Rocky Mountain Ramblers trip report for Rogers Pass based from Il Nido Country Inn

Report for Rogers Pass based from Il Nido Country Inn Off-Trail skiing

It was -22°C as we drove past Bow Lake on the Icefields parkway, but it was a beautiful sunny and windless day. The journey from Calgary had been quite slow with slippery roads and 93 North "not recommended". The first day, following a suggestion from Manfred, we skied what Manfred calls "Cirque glades". The book "Confessions of a ski bum - the Icefield Parkway" calls the area "Cirque fore peak". By either name it gave us a beautiful day, beautiful views and pretty good skiing when we avoided the wind-pressed areas. As it was wind affected up high we did not go very high in the alpine but enjoyed a couple of runs around and just above tree line before heading out through the fairly tight but easy trees. We stopped for supper at the Island restaurant in Golden. After supper we headed to the Il Nido country inn to a nice, warm welcome from Susan and Maurizio.

Cirque "Forepeak" a.k.a Cirque glades

The following day, after getting our winter restricted area permits, we decided to head to the Bruins pass area above Hospital bowl. We had thought about the Little Sifton traverse but that is a big day and it seemed to be wise to maybe get a taste for the Pass on an easier trip for our first one. It was still cold and sunny and this probably contributed to the plastic clip on one of my skins snapping. I decided to head to Revelstoke to get the skin clip repaired. The others enjoyed a nice day above Hospital bowl with some great views. Avalanche hazard at the pass had been rated "Moderate" for a few days and the young guns were skiing some incredible lines - I saw a couple of folks ski the "Swiss couloir" - wow! As we were packing up to head back to Il Nido a helicopter flew in and landed briefly across the highway at the pass in the maintenance compound before heading back up Connaught creek. From Avalanche.ca we later learned about this Ursus Major avalanche - avalanches happen when the hazard is moderate.

Our third day we did a trip none of us, except Manfred, had done before (of note Manfred first skied the Pass in the early 1970s .... I do not think I will catch him up!). This one had us heading towards the Uto-Sir Donald col and the Vaux glacier. By this time the blue skies were no longer with us though visibility remained OK for us. After branching climbers left out of the illecillewaet drainage the broken trail we were following became very steep with short switchbacks in places. We broke for lunch about half way, elevation wise ,to the Uto - Sir Donald col. After lunch we headed up some more and eventually the grade eased below a big moraine of the Vaux glacier. We had to decide whether to keep heading for the col or ascend the moraine the lower slopes of which we had crossed. The col looked to be in cloud and the slopes of the moraine we thought would be good skiing so the steep moraine was ascended to a good fall line spot. The run off the moraine was good enough that after regrouping at the first trees we opted for a second half lap on the moraine. The ski below this was also good until we started to get to the steep drainages feeding the main illecillewaet drainage where a little bit of route finding got us to some bumpy low angle terrain before hitting the Lookout col / practice slopes well travelled trail.

By our fourth day the weather was showing signs of changing for the incoming storm with snow and low cloud (glad we missed this storm as the following day highway 1 was closed at the pass by this storm). The group's Pass veterans suggested the short approach and exit of the NRC gullies would be a good choice on this day - and indeed it was! Yet again the coordinator had skins issues - this time not with the plastic clip but this was an issue with a broken brain - I left my skins drying in a closet at Il Nido! Fortunately John G came to my rescue (he is also good at extricating me from tree wells!) and lent me his spare skins that fit my skis perfectly. This was another trip I had never done and I was surprised that, despite the short approach, our Pass veterans found some lines with no tracks. There were tracks but the fresh snow that was falling most of the day also helped. We did two runs: one from the first bench and a second one just below it. It was a good finale to this four day trip that everyone thoroughly enjoyed.

Thanks again to Susan and Maurizio for being wonderful hosts again at Il Nido. Their wonderful food and hospitality are a real highlight of these trips.

Manfred, Damian and Clifton enjoying wonderful dinner at Il Nido.

Not always Italian! - a tasty Asian dish at Il Nido

.... and Dessert!!

Thanks to participants (a.k.a the "herdable cats"): Manfred, Damian, John, Clifton, Dave, Barbara, Carol from John. Special thanks to the Pass veterans for good trip advice and John G for enabling me to enjoy the last day. Thanks to Carol for being our official photographer as her photos tell a more picturesque version of our four days: