The Mount Black Prince area is very popular amongst backcountry skiers (as evidenced by the number of blog posts I've made). However, it is possible to find some less-tracked slopes if you're willing to put a bit more effort into the skin up.
In Chic Scott's book, there is a small peak that is referenced only by its NRCan coordinates (GR250201). It can be seen from the tree triangle as a slightly smaller gladed hump. What you can't see is that the northeast face, which runs along the highway, harbours several steep avalanche slopes which are lightly treed and are somewhat protected from the sun. This was our goal for the day.
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| They serve Grizzly Paw soda at the top of GR250201 |
The skin up was very crusty in places, especially on the south side of GR250201. The trees were heaviest in the lowest point of the dip, but cleared up as we reached the top. Looking over the other side, we saw two or three lines had already been skied, but that was it. It was mostly an open canvas, ours for the taking.
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| A comfortable seat |
The slope starts at about 35 degrees, then quickly settles in at about 30 degrees for most of the 400m run down. Great angle and perfect snow, with only a hint of two sun crusts buried about 50cm deep.
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| The group did well on a pretty steep run |
We eventually bottomed out and was able to ski almost directly to the road. We then started the flat ski back to the parking lot, crossing the creek several times before passing the main bridge right before the trailhead.
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| The exit out of the trees into a clearing |
It's not clear how often the slope avalanches, but it was perfect for a calm spring day with stable conditions.
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