Cathedral Peak is a magnificent massif located in Yoho National Park near Lake Louise. The Cathedral Massif is comprised of several summits, the tallest main summit rising to a towering 3,189m (10,462′), one of the loftier peaks in what is already a large and prominent range (Lake Louise Group). While Cathedral Peak is a classic…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
