Assiniboine Provincial Park, BC, is a beautiful area to visit both in summer and in winter. In winter it is a good ski touring destination and I have enjoyed several trips over the past 30 years always approaching from Shark parking on the Smith-Dorrien road.


Mt Assiniboine and Lake Magog in Winter

I have also skied many times from Sunshine to Citadel Pass and back as a day trip. But I have never connected the two. The objective of this 4 day/3 night trip was ski from Shark to Sunshine. While this was not achieved, we had a good safe trip with one especially spectacular day.

Terry, who had been ill earlier in the week, elected to fly in, while the rest of us (3) decided to ski in from Shark, but send most of our food by air with Terry. On Saturday afternoon, Terry and I drove to Sunshine where we left Terry�s truck for the return drive should we ski there. At 6.00am Sunday, John, Doug and I drove in John�s car to Shark parking lot and stated skiing by 8.30am. Although other parts of Alberta were blitzed by a winter storm, this drive was uneventful through about 4 inches of new snow on the Smith-Dorrein. Although we broke trail in this new snow all the way to the Bryant hut, it was never over-onerous and we reached the hut by 12.30pm for lunch. Here we were pleased to find out that 3 young men had set out from Bryant hut for Assiniboine that morning and also we met a large group of 8 skiing out. We had a broken trail!

We reached Assiniboine lodge at 5.00pm and enjoyed some refreshments while buying some logs for heating the Naiset hut where we would be sleeping.

David, John and Douglas with Mt. Assiniboine behind

Unfortunately, they also confirmed our suspicions that there were no flights that day due to lack of visibility and wind in Canmore. We settled into the cozy Jonesy hut and made our way to the new comfortable adjacent cooking cabin where we met 2 lady skiers who were part of the large group mentioned earlier but had elected to fly out. Unfortunately one was also sick with stomach type flu. However, they had extra food and very generously made us a great soup and bagels which with our few snacks served as supper. It really hit the spot and we were very grateful.


Wonder Cooking Shelter for use by Naiset Cabin Patrons L-R Douglas, Terry &John

We were hungry by the time Terry flew in on Monday around noon and enjoyed a good lunch before skiing towards the Niblit (Nub, Nublet, Niblit).


Naiset Hut Cooking Shelter John,Terry,Douglas

By chance a film crew also flew in and asked us not to ski on the Nublet . We also moved to the much roomier Fleabane Naiset hut. Breaking trail in about 6 inches of new snow was an effort but the rewarding downhill in the sheltered trees was exceptional especially for the other 3 on AT gear. We returned at 5.00pm and passed a pleasant evening over supper while talking to a younger couple, Mark and Vivian, the only other Naiset occupants. We also had a long discussion about skiing over to Sunshine, but decided against it. The regional avalanche hazard was considerable/high, we would be breaking trail with some faceting probably all the way to Sunshine (30km) and we were only 4 older men. Interestingly, the CAA does not have an avalanche bulletin that I could find for Assiniboine Park (I interpolated from Banff/Yoho/Kootenay and Kananaskis)

Soon after midnight, I awoke with a heaving stomach. The rest of the night was unpleasant with several visits to the outhouse. I was sick. The morning was a cool -18c, but glorious sunshine. However I was going nowhere while the other 3 enjoyed a great tour over Jones Bench.

John in red and Terry in grey return to the lodge along Jones Bench

Five Ptarmigan hide on Jones Bench

Tracks on the Nublet

They avoided being film stars. I dozed most of the day, but struggled to ski 1 km in 45minutes on a broken trail in the afternoon. In the Tuesday evening, I booked a flight out for Wednesday morning, as there was no way I could ski out. I also slept in the cook shelter.

Doug had an even worse Tuesday night than me, leaving most of his dinner in the snow between his bed and the outhouse. So 2 of us flew out, with some extra gear and food. John and Terry skied out about 6 hours before collecting Terry�s truck from Sunshine and driving home to Calgary which they reached in the early evening. Doug and I (David) arrived back in Calgary about 4.00pm. An interesting trip in which everyone hung together and made the best of some poor circumstances. One stella day, and the other 3 were all reasonable, but the bug caught by David and Doug was a real pain. As we were leaving, the lodge staff was cleaning out the cooking shelter with extensive use of bleach. Despite the presence of a film crew, they were very sympathetic and helpful letting Doug use the satellite phone for free and being very polite etc. Participants: Terry, John, Douglas, C&S David, 25km and 440m one way Shark to Assiniboine. Only John skied this twice.PS Terry caught the bug the morning after returning home ie 07 March.