This was a good day of late season skiing in a beautiful area of the Kootenay National Park.


Looking West from the upper ridge of Storm Mountain

Five Ramblers and one guest gathered at the Great Divide parking area and discussed route selection. Based on collective wisdom, we then drove 1 km south down the highway and parked in the ditch opposite the firebreak cut up the south west slope. No snow at the roadside but we found icy, hard snow meters from the road. Some chose to “ boot” it up the first two sharp rises others choose to mount skies immediately. Good time was made on frozen snow as we climbed through the trees angling left around a ridge to gain the drainage on the south side of Storm Mountain. The treed drainage gave way to open slopes as we progressed up the valley.


At the end of the valley

Hats and sun screen were the order of the day as we were blessed with bright sun, no wind and mild temperatures ( -1 in AM, +12 in PM at the road)


Snack break in the morning

As we swung around to the south slope of Storm Mountain we could see the path of several avalanches, some quite small but one large one had run right to the valley bottom. We picked our way cautiously up the slope towards a break in the south ridge. As we got higher and the day advanced the snow became soft and problematic as 10 cm of this newer soft snow sat on a firm icy surface of older snow. Track setting became difficult as the skies tended to slide on the buried icy surface. At 1:30 we pulled our skins and headed homeward. Great skiing with some beautiful and some not so beautiful turns being made on the open slopes. After a long lazy lunch break we followed the drainage back down with many exciting turns through the trees and along the creek bed on soft snow. Bill’s GPS report gives us credit for 13.3 km with 1215 m elevation gain in a 6.5 hrs outing.


Late afternoon lunch break

A great day, but Storm Mountains required a 1500 m gain to summit, oh well there is next year. Bill, Bob, Kevin, David, guest Katrina, Terry c/s.

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