Cirque Fore-Peak

In the spring, it is important to start early in order to avoid wet avalanches baking in the afternoon sun. Today, this lesson was reinforced for many.

There were cars at all the popular parking spots along the Icefields Parkway. Turning off at the Num-Ti-Jah lodge exit it was no different, with at least 3 different parties planning objectives.

We were just aiming to get a bit above treeline below Cirque Peak. I had skied a resort the previous day, so a relaxing tour to get some good views and rid myself of the bad aftertaste of sharing a mountain with thousands of other people seemed like a good idea.

Across from the Num-Ti-Jah driveway, up and over into the trees

There were some old, faint tracks heading up into the forest, and we occasionally followed one or another for a couple of hours. Once we got above treeline, wind effect created a somewhat inconsistent feel to the snow, and we were concerned that the sun crust below the latest bits of windblown snow would not support our weight on the way down ... a condition ripe for faceplanting.

Crowfoot Mountain (3050m) and Bow Lake in the background

As we were ascending the low-angle open faces, we also kept tabs on the two parties we saw across the highway on Mount Jimmy Simpson. One party of 2 was ascending what I believe is called Mount Jimmy Junior, while another party of 5 was skinning up a steep avalanche gully immediately north.

Uptracks and a size 2.5 slab avalanche that obliterated said tracks

At one point, I turned around out of curiosity and realized that a fairly substantial slab avalanche had slid off Mount Jimmy Junior, directly through the uptracks of the party of 2. There was little we could do from where we were, but we spent some time trying to discern whether there was any movement. Eventually, we saw 2 little dots carving turns in the snow and reaching the trees at the bottom. A close call, but hopefully that party will know to start the day a bit earlier in the future.

The col between the two subpeaks of Cirque Peak

Back on this side of the highway, we took a look at the col between the two subpeaks of Cirque Peak, but decided that the right side was too steep for a safe traverse, and the left side was too rocky to be much fun, so we got up as high as we felt comfortable, had lunch, and got ready to ski back down.

Nicely spaced trees

The slopes were very gentle and the trees were nicely spaced. Fortunately, the crust held and conditions were quite acceptable. Lower down, the trees got more dense and there was some bushwhacking to get back to the road, but it was not too difficult.

View of the avalanche from road level

From the road, we could see lots of signs of small slides all over the place.

Bow Peak (2868m), Crowfoot Pass (2355m), and Crowfoot glacier

We encountered one set of tracks (and paw prints), but other than that there was no one else on Cirque Peak. I got sunburn on my face, but it was worth it.