

Once the party had skied the couloir, one at a time, we continued down the Rampart Bowl toward the valley bottom. The powder skiing here was excellent: sheltered from the wind, with no solar input and some interesting features off which to jump. This was a literal playground! We trended skier’s left towards an isolated band of trees and followed them down to the Asulkan Brook.

From there, we glided downstream along the Asulkan Trail back to the Illecilleweat parking lot. Since we had driven up with two cars, we carpooled back to the Loop Brook parking lot in the dark. I highly recommend doing so; otherwise, you’re stuck walking a few kilometres along the Trans-Canada Highway with semi-trucks blasting their horns at you!

Route Info

7-8 h	1500m	14 km	1130-2543 m

The post Afton SE Couloir, West Variation: Easing Into The Winter appeared first on The Uptrack.

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

The post Lookout North Couloir: A Nifty Loop Joining Two Valleys appeared first on The Uptrack.

The Avalanche Hazard Of Couloir Skiing

A fair warning: couloir skiing is prime avalanche terrain which sheds often. The feature is essentially a large terrain trap with no escape, in other words, a funnel for avalanches. In some situations, you can climb a ridge to enter the couloir. This is the ideal situation since you’ll be able to assess the snowpack at the top of the line where conditions are usually more hazardous. Wind-loading is typically much more prominent at the top and the snowpack is shallow and rocky which makes it easy to trigger. A safely executed ski cut might do the trick. However, this isn’t always possible. Bootpacking up the feature may be the only way to its top. The only solution: assess the snowpack at the bottom of the couloir. The conditions at the top remain a wild guess at the best of times.

Pay close attention to the couloir’s aspect. North-facing lines tend to have much wind loading while south-facing lines are exposed to solar warming, both potential triggers. It’s also easy to be surprised by cross-loaded wind slabs triggered below the rock walls lining the couloir’s flanks. Some days, it came down to skiing a minefield of wind slabs, carefully monitoring for snow density changes below your skis. In retrospect, I should have chosen a more conservative objective instead. Live and learn!

As a rule of thumb, I don’t bootpack up a couloir if I’m forecasting natural avalanche activity or poor visibility. I prefer to see the surface wind effect and blowing snow at the top which gives me an idea of the wind loading. I’ll wait for fair weather, reducing the unknowns. I’m also continuously looking for surface instabilities (wind/storm slabs) as I plant my ice axe or poles in the snow. Sometimes, I tour up to a couloir’s exit fan and notice it has slid recently. On one side, the skiing will most likely be horrendous. On the other, the avalanche instability has been triggered naturally. One less problem to deal with…

For Pros: Avalanche NW Couloir

The Avalanche NW Couloir has some of the best and steepest couloir skiing in Rogers Pass. Its 55-degree top pitch funnels you down a winding choke that opens up into the vast Kors-Thomas Bowl and further down, the lower slopes of Avalanche Crest. Accessed from the NRC Col and the crevassed Avalanche North Glacier, an exposed but short-lived bootpack takes you to a col, nestled between the two summits of Avalanche Mountain, granting you panoramic views of the Avalanche Glacier and the Sir Donald Range.

As an option, you can also ski the south face of Avalanche Mtn from the col. Don’t forget your boot crampons and ice axe. The snow at the top of the couloir is often wind-affected (think wind slabs) and rock-hard. Good luck!

For Experts: Grizzly Couloir

The Grizzly Couloir is a classic of the Connaught Creek area. Often one of the first lines to be skied after a storm cycle (or during), it’s hard to get some freshies in this one. Fortunately, you can access its entrance by uptracking Teddy Bear Trees and scrambling on the Grizzly SW Ridge to the summit of Grizzly Mountain. It’s possible to ski cut the entrance effectively to test conditions.

The couloir itself widens at the top and is terminated by an often rocky choke at its base, a textbook terrain trap in case of an avalanche. Keep in mind, that the skier’s right is often cross-loading by prevailing winds and the line is south-facing. Solar warming is a serious problem during most of its skiable season. Once you exit the couloir, you get to ski the epic Grizzly Bowl down to Connaught Creek. The choke below Grizzly Bowl is often in rough shape. It’s best to cut skiers right into Teddy Bear Trees. In any case, Grizzly couloir is high on the list of the best couloir skiing in Rogers Pass.

