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

Report from January 22, 2021

It was a bluebird day during an unusually long-lasting window of clear weather and ultra-stable snowpack. The Discovery Center was absolutely packed with ski-mountaineers, eager to ski their line of the year. Our crew – Jeff, Joey, Freddy and I – left the hustle and bustle of the parking lot at 7:30 AM and followed the Connaught Valley uptrack (the winter alternative that crosses the Grizzly Bowl avalanche fan) towards Ursus Minor Mountain. Given how many people have travelled up and down this route, we were surprised to find it in relatively good condition, given it hadn’t snowed in a week.

Along the valley bottom, we raced past a slideshow of excited folks heading towards Video Peak, to ski its S/SE faces, an uber-popular tour on a bad day. We diverted from the main uptrack, a little way past the Dispatcher’s Waterfall, marking the bottom of the Dispatcher’s Bowl Slidepath. It was a cold day, especially when spending an hour in the shadow of Cheops Mountain. We couldn’t wait to climb up towards the sunlit alpine slopes.

We were now heading up the uptrack leading to the base of the Hospital Bowl. After a shorter-than-expected ascent, we emerged from the thick tree cover into Hospital Bowl. I was almost blinded by the intense sunlight reflecting off the white blanket of the treeless slopes up ahead.

We followed an existing uptrack, through the gentle, rolling terrain. We veered off course, about midway up the bowl to link up with the Ursus Minor SE Shoulder, traversing just above the Ursus Trees run. It was at the elevation, that we crossed into the blazing sun. I took a quick water break to grab my sunglasses from the top of my pack. Wowzer, did that feel good – time to soak up the sun!

We proceeded up the shoulder’s mellow grade, stopping way too often to glace at the stunning mountainscape beyond. Across the valley, we spotted a small group ascending up the opposite shoulder, probably to ski Grizzly Couloir, an excellent alpine line. We eventually arrived at the base of the Ursus Minor South Face, a steep planar slope heavily scoured by strong ridgetop winds from the previous storm.

With snowpack stability at its highest since the start of winter, we didn’t doubt what was lying under our feet. All we had to worry about were the occasional isolated wind slabs, spotted from a distance. We forged an uptrack, poking the snow ahead to check for slab properties. Within a half-hour, we had gained the col and were rewarded with 360-degree views. After a hearty snack, we geared up for the upcoming bootpack up the exposed SW ridge.

I set a foot trail through a labyrinth of sharp quartzite covered in facetted snow. I had to use some rock climbing tricks every now and then to work through particularly techy sections. I felt as clumsy as ever in my ski boots, edging on bare rock and punching into hidden boulder holes. Overall, the bootpack wasn’t very strenuous or technical, just exposed at times. If you’re uncomfortable with exposed scrambles, I’d recommend bringing a rope for short-roping (as long as you know how to do that safely).

After less than 100 meters, we gained the false summit, west of the true peak. It gradually sloped into a narrow couloir – the west variant of the Ursus Minor SE Couloir, our Plan A. The snow was simply too enticing. We had to try it out.

Since we couldn’t quite scope out the exit, we weren’t 100% sure the route would offer a clean descent but we gave it a whirl anyway. Freddy was our guinea pig, dropping first into the virgin powder. As good as it was in there, he stopped midway down, stumped by an icy choke. Damn!

While it could have been managed with a sketchy downclimb, we deemed it too risky without the rappel gear. At that moment, Freddy sure wished he had brought a 30-meter rope, an obvious conclusion after eying the tat strung around a nearby horn. Guess we’ll have to come back to claim that one. Out of necessity, he booted the 200-meter incline back to the false summit. In the meantime, Jeff and I were waiting on top of the line, slightly worried by the solar slope overhead, soaking up the sun. In the end, it all worked out.

Moving onto Plan B, we traversed across the summit of Ursus Minor. At least, we got to bag a peak. The final bootpack was definitely exposed and technical, requiring a few rock climbing moves. Typically, ski boots are a hassle to climb in, although, in this case, the stiff rubber sole gave me some serious grip on the maze of tiny rock ledges.

From there, we only had a faint idea of where to go. Damn! I should have studied our plan B a little better. I walked down the NE ridge, trying to get a visual on the wider couloir, east of the peak. I could see the exit way down below but the entrance was still out of sight. I went for an alpine “stroll” down the NE ridge which eventually led me to the SE face of Ursus Minor. The steep face conveniently connected with the couloir. It was wind-affected, looked super crusty (think gross sun crust) but was still very much skiable.

After a few horrid turns down the SE face, we gained the top of the east couloir where the snow transitioned from hard crust to dry powder. A perfectly straight run down to the Dispatcher’s Bowl below, this one definitely goes! Freddy carved a series of perfectly symmetrical slaloms down the wider couloir as if he was hitting race gates. Joey and Jeff followed suit, dealing with the variable conditions with ease.

The snow in the couloir’s guts varied from solar crust to wind-affected snow to preserved powder, pretty much all the possible types. My Atomic Backlands 107 made short work of the challenging conditions, providing a stable platform to rail some big turns. From below, the line looked far too tame.

It got even better once we raced down Dispatcher’s Bowl through preserved blower powder. The bowl funnelled us down a photogenic gully and through the Dispatcher’s Waterfall, which was pretty filled in at this time of the year. It was getting really warm in the sun: the denser surface snow was a testimony.

Our journey across Ursus Minor Mountain ended with an icy but bearable ski down the Connaught Valley, followed by lots of stoke, and some cold brews at our local bar. What an epic route that I would recommend to folks with decent ski-mountaineering skills!

Route Info

7-8 h	1450m	11.5 km	1330-2740 m

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