Corbin Brake Check (Helen's Slide Path)

Deep.


Photo:Nick

Albert Canyon

This was our second attempt in two days. Yesterday two of us ended up knee deep in a creek. With skis and skins on. This creek is particularly sneaky because it's fed by a hot spring. Was it hot? It was not.




50% attrition in less than 30 minutes was a sure sign to call it a day. So we returned the next day to explore the slide paths. A lot of alder-bashing on the way up. Surprisingly good on the way down.



This area is a patchwork of private and crown land. We had permission from the relevant owner. And were with someone who lives there. Crossing the tracks is another issue. Anyway, not a recommended destination.

Corbin Brake Check

Photo:Nick

McGill Shoulder

A great day on McGill. We had a run on the skier's left slide path and another in the trees to skier's right of the two main slide paths. On the ski out I got caught up in a tree in such a weird way that Brenda had to release my binding for me to escape. Damn paparazzi!

NRC

An inversion had us freezing cold at the parking lot but enjoying the warm sun higher up. We did a run in the gulley first which was awful. Then climbed up the slide path to find much better snow conditions. Lots of alder-whacking.

Asulkan Hut

McRae

First turns of the season at McRae. Dust on crust today. But nice and sunny.

Asulkan Hut Maintenance with Steve

Steve does maintenance on the ACC's three Glacier National Park huts. You wouldn't believe what he carries up there on his bag. On this occasion he took advantage of a scheduled helicopter flight to get ladders, stain and other supplies dropped off at the Asulkan. Then recruited Nick and myself for a 3 day extravaganza of exterior caulk removal, surface prep, and staining.

Abbott Hike Rogers Pass

Bonney Glacier

Dafoe's Wiggle

This was our last tour before The Great March Meltdown of 2019 that cooked everything up to 3000 meters.

Dafoe's Wiggle is the final drainage on climbers left before Bostock Pass.



It was a long and sometimes tedious hike in. Any snow in direct sunlight had turned to porridge. This was lying on top of cold fresh snow. This was a recipe for skins, bindings, and edges balling up as if we were walking in glue. We scraped. We waxed our skins. We re-waxed our skins. Nothing helped.

Eventually a stop was called for at the first clear view up the valley where we pondered the cornices now baking in the late morning sun.



Already it seemed unlikely that we'd reach the head of the valley. We went to have a look anyway. Giving the north side as much space as we could.



In the end it was pretty clearly not worth the risk today. So we hung a sharp left and began climbing up a promising and shady north aspect. Captain Kick Turn made an unwelcome appearance.





We topped out on a small moraine with some spectacular views of Corbin and the surrounding peaks.






The ski quality on the descent was much better than anticipated. It was like winter had returned for just one final run.





The ski out had its trials when even the bases of our skis begin icing and balling with snow. It turned into a 10 hour day car to car! But was well worth the effort to visit another new area.

Corbin Brake Check

A short, hot, one-lap day in spring-like conditions. The aspect here is southeast. Any snow that had seen direct sunlight was either oatmeal or death crust. However the the shade line along the trees still had good skiing.



Neat to see tracks from heli skiers across the valley.

Asulkan Dome Lily Traverse

Brilliant snow quality on the Asulkan side. Not so much on the Lily side. In retrospect we should have done this in the opposite direction. The descent from the Dome-Rampart Col was sketchier than usual. A reminder of this year's shallow snow pack.