For An Appetizer: Christmas Couloir

It’s hard to describe the Christmas Couloir. Is it a couloir, a face, or a half-couloir? Take a look at terrain photos yourself. You might find an answer. The south-facing couloir/face is flanked to the left by the headwall of Ursus Major Mountain. It’s accessed by continuing past Balu Pass into the Ursus Major South Bowl. While I prefer to keep skins on and uptrack along the nose of the face, I’ve also bootpacked the couloir in its entirety when conditions allow.

In good condition, it’s a scenic line that isn’t as committing as some of the other ones mentioned in this post. As with any south-facing couloir, solar warming is an issue. It certainly was during one of my worst close calls with an avalanche on this very feature. For a more involved line, I’ve scrambled the Ursus Major Ridge toward the summit from the top of Christmas Couloir and skied its north face into the Bruins Valley.

For A Ski-Mo Classic: Swiss Couloir

Swiss Couloir is a definite ski-mountaineering classic. A 2000m ascent through bushy forest, alpine meadows and vast glaciers takes you to its entrance. There’s no way around this one: you’ll need to bootpack 250m from the Swiss Glacier. At the top of your perch (3100m), one of the highest in the region, you’ll get jaw-dropping views of the Selkirk Mountains, seeing much further than Glacier National Park.

Given its high elevation, the snow conditions are often wind-affected, making for some challenging skiing. The ski quality tends to improve as you descend on the Swiss Glacier and the Lizard Moraine, a prominent alpine feature. When the weather is cooler, you can get some great skiing on the steep pillow lines lining the slopes of the Hermit drainage.

For A Shorter Day: STS Couloir

STS Couloir is a notorious beast of a line, and easily accessible as far as it goes for a ski-mountaineering route. The route offers 700m of epic north-facing couloir skiing with an average slope angle of 45 degrees. A mellow (but exposed) ascent along Connaught Creek takes you to Balu Pass where you continue on the Cheops West Ridge. Depending on conditions, reaching the couloir’s entrance might require a bootpack on the wind-hammered ridge. The couloir is commonly rappelled into (5-10m max.) to get past or cut the large cornices that build upon its crest. Once roped up, you can safely ski-cut the top.

Keep in mind the couloir is a heavily wind-loaded feature and the skier’s left flank harbours cross-loaded wind slabs. During your descent, you’ll be exposed to the large overhead cornices lining the Cheops West Ridge. There’s no doubt about it: it’s a scary place! Given its ease of access, after the cornice has been cut, the trip can be completed in under 5 hours and can be linked with Nikki’s Notch, a tasty appetizer to preceed STS Couloir.

For Tight Turns: Banana Couloir

Banana Couloir is a wonderful objective that’s hard to access and seldom skied. I’ve completed the line in blower powder conditions on the Sir Donald to Macdonald Traverse. The narrow, north-facing feature winds its way down the SW ridge of Mt Macdonald and terminates into the Crossover Bowl. While it can be bootpacked, the most elegant approach is through the NRC Col and the shallow, rocky Macdonald South Face. Keep in mind that the face always has a rotten snowpack with questionable avalanche stability. This route makes for a great traverse from the NRC parking lot to the Hermit lot.

To enter the couloir, a 10m rappel is often needed. With a deep snowpack, you can sneak through a choke at the top avoiding the need for rope work. The couloir is 4-5 meters wide at most. Large enough to link some precise, tight turns but not too narrow to force a jump turn. Once you exit the Banana Couloir, you’ll be exposed to the large overhead slopes lining Crossover Bowl but you’ll find some excellent, wide-open skiing. When it comes to the best couloir skiing in Rogers Pass, the Banana Couloir is a not-so-known bonus line.

The post Best Couloir Skiing In Rogers Pass For All Skill Levels appeared first on The Uptrack.

Related: The Wapta Traverse: A Jaw-Dropping 6-Day Ski Tour

Report from April 12, 2021

Day 1: Bostock Trailhead – Tangiers River

After a short drive to the Bostock Trailhead, we shouldered our heavy bags stuffed to the brim with 8 days worth of food as well as the usual camping and glacier travel apparatus. The weight was soul-crushing, but we were determined to complete the Bostock-Revelstoke traverse, planned a month prior. We slithered along the refrozen snow of the Bostock Trail, hopping over the occasional dirt patch. While the winter granted us an above-average snowpack in the alpine, a warm spring was settling in the valleys. We walked past the exit of the McGill Chutes, two large slidepath terminating at the creek below. Within a few hours of back-breaking travel, we reached Bostock Pass, the first milestone.

