Murray Creek Turns Now Black Prince Off-Trail skiing on 23-Dec-2025
Participants: Sim, Kim, Carl, Alex, Ed, Gordon, Katrin, Greg, Jean
Reviewing the avy report the night before the trip I was concerned and disappointed. I had though when posting the trip that a couple more days would stabilize conditions and Murry would be a fun option. Unfortunately, we were still looking at a double considerable where the text made clear that it was the wrong kind of considerable. Additionally, it was calling for some big winds (peaking at 100km/h) from a direction that would be cross loading slopes above us… and be particularly nasty comfort wise.
Cancel? Nope, really wanted to ski. Move to another location, probably a good idea, but where? The day called for trees and limited overhead hazard, and ideally a few different aspects to choose from. And also some thought given to potential road conditions with more snow and high winds.
Gypsum mines were the obvious answer, but we had just been there. Next place that fit the bill was Black Prince…. But Black Prince generally get’s a lot of attention and can be miserable when skied out. There are a couple of options in the area though, so thinking I would lose a couple people I picked it as the new location for the day.
Well, no one backed out, and we ended up having a fabulous day. I have not been to the top of Black Prince in years, but the snow was very good all the way to the top, and whereas there were plenty of old tracks around, they were under a foot or so of nice fresh Powder.
We skied two runs in the Tree triangle, and I’ll let the photos speak for themselves. We exited up valley of the lake and respecting the short day got back to the cars in good time.
On the way out we met the some of the folks who keep us safe out their and they mentioned that a couple of skiers remote triggered a large slide in an area to the North of us (check out the min report). I don’t think it’s an area that I would have considered skiing in in those conditions but it’s always good to listen to the cautionary tales.
A good time was had by all, and we had the opportunity to welcome and welcome back some new folks. Beyond that I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.
