What we Came For
After a week of wandering through clouds, find breakable crust on all aspects, and generally getting skunked by the Canadian Rockies and Selkirks, we decided to go big – a linkup of Forever Young Couloir and Seven Steps of Paradise on Youngs Peak. That latter would be a repeat of a line that Logan and I skied 8 years earlier, during our first season of backcountry skiing!
We got started by skinning up the Illecilewaet valley to the toe of the glacier. The terrain between 5,000 and 6,000 ft is rather complex post glacial terrain, but we managed to skin it all without getting cliffed out.
Around 7k, the snow transitioned from crusty to perfect boot top powder, at last. After a week of searching, we found the good snow – in one of the most wind exposed places. The lighting and weather was dramatic, with clouds blowing over the high summit of Sir Donald. We were all very stoked.
The Illicelewaet Glacier is a massive flat ice cap that greatly contrasts with the steep mountains and deep valleys around it. It drops off steeply on each side, like a plateau of ice. The only thing comparable in Washington is probably the Neve Glacier or Eldorado Ice Cap, but those are not even close in size.
We skied down the ridge to the entrance of Forever Young Couloir. Unfortunately, it was not quite the blower powder of the glacier – firm up top, pretty skied out through the choke, but good down low.
We all agreed it was a fun couloir – steep enough (maybe a little under 45 degrees) for a bit, but mostly moderate with a wide apron.
We cruised over to the “tree triangle”, where we took a lunch break before beginning the long 3k climb up to Youngs Peak. Unfortunately, the snow was wet down here in the warm sun, so by the time we got up to the Asulkan Cabin, Logan and I were glopping pretty badly. We applied skin wax and took a break at the cabin to let our skins dry out, but it really didn’t help.
We took multiple breaks to clear and dry our skins, but nothing seemed to help. The final bit was so bad that Chris and John took a hot lap on the headwall of Youngs while Logan and I thugged it out.
When Logan and I were here many years ago, the headwall was pretty wind affected. But this time, it was nice powder and even better as we got into the “Seven Steps of Paradise”. It took a while, but we finally got what we came for – boot top powder with an endless sea of Canadian peaks.
The snow predictably got awfully sticky below 6k as we made our way out. We had heard about massive avalanche debris down in the “mousetrap”, a deep gully feature that you have to pass through on the way in or out of this valley. Remarkably, all the skiers over the past two weeks had smoothed out a path, making it skiable. Props to the first intrepid skiers who decided to go for it!
There was a fair amount of side stepping on the way out, but much less than we had feared. We were able to skate and ski all the way to the car!
We were super happy to get this great Rogers Pass linkup, combining two classic lines in great conditions! Coming here as a newbie backcountry skier many years ago, I did not fully appreciate how incredible the terrain around Rogers Pass is – where steep couloirs, slide paths, and forests rise a vertical mile in all directions from the highway. It was wonderful to return and properly appreciate this incredible place.