In the near distance, we spotted Wolverine Ridge watching over Casualty Creek, a great location for future basecamp plans. We could also faintly see Farm Pass, our next objective.

With a short jaunt to the West, we reached Farm Pass, a wide opening through the Corbin Peak ridge. We ripped skins and glided down Farm Creek, pushing along with our poles when needed. After crossing many unexpected flats, we followed the valley, plunging into a narrow canyon.

We did our best to contour along the left bank around a broad shoulder but, alas, were forced to shoulder our skis and hike up the slope. Given the dense, wet snow and the shoulder’s topography, we were naturally sucked into the canyon. With great effort, we used our recent elevation gain to round the shoulder, putting us above the Tangiers River. We descended the slope through heinous chop until the river stopped us in our tracks. We meandered along the bank looking for an appropriate crossing. Within minutes, we were barefoot, drying our feet, now frozen solid, on the west bank. Hopefully, this was our first and last river crossing.

Instead of pitching camp onsite, we pushed further south along the Tangiers to warm up our tired bodies.

Once our feet were toasty, we pitched our tent below the Fang Glacier’s outflow stream at valley elevation. What a glorious camping spot! We fell asleep to the peaceful sound of water running past our tent.

Day 2: Tangiers River – Dismal Glacier

We woke up to the frost in suspension, glistening in our headlamp’s beam. Our humid breath and the nearby running water had created a thin ice film along the tent walls. Day 2 was daunting. A 1650m ascent was waiting for us, from the Tangiers Valley to Fang Col, with loaded packs. After a hearty breakfast, we followed Fang Creek towards its named glacier, a straightforward ascent.

By the time we gained the undulating moraines below the glacier, the sun was beaming. We were sweating every ounce of water we had drunk, making every step through the moist snow a little harder. We walked by a striking pillow field bordering the Fang Valley. Fang Rock, a black spire sticking out of the glacial landscape, was towering over us.

Within an hour, we crossed the toe of the Tangiers Glacier and stepped onto the upper flat area. My right hip flexor muscle was seizing up, a stark reminder of an old injury in my earlier days in Chamonix. While Freddy powered ahead, I painfully (and slowly) traversed across the flats to Fang Col, our high point of the day.

To our surprise, we found a 3-piece ski pole next to the rappel station, fresh cordelette slung around a frozen boulder. After deliberating with Freddy, we figured it must have been forgotten by a previous party, excited – or frightened – by the long rappel. That’s a bad way to end a traverse. We rigged up our system and rappelled 25m down the rock slabs onto the Silent Glacier below.

Exhausted by the long ascent, I mistakenly forgot to remove the backup knot at the end of the rope and it got stuck in the rappel carabiner 25m above us. Oops! I yanked a few times on the stuck end with no avail. As a last resort, I climbed a few meters and jumped down the slope, dumping my full weight on the rope. Lucky me, the knot passed through the carabiner. I successfully recovered the rope. Sorry, Freddy! After this stressful mishap, we skied a few magical turns down the Silent Glacier.

A few high-fives later, we were racing up the ramp to Silent Col. Boy, were we tired at that point? Our legs only managed to get us up there.

At Silent Col, we quickly found the rappel anchors installed by Swiss Mountain Guide, Ruedi Beglinger, which marks the boundary of the SME tenure. We rappelled 15m past summer Via Ferrata anchors onto the Dismal Glacier. The SW face of Fridden Peak, to our direct right, was clearly heating up. Snowballs and rocks were falling on the nearby slope. Best to hurry up.

We skied the Dismal Glacier, halting on a flat area below the Juliana Ridge. A perfect spot for a camp at a viewing distance from the Moloch Chalet. This was arguably the most scenic but technical and arduous day of our Bostock-Revelstoke Traverse.

Day 3: Dismal Glacier – Laforme Spire

We woke to yet another bluebird day at the foot of Mt Moloch.

After slipping in our frozen shells, we contoured the base of the Juliana Ridge, looking for a way up onto it. After some discussion, we settled on a rocky chute to the left of the ridge.

