Crampon Col If you stay at the Icefall Lodge, you can venture to the nearby Mons Hut or Lyell Hut for the night, or as part of a multi-day, hut-to-hut linkup. In what turned out to be the most memorable part of our week in Canada, ten of us made the trip to the Lyell Hut, and caught some really fun skiing the next day. The hut– which we were...
Christy, in the Bird Bowl. We just got back from an awesome week up at the Icefall Lodge, in the Canadian Rockies. Situated in a rugged area of mountains and glaciers west of the Selkirks, the privately owned lodge (actually two lodges) is nestled right at treeline has everything from gladed tree runs, to short backyard-style laps, pillow lines, and massive glacial tours. As an added option, there exist two...
The third and final climb of the day, out of Lenado to Four Corners and home. In seasons like this, when the steeper backcountry skiing isn’t all that safe, we keep ourselves busy with races. And part of the fun in that is in the training days. Many of the seasons races are already behind us. The Power of Four, the Vail COSMIC (for Christy), and the Highlands Skimo Series...
It’s just different up on Chair. For whatever reason, its location– between McClure, Kebler, and Schofield passes– seems to draw several times more snow than nearby mountains. I probed around high in the basin and measured 300cm , almost three times what we have in Aspen. Christy, Joey, and I joined Al and Ruthie up at their cabin recently and we had our first full touring weekend of the winter....
Sean, Friendship Col, opens the second set here. Here are a few more from the week. (more…)
Bianca, from Quebec, charges down from Friendship Col. Everyone who ever told me that Fairy Meadow was a “must-do” was right. The place rocks. Joey, Sean, Brad Buyers, Christy, and I joined a group of 12 Canadians (including Greg Franson and Jesse Berg from our Bugs to Rogers Traverse last year) for a week up at the hut in the Adamant Mountains. We finally got a bit of the skiing...
A rare break in the morning clouds above the Bow Hut afforded the rare view we sought. Canadians call it clag. Fortunately for Coloradans, a high treeline and lack of glaciers prevent whiteout conditions from being an issue much of the time. But on a recent trip to the Icefields in the Canadian Rockies, we got a good taste of what claggy weather is all about. (more…)
It’s time for some spring adventures. We’re off to Canada again. The map and route of the Wapta Traverse. Sean and I are doing the Wapta Traverse, a hut-to-hut ski tour similar in style to Europe’s Haute Route. (more…)
Jesse Berg drops in from the Climax Col on Day 3 in the Purcell Range. Last May, Christy, Dirk, Art Burrows, and I joined four Canadians on a 10-day traverse from the Bugaboos to Rogers Pass. Afterwards, I did a little story on the trip, (more…)
Christy, finding the old facets skied like a big pile of granulated sugar. When Kir’s email came through asking if Christy and I would like to join her and Anda at her Chair Mountain cabin for the weekend, you could hardly describe the thought process as a decision– I knew instantly we were going. Having spent nearly every day of the past three weeks working/skiing the thin coverage of Aspen...
We met in Aspen in 2000 and have been happily stuck in the rockies ever since, getting out in the mountains every day we can, in every season and by all means possible. Read More
