Helen Shoulder

The Icefields Parkway always delivers.

Joanne had done Cirque Peak in the summer, and felt that there might be potential for skiing in the area. Helen Shoulder is not that popular, for whatever reason, so we decided to check it out.

The turnoff for the summer trail into Helen Lake

The guidebook mentions being able to park on the shoulder of the highway and accessing the trail in a more direct fashion. However, we weren't sure of the best place to do this, so we started from the Helen Lake summer trailhead and took the long way, parking at the Crowfoot Glacier lookout.

When there's this much snow, only interesting things poke through

It was very cold at road elevation, but as we started going up, things got milder, especially in the sun.

Crowfoot Pass and Bow Peak

The views as we got higher were fantastic, and there were many areas that looked appealing to ski.

Helen Shoulder bowl, with Dolomite Peak (2782m) in the background

When we finally got to the top of Helen Shoulder, the views toward Cirque Peak were stunning, as was the bowl where we saw a handful of tracks.

Skinning back

We did one lap in the bowl and then traversed back towards the car, doing another run down through the trees and exiting out onto the highway about half a kilometre south of the car.

This area will require further investigation, as the potential is awesome. Snow conditions were quite good on the gentler slopes, while a bit touchy on the steeper stuff (40+ degrees) and wind affected on the ridge. The key will be to find the best place to park!