Freddy led the bootpack, kicking steps in the faceted snow. As expected, the upper section was coated with a thin layer of facetted, sugary snow that made for poor footing. He eventually made it up top, only for Freddy to scrape the chute down to bare rocks. I soloed most of the climb until the very end where my partner threw me an emergency length of cordelette as a hold. The views of the surrounding Valleys were astounding from our perch. Mt Moloch stood high and mighty across the Dismal Glacier. What a beast!

We walked up the Juliana Glacier, maintaining the climber’s right to avoid gaping crevasses, buried by a previous freak storm. The slope was roasting in the 9 AM blaze. As forecasted, temperatures were to spike over the next few days, indicating a period of heightened avalanche hazard. Thankfully, this came with a strong high-pressure system and perfectly clear skies.

On the lookout for sneaky crevasses, we reached Pointe Juliana, a subpeak of Philharmonic Peak and a convenient access to the upper Dismal Glacier. As it was difficult to estimate the slope’s gradient and length, we kept our skins and slowly glided across the glacial plain. In retrospect, we could have easily ripped our skins, setting us up for the steeper descent to come.

Once we gained the edge of the plain, we skied down a broad, icy gully flanked by a rock face and a jagged icefall. It’s important to nail the entrance and stay far away from the skier’s right blind roll into the icefall. The gully led onto the Durrand Glacier. We pushed across the flats and were forced through yet another gully. We followed several sets of refrozen ski tracks down winding terminal moraines onto a well-used uptrack leading to the Durrand Glacier Chalet. We scoped out the operation’s headquarters for a minute, were greeted by a lovely Golden Retriever, and proceeded with the regular programming.

In the heat of the day, we climbed up a series of mellow bumps and elongated ridges below Woolsey Peak. We traversed a steep slope to the West to gain Elm Col (next to Elm Peak) leading into the head of the Woolsey Valley. I know – a confusing naming scheme… After a long water break, we jumped into the valley and contoured below a corniced ridge as best as we could given the complex terrain. This was a foolish mistake, the worst of our Bostock-Revelstoke Traverse. While we managed the traverse without a hitch, we were stranded for 20 minutes below large cornices and a steep, potentially unstable slope, during the hottest part of the day and a spring heat wave. In other words, the wet slab and cornice hazard was at an all-time high. Fortunately, we got to live another day and learn from our mistakes.

By 5 PM, we reached our camp at a col between the Woolsey Valley and the Laforme Spire. The views from here were jaw-dropping. We fell asleep to the sun setting behind Mt Florina.

Day 4: Laforme Col – Laforme Lake

We woke up to the beautiful, frozen mountainscape overlooked by the Laforme Spire and Mt Laforme in the background. Being at the top of an alpine col meant the sunshine was hitting us right as we stepped out of the tent.

We donned our ski crampons to contour around the steep, icy western slopes of the Laforme Spire bowl. After a tiring bout of side-hilling, we climbed up the snow field north of Mt Laforme to an unnamed col at the top of its north ridge.

By mid-morning, we gained the north ridge col. After inspecting the vicinity, Freddy crossed over into a steep snow tongue while I settled on downclimbing a short rocky section leading into the slope west of the ridge. Both of our options were slow and arduous, especially with our heavy packs, but we made it. We skied down the west-facing slope, still frozen over and contoured around a subpeak to yet another col leading into the Elm Valley.

The initial beta recommended walking atop the ridge at the head of the Elm Valley. Given the seasonal conditions, there was no way in hell we could do that. Instead, we choose to traverse a long flat bench leading into a series of steep, narrow gullies topped by large cornices. We were trying to minimize our elevation loss. Yet again, we made a mistake and skied some wet soup at the height of the afternoon with a significant cornice hazard overhead and cliffs below. There’s no doubt that was sketchy. In hindsight, we should have dropped right from the col into the Elm Valley and climbed back up. In any case, after our excursion into the gnar, we skinned up a mellow ridge and hopped into a different drainage.

The rest of the day was of less interest. We followed a series of bumps along a very long ridge running generally south along Laforme Creek. Oftentimes, the ridge became quite complex so we dropped into the valleys on either side to circumnavigate the tricky sections. It was a hard day, mentally. By late afternoon, we contoured across the head of Maunder Creek and bootpacked up the same ridge (Borderline Ridge) that we’d been following for what seemed like an eternity.

