Only two Ramblers decided to join the coordinator and take a chance on the snow conditions along the Burstall Pass trail. So only three ramblers were rewarded for their faith in the snow gods on this fine journey to Burstall Pass. The original objectives for this trip were to snowshoe along the Burstall Pass trail to the meadows above the first headwall and then return. And if we had stuck with our objectives, it wouldn't have been much of a snowshoe trip as the hardpacked icy trails precluded us from donning our snowshoes until we had ascended the headwall.


The sunshine bathing Snowpeak and Mt. Birdwood made for a wonderful scenic hike over treacherously icy trails.

However our small group amended the trip objectives and decided to press on towards Burstall Pass after establishing a turn-back time of 2:00 pm. The avalanche report rated the avalanche risk as low at or below treeline and only moderate above treeline. With regard to RMRA avalanche policy, that meant that while we did have avalanche beacons with us, avalanche equipment was recommended but not required. Our group did exercise due caution while proceeding through possible avalanche terrain and we maintained safe distances between each snowshoer when we crossed open areas and avalanche runouts.


As we got closer to Burstall Pass we encountered ever better snowshoe conditions.

We reached a high point south of the true Burstall Pass by 1:40 pm and after posing for the group 'summit photo' we headed down to a more sheltered place for a late lunch.


Cornelis, Jerome and Jim celebrate their snowshoe ascent to Burstall Pass with Mt. Birdwood in the background.

After lunch the wind and sun crusted slopes of Burstall Pass offered us the opportunity for some exciting snowshoe descents. Who says that only skiers have fun going downhill! We took the offtrail challenge of the creek route and snowshoed down the headwall to the Burstall Lake flats where some of us exchanged our snowshoes for lightweight hiking crampons and beat a hasty retreat to the trailhead.


Slip slidin' along the Burstall Creek snowshoe route.

We were back at the trailhead by 5:15 pm, our trust in the snow gods rewarded by another fine winter day in the mountains.

Participants: Cornelis and Jerome. Coordinator, photographer & scribe: Jim.

Trip statistics: Distance - 17.7 km; Elevation gain - 480 metres; Maximum elevation: 2370 metres.