Write-up by Lucy Coldwell with video by Dave Fishwick and photos by Chris Neate
Trip members: Catrin, Keith, Erich, Chris, Josh, Dave, Martin and Lucy
Accompanying Highlights Video Link
“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
A group of eight ACCVI members met with slightly anxious and bated breath on the morning of March 31st. After a week of severe avalanche danger, we were lucky to find that conditions were beginning to settle. However, our expectations were low; the conditions looked to be ice and crust after the heavy rainfall and warming. We had been given a glimmer of hope by our waitress in Golden the night before, who felt that the snowpack may recover in the high alpine, but the only way to find out what was up there was to explore and see. After all, adventure begins as certainty ends…
The Asulkan Valley offers some of the best skiing in Rogers Pass. Areas like Youngs Peak, the Seven Steps of Paradise, Dome Glacier, Asulkan Glacier, Sapphire Col, the Pterodactyl, and the Triangle Trees are all accessible from the Asulkan Cabin.
Setting off, initially it was a gentle skin track hugging the Asulkan Brook under sunny spring skies, before passing through the mousetrap and finally the A-slog uphill. En route we marvelled at the snowy Selkirk mountains and ski lines galore. Particularly eye catching was the classic Forever Young couloir; it looked so steep and narrow. To our delight, we witnessed two groups tackling the line. The conditions were far from ideal, and we intercepted a radio call from one group urging a fellow skier to “take it one turn at a time, it’s icy”. We watched the last skier edge his way down. Although with people in it the couloir now appeared wider than we had first thought, one wrong move could be disastrous. It was a sigh of relief to see the last skier descend the steepest section safely.
Soon after, we were greeted by one of the first skiers. Like something out of a ski movie, he sailed towards us looking like he was on a monoski. He was as relaxed as they come and chatted away about his day like he had just been out for a Sunday stroll.
With an added buzz of excitement, we continued up the last push of the day. We followed the skin track up, up, and up through the Tree Triangle, noting eagerly how the snow was improving as we gained elevation. Finally, the peak of the cabin’s roof came into view. After forcing ourselves up the last few meters, we cracked open the door, set down our bags, and set to work steeping warm cups of tea to celebrate reaching our cozy cabin. Wonderful views of snowy peaks stretched for miles around.
The next morning, we awoke to moody, overcast skies. We were all keen to explore, however the visibility was at times like pea soup and very uninspiring.
We ventured up the valley into what appeared to be the friendliest terrain. The clouds began to build, and after hitting about 2500m we had to make the call to turn around due to next to no visibility. We edged our way back to the cabin, following each other closely and skiing nearly blind. To our dismay, Keith suddenly vanished. After a moment of panic, we managed to find him at the bottom of the invisible 12’ ice cliff that he had skied off. Luckily he was in one piece, although understandably shaken and maintaining a brave face. We were all content to return to the safety of the hut and take our minds off the day’s misadventures with games of Bananagrams and chocolate.
Of course, once we were back the cloudy skies cleared and the sun began to shine. We were beginning to learn that maybe waiting it out before descending was the way to tackle the periods of socked in cloud.
The next day seemed more promising with sunny skies beckoning. There were times when the clouds would loom and visibility would disappear, but some of us seized the moment when skies were clear, and a small group began climbing up the valley.
This time the reward was beautiful views of Youngs Peak and snowy ridges in all directions. We were excited to reach a high point and stop for a bite of lunch in the sun with incredible views. Right on cue, the clouds rolled in; dark skies were upon us again. We decided to wait things out this time and hope the clouds would pass. However, the clouds only seemed to thicken, snow began to fall, light at first and then with more intensity. We put on all our layers, sang some silly songs and hoped, and waited. After about 45 minutes of patience, we began to see our skin tracks that were to be our safety line disappear. At that point we decided it was time to limp our way back down. We cautiously began skiing down. Suddenly the clouds lifted and the slopes became a wondrous playground. Our sighs quickly transformed to whoops of joy as we glided down beautiful powder.
After another lap the rest of the crew joined us, and with our newfound confidence we decided to go a little higher and explore the last pitch of the seven steps of paradise. But as we approached the steepest part of the route, we reconsidered. It would require several kick-turns directly under some sizeable cornices, so we opted to descend rather than keep going all the way to the summit. We found a new descent line and arrived back at the hut with beaming smiles all around! Gazing out at the mountains, it was easy to see how mount Sir Donald earnt its name, his dominant ridge sits proudly and steals the show!
On the final morning, we awoke to bluebird skies. To our delight we were greeted by a beautiful white-tailed ptarmigan hopping around in the snow and nibbling at branches in front of our kitchen window.
Feeling chirpy after breakfast, we took full advantage of one last chance to play in the pow! After climbing to the ridge above we enjoyed some time marvelling at the views from the ridges, before our final descent on fluffy clouds back to the hut.
Of course, as any ski touring adventure beholds long past the last proper ski line, one of the biggest tests was still to come. The snow below 2000m was chunks of ice mixed with mixed snow conditions. Then, once we had passed the mousetrap and some fun, slightly icy, mellow turns, it was time to negotiate the icy, bumpy roller coaster of a skin track down on our skis trying to ignore the fact that the side sloped in towards the river, and a wrong move could go very wrong, leaving you whacking into a boulder or plunging into the river or a tree!
Once the last part of torture was over, now we could revel in the delight of the last four days.
What a marvellous trip: four days of snow, great conversations, laughter, fear, adrenaline and adventure. It is safe to say that admiring the mountains all around us has only added fuel to the fire, inspiring many more adventures and memories that the future will hold!