From our high point, we skied falline into a small alpine lake, Steamboat Lake, at the head of Laforme Creek. We set up camp in the shadow of Mt St-Cyr, looming over us to the south.

Day 5: Steamboat Lake (Mt St-Cyr) – Heather Lake

After tearing down camp, we crossed Steamboat Lake and approached Mt St-Cyr. What a beauty and a sight for sore eyes on the Bostock-Revelstoke Traverse! We climbed its north glacier rolling steeply into the Laforme Valley. We could see a faint uptrack, nearly erased by the winds, perhaps from a heli-touring crew. Within an hour, we gained the St-Cyr Col (west of the peak).

We took a snack break at the col while basking in the sunlight, which we had been deprived of since the day prior. We looked at the next section through the Woolsey Glacier past Mt Coursier, marking our entrance into the Mt Revelstoke National Park.

We skied down the south face in mid-morning corn and traversed towards the Woolsey Glacier. We dropped once more into Gordon Lake flanked by its pocket glacier. There really isn’t much left of it. We continued south toward Mt Coursier Col giving way to the Clachnacudainn Valley.

We contoured across the head of the Clachnacudainn and linked up with a bench above the Jade Lakes where we enjoyed a long break with incredible views of Mt Coursier, Harry and the couloir heaven that are the Inverness Peaks.

We side-hilled through the steep slope south of Mt Williamson and eventually gained Eva Pass, next to Jade Pass. This was familiar terrain that I had hiked in the summer using the Mt Revelstoke trail network.

We skied down to Eva Lake and followed the summer trail back to Heather Lake where we set up camp. By then, we had this winter camping game dialled.

Day 6: Heather Lake – Revelstoke

We woke up at sunrise. We took advantage of the cold morning to ski down the 26km of the frozen Meadows-In-The-Sky Parkway. Our final descent into Revelstoke was as fast as it gets. The road was covered by a thin layer of refrozen snow nearly all the way down to the park gates. Granted: we had to walk across 2-3 bare sections.

By 10 AM, we reached the park gates where we got a lift back to town, terminating our Bostock-Revelstoke Traverse.

Route Info

6 days	7460m	89.5 km	470-2660 m

The post Bostock To Revelstoke Traverse: A Forgotten Selkirk High Route appeared first on The Uptrack.

Related: Christmas Couloir, Rogers Pass: Near-Death Avalanche

Report from December 15, 2022

We began our day at the Rogers Pass Discovery Center, at the highest road-accessible point of Glacier National Park (of Canada). It must have been closer to 9 AM, a late start by ski-mountaineering metrics. Thankfully, it doesn’t take very long to reach the top of STS Couloir, as it barely pokes out of the treeline terrain. We glided along Connaught Creek, rehearsing in our minds what the route would look like. It’s the early season after all during a low-snow year. Things could get pretty rugged in there.

After crossing the massive Grizzly Slidepath, still covered in thick alders, we ascended the valley along the Balu Pass Trail, now covered in packed snow and surprisingly with little rocks showing. After an hour or so, we traversed across the Cheops North 4 avalanche path, the notorious STS couloir – our day’s objective. As expected, it was pretty rugged in there. While the cornices at the top seemed small and manageable, a benefit of our thin snowpack so far, the upper section was covered in exposed rocks, a true shark attack in there. In the middle section, we could clearly see a rock/ice choke as well as tossed-up snow from previous dry loose avalanche activity (now refrozen). That all sounds like a fun adventure!

After we’ve scrutinized the couloir from across the valley, safe from potential avalanches, we continued along to Balu Pass. The morning’s biting wind was slicing through our bones. A glimmer of hope arose as we saw the low-lying sun shining upon the top of the hill. The Beatles were ringing through my ears: “Here comes the sun!”

We gained Balu Pass to the climber’s left as fast as possible and gazed upon Cougar Mountain and its valley below. Sure it’s a pretty mellow ski from there, but the views are absolutely incredible! We marched across the pass, approaching the Cheops West Ridge. From here we had two options, brave the windswept ridge crest, with little snow and much rocks, or ascend the west face, sparsely treed but with a deeper snowpack. Ultimately, we weren’t too worried about our snowpack at this location, so we climbed the west face.

