McGill Shoulder Glades

Back to the glades! Short drive. South facing. Awesome skiing. We had the place to ourselves again.

Glacier Crest to The Ravens

We'd never been to the summit of Glacier Crest. Summer or winter. Now we've been there twice in just a few weeks. In December we climbed up via Lookout Col and descended back into the Illecillewaet side. This time we followed the summer trail to the summit and descended into the Asulkan by the west side of Glacier Crest and The Ravens. The run from Glacier Crest to the bottom of Lookout Bowl is nice but shockingly short considering how much effort it takes to get up there!

Ross Peak Pillows via Loop Brook

Inspired by a video on YouTube from last year we went exploring in Loop Brook. Wow. Low effort. High reward.

McGill Glades

We returned to McGill the next day on Christmas Eve. This time we visited the glades. It was the first time we'd been here in about 10 years and had almost forgotten about this place. It's brilliant.

McGill Shoulder

A great day skiing the slide paths on McGill Shoulder.

Cougar Valley

A bit of an exploration day over on the Cougar Valley side of Balu Pass.





I think we stumbled across (almost literally) the place we exited from the Nakimu Caves a few years ago.



That photo doesn't do it justice. It was a looong way down.

Christiana Trees

Two weeks of high pressure ended with a whack of snow and a Special Public Avalanche Warning. We spent the day in Christiana Trees. Perhaps the only destination in Rogers Pass that doesn't entail travel below or on an avalanche path? Wonderful skiing in light fluffy snow with the occasional firmed up tree bomb debris to keep us honest.

Ursus Major - Christmas Couloir

We had skied Christmas Couloir once before in 2015. There were similar conditions this time after a long-lived high pressure system left us without any new snow for a couple of weeks. The upside being that conditions were very stable.

The day started out clear and cold as we made our way over Balu Pass and towards Ursus Major.



Then seeming out of nowhere a band of thick cloud blew in and the day took on a whole new feeling.



The ski down was steep and...er, character building. At least until we dropped below the cloud and we could see more than a few meters.

Positioned right at the elevation of the cloud ceiling made for an interesting perspective. It was like a blind had been pulled down part way on the other side of the valley.

Lookout Col and Glacier Crest

We wandered up the Illecillewaet to see what was shakin'. Blue skies and solitude it turned out.



First stop was Lookout Col to warm some up cold fingers.



From there we continued up onto Glacier Crest.



And skied from just below the summit back down to our up track.



From there it was back up to the col, down the south side, skins on to climb to a high point on the Ravens, and down into the Asulkan for the tedious return to the parking lot. There wasn't much daylight left when we arrived back at the car. A fine December day!

NRC Gully

A late start to the season for us after a few weeks of sailing in and around Grenada. It was a gong show at the now strange looking hotel-less summit. Does it sound old and crotchety to say that there are just too many skiers in Rogers Pass? I'm sure others were saying the same thing about us when we started skiing here 20 years ago. We opted for the possibly sub-optimal but infinitely quieter NRC Gully rather than heading up the Connaught. The skiing in the upper gully was much better than anticipated. And the lower section below the cliff band wasn't too clogged with alder. A fun way to start the season. Sure felt cold though.

Sailing in Grenada and St. Vincent

Gulf Islands Sailing

Full album is here.