We had a good 3-night stay in the Asulkan Hut in the Rogers Pass, BC. Initially the weather was cool (-15c) but sunny. However by day 3 (Thursday 10th Feb), the cloud had rolled in bringing warmer temperatures, snow and some wind. It also provided some superb powder tree skiing. By Friday 11th Feb, it was still snowing and concerned about the road conditions and possible avalanches caused us to return directly to the cars by 12 noon.

On Tuesday 8th Feb, the drive went smoothly and we reached the access parking lot about 12 noon and departed soon after.

Wheeler Hut Feb 2011 John, Damian , Bob, Clifton

Wheeler Hut outhouse Feb 2011

After a lunch visit to the ACC Wheeler hut, we started ascending about 1.15pm (all Alberta times) to reach the Asulkan Hut with a few breaks by 5.15pm. We enjoyed a hearty pasta supper.With initially clear skies we started for Youngs Peak about 9.00am on Wednesday. The trail was mostly broken but we hesitated several times before committing as cloud rolled in from the west accompanied by a cool brisk wind.


Looking south over Asulkan pass on the way to Young's peak.

Break ascending the "steps of Paradise" - Asulkan ridge / Mount Jupiter in background

However 5 of us made the summit is splendid sunshine and after some very reasonable skiing were back at the hut by 1.00pm for a late lunch.


Summit Young's peak with Mount Sir Donald(PS John D is smiling through his moustache but the icicle might not look like it!)

Asulkan ridge - the Cleaver and The Rampart.

Terry on Youngs Peak, Rogers Pass, BC

David descends Youngs Peak in Rogers Pass

In the afternoon we did a few turns above the hut before enjoying a very tasty beef goulash followed by 2 varieties of cheesecake for supper. It is probable that despite some strenuous skiing, this trip was a net calorie gain. During the evening, Clifton dissuaded 3 arriving skiers from crashing in the full hut. They claimed to have made a booking from Norway, but later it was discovered that they were Golden locals. They spent the night in a snow cave before descending the next day. They were excellent skiers.

It had snowed about 20cms overnight, so with poor visibility and questionable avalanche security, tree skiing was in order for Thursday 10th Feb. Just below the hut, there is a treed ridge which was perfect. We made 3 runs there in thigh deep snow before taking an early lunch at the tree base. We then moved over to the moraine triangle enroute to Saphire col where we made one or two superb runs before calling it a day. We estimated 1500m vertical with the 2 afternoon runs. Dinner was a hearty soup, followed by meatballs, scalloped potatoes and veggies. Dessert was John’s famous fruitcake.

Friday morning brought more snow (20cms?), wind, and it had warmed to –3c. The other hut group had a smart phone with Internet access so we checked both the avalanche report and road conditions. Since both were questionable, we skied straight out to the road, spreading out in the mouse trap vicinity.

Peter descending from Asulkan hut

While 6 returned directly to Golden and Calgary, this scribe went directly to the ACC Wheeler hut where he spent a quiet afternoon before the other ACC skiers arrived for a full hut for a fun weekend. But unfortunately there was too much wet heavy snow for a good weekend’s skiing and closed roads meant that Sunday was spent with much waiting around for the road to open. We Ramblers had the best powder skiing on Thursday following a great, exciting ascent of Youngs Peak on Wednesday.

Thanks go to Terry, John, Clifton, Bob, Damian, and Peter from C&S David for helping out in all aspects to make this an enjoyable trip.