After half an hour, we gained the first bump which lined us up with the standard entrance of the Cheops North Bowl and Nicci’s Notch. The sun was shining, the views were glorious and the snow was still cold. Perfect! After a short snack break, we continued our climb up the west ridge, with one last steep slope between us and the entrance of STS Couloir. We borrowed an existing uptrack and modified some of the switchbacks. I was hoping to minimize our exposure to the progressively deeper, but still very faceted snowpack as we strayed away from the ridge. I couldn’t quite tell what was wrong with it, but it just didn’t feel good. Sometimes, it’s best to trust your instinct.

After the short sprint up the slope, we gained the entrance to STS Couloir. I set up a fixed line off a questionable tat nest wrapped around a small frozen tree covered in rime ice. We both carefully approached the cornice using a prusik backed up by an overhand knot at the furthest extent. Jack ski-cut the top entrance and triggered a 10-cm deep wind slab. Unfortunately, the cut only cleaned up part of the slope, with large portions of the slab still intact. We both weren’t comfortable with those odds as we risked toe-triggering the rest of the wind slab as we started our descent. I tip-toed along the ridge to the lowest potential entrance. Bingo! I saw a narrow ramp, about as wide as our skis that led us to a flat bench rolling into the central couloir.

We leapfrogged down the couloir, communicating important information via our radios. We both hit quite a few buried rocks in the upper third of the run. The skiing was definitely challenging. The snow was a mix of old wind crust, refrozen crud and the occasional powder. We regrouped at the ice/rock choke midway down the couloir. With careful consideration, we ended up straight-lining through the choke as our bases skidded over the ice. It was a lot smoother than we had anticipated. We skied down the bottom third on delicious supportive powder. This was our reward for the horrid conditions up top.

After a few wholesome high-fives, we proceeded down the Connaught Valley following the bobsleigh track of an uptrack. With no one in sight, we arrived at the parking lot in record time. While the conditions were challenging at the best of times, I actually enjoy the tough skiing as long as I know what I’m getting into, especially when it comes to strategizing a descent through a complex couloir. See you on the slopes!

Route Info

5-6 h	1150m	8.3 km	1330-2375 m

The post STS Couloir, Rogers Pass: An Absolute Beast appeared first on The Uptrack.

Related: Forever Young Couloir: Skiing The Earth’s Crack

Report from January 10, 2022

We started our day pretty late (as always) due to some gnarly highway conditions. If it wasn’t for the black ice, the compact snow would get you. We gathered our gear and headed up the railroad grade to the abandoned Glacier House. Only the foundations are left intact, now buried under a meter of snow. A distance later, we veered east on the Great Glacier Trail, leading us to the convoluted moraines below Lookout Col (2150m) and Glacier Crest (2251m). The snow gauge indicated a snow height of 195cm at 1300m. Unreal for this time of the year!

We stopped for a water break right below the moraines. In the winter months, the snow-laden terrain becomes riddled with large pillow lines and narrow canyons. An ascent to the looker’s left is possible but risky given the terrain traps and serious overhead hazard from the Perley Rock NW slope. The better approach is to climb the center-right of the landscape along the more gentle moraines, allowing a rather direct linkup with the toe of the Illecillewaet Glacier.

And so, we ascended the complex terrain as planned following an almost perfect uptrack, obviously forged by a ski guide – all the corners were dug out to make kick-turns easier. Eventually, the imposing glacier appeared over the moraines.

At 1980m, we stopped for a snack and roped up for the upcoming glacier travel. The first third of the ascent up the glaciated terrain is riddled with large crevasses, now bridged over by our thick snowpack. Most opt-out of roping up that portion. After three close calls in 2021, I don’t take the chance anymore. After all, the process takes less than 5 minutes.

As soon as we crossed the sketchy section bordered by humungous crevasses on both sides, we ditched the rope to speed up our travel. While a storm was forecasted for 4 PM, the rolling cloud cover indicated an earlier arrival. This was a sad moment. After hours spent in the shadow of the mountains, we had lost our source of Vitamin D. Damn! Doing the Ravens with low visibility would be “sub-optimal” to say the least. Fortunately, there was a brief break in the clouds, but only for a moment.

