We had just arrived in Golden, BC. Our three-night trip to the Asulkan Hut didn’t start for a few days, so we wanted to take a day tour in the Rogers Pass area to check out the snow conditions, stretch our legs, and see something new. We headed for Little Sifton Peak.

Little Sifton Peak, 2730m, is a common destination for BC locals on the “Little Sifton Traverse,” a fun day tour in the Connaught Creek area of Rogers Pass. We first learned of it from the popular guidebooks by Doug Sproul and Geo Guidebooks—see more about them here—and we highly recommend them for anyone planning to ski Rogers Pass.

Given the marginal weather forecast, completing the Little Sifton Traverse seemed like a large commitment, so Christy and I opted to follow the first part of the traverse to the summit of Little Sifton and then retrace our ascent route back to the trailhead.

This shortened option was also more reassuring for our ski descent– the full traverse required to ski terrain we had never seen before, which we didn’t want to do.

After stopping into the Parks Canada office to get the required park pass and parking permit, which is more involved than your typical roadside ski touring elsewhere (read about it here), we started Connaught Creek.

As we skinned up the narrow valley, we passed below the big avalanche slopes coming off of Cheops Mountain. From there, we started up an extended period of steep switchbacks up the Grizzly Shoulder. At the top of that section, the views opened up, and we continued up through some rolling terrain towards the Little Sifton Col. It was our first day in this region in a decade since we completed the Bugaboos to Rogers Pass Traverse. The views of the surrounding peaks were stunning.

We arrived at the col in reasonable time and started switchbacking to the summit of Little Sifton. Unfortunately, the in-and-out weather closed down the views, and we had to begin our descent in near-zero visibility.

But since we were retracing our route down, it was alright. Eventually, we made it down through the weather and into better visibility, and the skiing at that point was pretty fun.

The snow below the treeline was pretty warm, bordering on isothermic. We could only imagine what the conditions would be like if we were there midwinter, with colder powder snow. It might warrant a visit at an earlier time in the winter season!

Use this link for a more detailed description of Little Sifton and the traverse.