Rocky Mountain Ramblers trip report for Birdwood Pass-Smuts Pass-Commonwealth Circuit

Report for Birdwood Pass-Smuts Pass-Commonwealth Circuit Off-Trail skiing

Conditions looked promising with about 10 cm of new snow in the Burstall parking lot and a comfortable -12C. After setting up a shuttle vehicle at our end point, we headed off up the trail at 9:15 am. The ski along the Burstall valley and up the headwall was uneventful; the trail was in excellent shape. Above the headwall we began breaking trail up towards Birdwood col and was able to reach the exposed crux slope without venturing too far out of tree cover. The crux slope was in good condition, with soft snow and no obvious wind slab, however, we did climb it cautiously one at a time. The wind picked up as we approached the high point of Birdwood col, but the views were spectacular with the surrounding peaks plastered in new snow and a gigantic cornice hanging off Snow Peak. We took a westerly line from the col to connect with slopes below Snow Peak which had perfect conditions and provided an exhilarating 340 m run down. After lunch we began breaking trail up to Smuts Pass which was hard work, and definitely benefited from having a GPS to keep on track in the dense trees. The skiing down and across the lake was fine, but the east side of Smuts Pass was completely devoid of snow, and we had to carry our skis down the first 50m. But once out of the wind-blasted zone, the skiing was excellent, and we continued down following the creek bed for much of the way. The remaining ski back was uneventful and we arrived at the shuttle vehicle at about 5:30 pm. Total distance 17.6 km, Cum elevation gain 971 m and cum descent 1,041 m. A great day!. Thank you all for coming out, and thank you Bill for the photos. Participants: Bill,Gerald,Manfred,John,Margaret,Marianne.