When you think you’re almost at the top, you’re definitely not – the Illecillewaet Neve (icefield) goes on forever. At least, the views from this perch are absolutely stunning. After another 3km of easy touring on the gentle, wind-swept grade, we arrived at the high point of our traverse (2540m), nestled between a glaciated ramp and a rocky ridge. In a classic Rogers Pass fashion, the storm moved right above us, with raging winds and snow falling sideways. All of a sudden, the light became as flat as it gets. We were moving inside a ping-pong ball.

After we’d found shelter behind a large wind lip, we quickly sorted our gear for the descent. I led the way heading generally NW across the rocky ridge, feeling the snow at every turn. The trick here is to stick to the ridge until the west slope of the Ravens fans out. We purposefully avoided the N-NW slope descending into the Lookout Bowl or any of the NW gullies. At this time, those would be heavily wind-loaded and offer no definition posing a serious avalanche and navigational hazard. As the ridge veered to the west, we stayed away from the northern edge to avoid large cornices.

After difficult skiing through the rocky, icy, wind-swept ridge, the west slope finally opened up below. It was visibly cross-loaded by the prevailing SW winds. With limited visibility and questionable snow stability, we conservatively choose a path down sparse trees, anchoring down the snowpack. The upper half of the run offered wind-packed snow, frighteningly cracking right at our skis. The shooting cracks indicated the presence of wind slabs, a serious avalanche hazard that must be managed properly. I carved my way through the sparse trees, skiing a long diagonal to dodge any potential slides. We stayed away from a big funnel to the skier’s left, an obvious terrain trap.

After a few strategic ski-cuts to test the lower, powdery half of the slope, we determined it was safe to open up the throttle. We skied down some ridiculously deep powder, more than I’ve seen in years. It was incredibly good.

We finished our run on the Asulkan Trail, stoked to have skied another classic line. Looking back, we realized the slope extended much further north than we thought. The looker’s left option would offer the most direct, continuous descent from the ridge. After discussing future plans, we slogged back to the parking lot, pushing and side-stepping for ages. I vowed to come back to ski the other options when the upper slope is in better condition.

Route Info

7-8 h	1390m	13.9 km	1200-2540 m

The post The Ravens: A Burly Line For A Burly Storm appeared first on The Uptrack.

Related: Ski Touring In Rogers Pass, BC: All You Need To Know

7. lily-dome traverse

The lily-dome traverse is a fantastic, scenic route crossing the Loop Brook and the Asulkan Valleys, my two favourite spots in Rogers Pass. If you can muster the 1600m vertical gain, the route rewards you with majestic views of jagged peaks, exposed bootpacks and steep glacier skiing. It’s got all the elements of a classic alpine adventure. The journey up the Lily Glacier is generally straightforward, although the glacial hazard has increased with glacier melt due to climate change. We’ve observed increasing open crevasses peppered throughout the standard line. Don’t forget to bring your glacier travel gear and practice crevasse rescue techniques beforehand. I complete this day-long traverse every year (once or twice) and it never ceases to amaze me.

6. Video Peak SE Face

The SE Face of Video Peak is an absolute classic and one of Rogers Pass’ top runs. It’s common to witness a pilgrimage of skiers and splitboarders touring up the Hospital Bowl toward the summit. It isn’t as good a descent as the neighbouring 8812 Bowl: I find the descent to be a little too short-lived but it’s still worth having a spot on the Roger Pass’ top runs. However, for what it lacks, you still get a chance to summit a stunning peak, granting panoramic views of the surrounding mountains. Also, skiing through the Hospital Gullies is a guaranteed blast! Beware: the SE face is a giant planar slope, ready to release on you when the conditions are prime. Assess the slope before skiing. Pro-tip: when the SE face gets skied out (as it always does after a storm), consider dropping the southern aspect instead for some fresh turns. You can then easily link up with the 8812 Bowl route through the Bruins Ridge uptrack. This makes for a healthy dose of alpine powder – yew!

5. 8812 Bowl

This list needs some big ol’ cirque skiing to be complete, and 8812 Bowl is exactly that. The climb is arduous for sure. If you can manage the bushy, beat-up Hospital Gully uptrack and the exposed Bruins Ridge, you’ve graduated from the Rogers Pass Academy. All jokes aside, 8812 Bowl is an excellent, 1200m descent from alpine to treeline that grants epic views of the Connaught, Cougar and Ursus valleys. The route peaks at 8812 Col, an absolute wind tunnel of a feature overlooking Balu Pass. Some backcountry enthusiasts bring ski crampons to deal with the wind-battered Bruins Ridge, the final, sometimes tricky, ascent section. The run is worth a try if you can manage the vertical and exposure.

