Hero’s knob is a feature located in Kananaskis country offering a wide range of good quality skiing and open alpine terrain. Kananaskis has a variety of reputations ranging from “trash” to “incredible”, depending on who you ask and where you go (and when!). While conditions certainly can warrant a negative reputation at times, there is…
Surprise Pass ski tour, near Lake Louise Alberta, is one of those iconic backcountry tours that deserves a revisit at least once per year when conditions are good. This classic ski tour requires a solid 3-6 hours to complete the approximately 900m of elevation gain over roughly 6km from the parking lot. The first 2-3km…
Mt. Whymper avalanche and accident report. Sometimes things go a bit differently than expected in the mountains. Mt Whymper was a great day that was a bit closer to the edge than we planned for.
It’s a great experience to explore a new zone that has seen little, or possibly no traffic in the past. This is especially true. when the zone is as perfect and feature-rich as the Apollo Bowl on the west rib of the imposing Mt. Hector on the Icefields Parkway. Apollo bowl ski touring should be…
The Sugar Cube is an awesome day tour located near Helen Lake. A short Couloir, and a number of relatively long slopes offer lots of opportunities for ski touring.
Mount Field is a classic backcountry ski tour located in Little Yoho just west of Lake Louise and Banff National Park. Now… the word “classic” gets thrown around a lot. So lets get one thing clear – Mount Field is definitely a true Canadian Rockies Ski Tour. What makes it a classic? It has all…
If you have done any ski touring in the Canadian Rockies, you’ve probably heard of Bow Summit. The many dozens of cars parked here, and number of AST1 courses that take place here on any given weekend should hint that this is a very popular ski touring destination. But is it really the best first…
The Presidents in Yoho National Park are a popular alpine mountaineering objective in the summer months. They offer one of the most spectacular viewpoints in Yoho due to their prominence relatively to other surrounding peaks, and on a clear day you can see more 11,000′ Canadian Rockies Peaks than almost anywhere in the Rockies. In…
Purple knob is an excellent ski touring zone near the southern end of the Smith Dorrien or Spray Lakes Road in Kananaskis Country. K-Country sometimes gets a bad rap for ski quality. However, when the snow is good in this zone, it is definitely one of the best and most accessible ski touring locations in…
Puzzle Peak (or OXO peak) is usually a great, classic ski tour to a prominent mountain summit that is relatively easily accessible along the Icefields Parkway. The day I met up with Brandon, however, it was a little more of a “scramble in ski boots” than it typically would be. But I think, that’s part…
