Snow conditions are still thin in some parts, and touchy in others, but I wanted to do a scouting trip to get a sense of what the areas along the Smith-Dorrien were like.
Driving in via Canmore, it looked as though most of the non-sheltered areas were wind blasted. Tent Ridge had almost no snow on it, and the word on the street was that Burstall Pass was also very thin.
I knew some people who had tried Chester Lake, and they said it was pretty good, so that was my default destination for the day.
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| Tent Ridge is very wind scoured |
It was a beautiful day with very moderate temperatures, and the parking lot was already filling up by the time I got there (albeit fairly late at 10am). Most people looked to be on snowshoes, but there were a few skiers and even a couple of snowboarders.
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| Big surface hoar is forming |
As is usually the case, most people were stopping at Chester Lake then turning around. I wanted to explore Three Lakes Valley a bit in hopes of finding some low angle powder.
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| The pass leading to The Fortress (3000m) looks thin |
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| The left shoulder off of Mount Galatea (3185m) looks good, aside from the cornices |
According to my GPS, I actually got to the second of the three lakes, although they were not obvious at all. I eventually stopped when it was clear that it would be impossible to avoid all of the rocks on the ski back down. I still hit my share of rocks, but I didn't get any new core shots thankfully.
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| This is how far I got into the Three Lakes Valley before I started to run out of snow |
One low angle slope near the mouth of the valley had very good snow. It was there that I ran into a 79 year old telemarker. Who says old people can't telemark? It gives me hope.
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| My new hero is a 79 year old backcountry telemark skier |
I got a lot of comments about my skis (I was on my ScottyBob BobTails), as usual, and even had a conversation with a couple who used to tele-tour in PEI! I didn't know there was much ski touring there.
On the drive out, I passed by GR250201, which I barely recognized because it had almost no snow and the avalanche slopes were not obvious at all. We need all the snow we can get!
hi,
ReplyDeletemy name is andrew, i live in calgary and after 40 years of skiing I finally went backcountry. I was at Black Prince this Saturday and it was amazing... I am looking for some low angle slopes, like in this post. I am not 79 yet (only 57), and my skiis are very wide (Voile Drifter 182)... I'd like to ask you few Q, mainly about terrain, like in this post. I'll appreciate very much if you email me: aaL111 at yahoo dot com. Thank you!