April 1-2, 2008, Asulkan Hut, Rogers Pass, BC

Eric and I left for points north Saturday morning, but almost turned around near Marysville when snowflakes the size of silver dollars covered the freeway. We figured the drive would only get worse the further north we got, and the skiing would be good down here so why bother? A couple of calls to our friend Greg up in Nelson kept us going. Sure enough it cleared just above the border and we had clear driving to Revelstoke where we met Greg and spent the night at the Comfort Inn (nice place).

After a good continental breakfast at the motel we drove to the pass and headed up to the Asulkan hut where we had reservations for two nights. Lots of cars in the lot, and a well packed trail had us a bit worried about crowds on the mountain, but all went well. We rested at the hut, ate lunch, and dropped gear before heading up Youngs Peak for a lap on the 7 Steps to Paradise. We were glad someone else had already set a skin track up the final headwall and laid down some tracks on the climbers right (politely leaving the other side clear for us to farm). A brisk wind and cool temps got us skiing quickly and we were rewarded with excellent calf deep powder over a firm base. The views were superb as we descended to the hut in the evening light.

We returned the next day with our new friends Jess and Ed for two more laps on the headwall, and a beautiful view from the top in the sun.

The snow was just as good as the day before!

We repaired to the hut for lunch and a hot drink then headed up into the clouds for a wonderful cruiser run down from a knob just above Asulkan Pass on low angle slopes of silky snow.

Five of us had a good game of rummy after dinner, then went to bed.

Everyone was awoken around midnight by violent scratching and pounding on the outside of the hut. I'm sure it was amplified (like rain on a tent) but it sounded like a hungry grizzly just out of hibernation looking for grub. The guides who were there that night figured it was a pine martin. Sunrise from the hut:
After a liesurely breakfast the next morning the five of packed up all our gear and set off traversing down toward the route to the Saphire Col.

The group of guides was in front of us setting a good track so we knew we couldn't loose the way. We stashed our overnight gear near the bottom and slogged up to the col into gathering clouds and wind.

The hut there is quite a contrast to the Asulkan with barely room for the five of us to sit along with two Canadians we met there. Skiing down was good up high if we stayed right next to other people's tracks for perspective, but lower the light got so flat we lost all orientation and made more traverses than turns.


After dinner in Revelstoke Greg made the crux of the trip by driving all the way back to Seattle through the night and getting to work at 8 the next morning. Eric and I headed down to Nelson to stay at Greg and Erin's place. She guided us on a couple of runs at Whitewater ski area (closed weekdays now). We had a nice dinner, then hung at a fun bar with live acoustic music. Very nice town, with great skiing close by.

Ymir Pk. above the ski area (note tracks down sunny slopes from the summit).

Eric and I drove home the next day, taking Hwy 2 to avoid afternoon traffic in Bellevue and enjoyed the wide open wheat fields where he could open up the Passat for some speed trials.

We were lucky to have fantastic skiing, in a magical place, with a great bunch of people - a highly recommended area.