Hilda Creek Hostel Off-Trail skiing on 31-Jan-2016

Six of us drove (in two vehicles) towards Hilda Creek. On our way there, we stopped under Ed's guidance, to ski in the area of Observation Peak.

Observation Peak, skiing towards SE col

The snow conditions were excellent. Here is a picture of our GPS track:

2016_01_31 Observation Peak track (towards NE col)

We then proceeded to Hilda Creek Cabin. Most of us needed to make a couple of trips with our packs. John, Ed and Paul got the heaters working in the kitchen cabin and sleeping cabin and opened up the shutters. We found the huts to be very comfortable and spacious-there was enough space for storage. Since there was no creek, we had to melt snow which took quite a lot of time.

On Monday, we skied up Hilda Creek so we skinned up straight from the cabin and followed Ed.

Ascending Hilda Ridge

Hilda Ridge skiing, looking towards Parker Ridge

We all made a couple of runs before returning to the cabin.

Christine and Ed skiing up Hilda Ridge

John, Christine, Ed on Hilda Ridge. Hilda Peak in background

Getting ready to ski! John, Ed, Christine, Elzbieta, Carmie

2016_02_01 Hilda Ridge track

The next day, we did a tour to Wilcox Pass. The trail through the trees had been broken by snowshoers so there was no trailbreaking until we got to the pass area. On this day, we had wonderful sunshine which added to the spectacular views.

Carmie, Christine, John, Elzbieta and Paul on Hilda Ridge

At Wilcox Pass - Elzbieta, John, Christine, Ed, Carmie, Paul

Wilcox Pass, skiing towards Mt Athabasca & valley viewpoint

Athabasca Glacier & south panorama from Wilcox Pass viewpoint

Ramblers enjoying the view of Athabasca glacier

We had the company of a herd of sheep

Sheep at Wilcox Pass, looking towards SE outlier of Nigel Peak

2016_02_02 Wilcox Pass track

The last day we headed out at 9:30 after packing and cleaning the cabins. We stopped to ski at a different area of Observation Peak. This time, we had to break trail as there had been no recent activity at Ed;s secret ski area.

View of Bow Lake from Observation Peak ski slopes. We skied the glades in the foreground on Wednesday

2016_02_03 Observation Peak track (towards NE outlier)

Special thanks go to Ed for suggesting and help organizing the trip and thanks to Paul and Ed for the pics. Paul provided the GPS tracks for future reference. Thanks to John, Elizabeth and Carmie for being fellow adventurers. (Huge thanks goes to Christine for the excellent trip organization.)

Edit report | Back to List