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…
The Mt Engadine burn is a hidden gem of ski touring in Kananaskis country. When the snow in this area is good, this zone offers some of the best bang-for-buck skiing anywhere. While the upper slopes are certainly avalanche terrain, the lower angle slopes lower down offer mellow, safe skiing during times of high avalanche…
Ski touring (or Backcountry skiing) has exploded over the past decade. Some estimate put the number near 6,000,000 self-powered powder junkies out there in the US. But with this growth comes a lot of aspiring backcountry travellers trying to learn how to get into ski touring/backcountry skiing. While it’s a relatively simple sport to access…
Narao Trees (or Narao Shoulder or Narao Glades) is a backcountry skiing zone located on the East side of the Lake O’Hara road in Yoho National Park. It encompasses a large zone stretching around the shoulder of Narao Peak. This zone features surprisingly widely spaced trees (by Rockies’ standards!) that are great skiing in good…
Sherbrook Lake offers a huge range of ski touring options all around Mt. Ogden and Paget.
Dolomite Shoulder is an awesome backcountry skiing day trip located on the Icefields Parkway in Banff National Park, Alberta
Crystal Ridge is a large ski touring zone north of Lake Louise on the Icefields Parkway located just a few kilometers south of Bow Lake.
Helen Shoulder makes up the south ridge of Dolomite Peak on the Icefields Parkway. The ridge offers access to the Cirque Peak drainage (Helen Lake) via east-facing slopes on mellow terrain. West slopes feature a number of long runs towards the Highway. There are lots of amazing burnt trees and wide-open slopes with a bit…