4. Macdonald West Shoulder (NRC)

There’s no denying the Macdonald West Shoulder, otherwise known as the NRC slopes, is an incredible ski touring or splitboarding route, ranking high in Rogers Pass’ top runs in terms of best value. You begin your journey right from the parking lot with a five-minute approach on flat terrain. The ascent is relatively straightforward and avoids bushwacking. Simply look uphill and pick your route! At first glance, the terrain seems simple enough but it isn’t. There’s a ton of overhead exposure from the alpine wind-battered ridge above. The treeless expanses that offer amazing skiing are giant avalanche paths. Beware! Dropping from treeline elevation, the skiing is playful and relatively open, offering excellent fall line turns right back to your vehicle. Nothing is stopping you from doing a couple of laps in a day.

3. McGill Chutes

The McGill Chutes and, to an extent, the nearby Gunbarrels are a great alternative in the Bostock Creek Area. If you can spare the energy for a 1200m climb, the descent down the two nearly identical avalanche paths (slidepaths) to the Bostock trail makes for a 900m run through open terrain, old-growth patches, and huge pillows to finish it off. To exit, follow the Bostock Trail back to the parking lot. It’s a breeze on most days! During times of heightened avalanche hazard, you’ve also got conservative options peppered along the McGill Shoulder: McGill Glades and the Gunbarrels, all linking up with the bottom of the Main Chutes. Please mind the overhead exposure when crossing the McGill Main Chutes along its length. I’ve seen avalanches run from start zones to runouts.

2. Avalanche Crest

Okay, I think everyone will agree Avalanche Crest deserves high honours. It’s a constant-pitch, 1000m run down to the Trans-Canada Highway with a clear view of the Illecillewaet parking lot where you start your tour. The run is peppered with booters, gully features and pillows. Avalanche Crest is one of the rare routes where you can ski an uninterrupted top-to-bottom descent from summit to car. There’s a run for all kinds of skiers or splitboarders. From the sheltered, treed section to the south to the steep gullies to the north – there’s a line for everyone. Due to its proximity to the parking lot and epic features, Avalanche Crest is a busy zone. Watch out for other skiers or boarders shredding above you! The uptrack can also be ultra-slick to the point where ski crampons would help. Being a west-facing aspect, the slope tends to soak up the sun come February – be wary of buried melt-freeze crusts or if the snowpack starts to get moist.

1. Rogers Run

Rogers Run sports a straight-down, 850m pitch of pure gold! You’ll travel on open alpine slopes, through sparse trees, avalanche paths and huge pillow fields. Even better, the run is accessed using the Grizzly Shoulder uptrack, a mere 2km from the Rogers Pass Discovery Center parking lot. It’s so close you can easily bang out two or three laps in a day without pushing your turn-around time too late. For all those reasons, it’s a very popular run – think very busy. It’s best to start early to beat the crowds and the thousands of AST students following their guides up the shoulder. Navigation can sometimes be difficult since you’ll be mostly skiing through trees. It’s best to bring a GPS device along for the ride. Remember: don’t get sucked into the dangerous cliffs/gully to the skier’s left of the route. Those pillows are epic later in the winter but treacherous early season. Lastly, the upper pitch is an exposed open, typically wind-loaded slope. I’ve had easy slab releases on some of the big convexities. If you’re confident in the snow quality and stability, give it a go – it’s one of Rogers Pass’ top runs.

Here it is – six of Rogers Pass’ top runs that balance the ascent with excellent skiing and epic views. Please do me a favour and don’t limit yourself to those routes. There’s so much to explore. I now find a whole lot more satisfaction in discovering new routes that are off the beaten path. Lastly, those routes take you through some very hazardous terrain. Take an Avalanche Skill Training (AST) to educate yourself on avalanche terrain management and companion rescue. Otherwise, hire a certified ski or mountain guide! Those fine humans know their way around the Rogers Pass and, better yet, will do their very best to minimize the hazard throughout your day.

Topographic Route Details

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