Taylor Lake

I had been to Taylor Lake before, during my first or second season telemarking. Similar to when you don't really know where you are going when someone else is driving, I didn't really know where I was going at the time because I was following someone else. And, truth be told, the trail up to Taylor Lake is mostly through dense forest and everything just starts to look the same. This was made worse by the fact that the sky was cloudy and snow was falling pretty much the entire time.

On the plus side, we knew that the ski down would be an exciting, narrow, twisty trail through the trees, and snow conditions were absolutely fantastic (boot-top medium density powder). Well worth the skin up!

Well, I should clarify that last comment. I decided to do a bit of experimenting on this day, using wax on my telemark skis instead of skins. Snow temperature at the parking lot was about -10C, so I put on two layers of green and started up. Initially, things went really smoothly and both step-resistance and glide was much better than with skins. However, after about an hour, grip was starting to fade and I had to side-step some of the small steep sections. Another two hours after that, almost up to the elevation of the lake, I gave up and put on my skins.

By the time we had gained our elevation, we ran into a group of two that we had seen a few times on the trail already. They mentioned that the trail we were currently on went up to Panorama Ridge, which looked like it had some good skiing on a lightly gladed slope. The trail to Taylor Lake was unbroken, and there was easily half a metre of powder to cut through. Ray and I were both pretty tired and did not relish all the trailbreaking that would be required to see the lake. The ridge looked enticing, but given snow conditions we decided to skip and ski back down.

After a quick frozen lunch (it was around -15C by this point), we put away our skins and skied back down the narrow trail. This is when I discovered that my grip wax hadn't completely rubbed off yet, and my glide was significantly affected. In the future, I will have to pick my spots for when to use wax instead of skins.

Break time before skiing down

When I got home, I learned that a skier had become trapped in a size 2 avalanche off the slopes of Mount Sparrowhawk, pinned against a tree and buried up to his armpits. Fortunately, he was able to get his cell phone and call for a rescue. Conditions are still a bit sketchy out there right now so be safe!

Rockbound Lake

The theme of the weekend was "avalanche avoidance". The trail to Rockbound Lake crosses some runouts, but I felt that we would be able to navigate around them safely. Plus, I figured the scramble up the headwall between Tower Lake and Rockbound Lake would make for an interesting experience.

Blisters were a recurring theme on this trip

The trail to Tower Lake was pretty well packed, but beyond that there was only one set of tracks. Half our party stayed back due to a mixture of blisters and difficult terrain.

Three of us soldiered on, and after the development of a new technique for negotiating steep, loose terrain, we finally managed to top out of the headwall and arrive at Rockbound Lake, which was as impressive as ever.

Rockbound Lake, after the development of the "ski mantle" technique of navigating steep terrain without crampons

Curiously, the snow around Rockbound Lake did not exhibit the November and December crusts that were so prominent elsewhere. However, the base was mostly facets and very very loose. There weren't many signs of natural avalanche activity either, which made me a bit cautious when crossing the two large runouts along the trail.

Castle Mountain's bitch

Skiing back down the headwall was challenging but fun. We eventually caught up with the rest of the group (they had started skiing back down when we were still on our way up) and had a nice run back to the car.

Here's to hoping that the snow conditions stabilize soon and we can get on some powder slopes!

Cosmic Ray Road

With 2 avalanche fatalities occurring just across the Smith Dorrien Trail at Burstall Pass while we were at Chester Lake last weekend, no one was interested in venturing past simple terrain. Avalanche conditions were still high in the alpine, so I figured we could get a good workout, and maybe a few turns, going up Cosmic Ray Road on the backside of Sulphur Mountain.

Sundance Canyon trail

I had attempted this trail as a hike in the spring a few years ago with my mom, and I remembered it being a relentless slog. It did not disappoint! Unfortunately, there was scant little else that I could recall in any detail, so it was like a brand new trail.

Beautiful glades near the first switchback

Snow conditions were very suspect all over the trail, with cracking and whumpfing evident all over. I'm sure that had the trail been steep enough, or if we had ventured outside of the trail, that a slide would have been very easy to trigger.

Chilly at the top, time to go back down!

We arrived at the top to see that the gondola was running and that tourists were milling about the boardwalk. Some even took pictures of the crazy Canadians.

The ski down was pretty exciting! Conditions ranged from bulletproof snow to knee-deep powder. Extra care had to be taken to ensure that we didn't venture off the trail lest we trigger a slide or fall off a cliff. However, it was a fun ski down and I'd like to do it again when the snow is a bit friendlier.

Chester Lake

Glorious snow!

With some areas in Kanasaskis Country having received up to 35cm in the past 3 days, conditions were finally making up for lost time. We were still sitting on a less-than-average base, but any snow was good news.

Avalanche conditions were high, so we decided to go to what is perhaps the easiest and safest backcountry destination around - Chester Lake.

Lunch at Chester Lake, with Gusty Peak in the background

We left Calgary to -22C. When we arrived at the trailhead, it was easily -5C, and perhaps even warmer than that. It was so odd to get out of the car and feel a gust of warm air!

Blue skies would occasionally peak out of the clouds, but overall it was an overcast day with a tiny bit of wind and snow.

Layers of snow, like rings in a tree trunk

After having lunch at Chester Lake, we ventured further towards Three Lakes Valley. However, we could see signs of fairly recent avalanches on the slopes of Mount Galatea, so did not get very far.

Boulder field on the way to Three Lakes Valley

To make the trip both fun AND educational, we decided to do a Rutschblock test on a 30 degree slope. The result was a 3, which indicates that a human triggered slide is probable. Kudos to Angie and Joanne for doing most of the work. I got to do the fun part by jumping on the block.

So long, Chester Lake!

Afterwards, we did the requisite dinner at the Grizzly Paw. What a great day!