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At the Trans-Canada Highway, and the end of our trip. At back (L to R): Alex, Cyril, Stefan, me, Dave, Boris. In front: Karen Woo, Ian, Leo, Karen McGilvray.
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Skiing across Sherbrooke Lake, with Mt. Victoria and Mt. Huber in the background. Not far to go now.
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Ian and Cyril at tree-line on our way down from Scott Duncan Hut. This section was the steepest skiing on the trip.
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We thought we might have to spend a second night at Scott Duncan Hut waiting out the storm, but by mid-morning visibility improved slightly and Cyril decided we’d be able to continue the traverse out to the highway. Here we are skiing past Mt. Niles.
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Dinner at Scott Duncan Hut after a long day. From L to R: Boris, a pair of green booties belonging to Dave, Leo, Alex, Karen McGilvray, a white cap belonging to Cyril, Karen Woo, and Ian.
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Shortly after passing the Balfour Hut the weather closed in, and we traveled in a whiteout up and over the Balfour Col and down to the Scott Duncan Hut. Fortunately Cyril knew the route well, and with GPS assistance he kept us away from the avalanche slopes and crevasses that lie in wait for the unwary. Here we are arriving at Scott Duncan Hut. Cozy accommodation for a group of ten.
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Stefan and Boris approaching the col between St. Nicholas Peak and Mt. Olive, on the way to the Balfour Hut.
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At the col between St. Nicholas Peak and Mt. Olive. At this point a stiff wind was blowing and a storm was fast approaching. Cyril announced that it would be best to carry on past the Balfour Hut and try get to the Scott Duncan Hut ahead of the storm, since there’s a high pass on the way to Scott Duncan (the Balfour Col) that’s exposed to avalanches if it’s been snowing heavily.
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Roping up above the Bow Hut en route to the Balfour Hut.
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Preparing to leave the Bow Hut for the Balfour Hut (or so we thought). From L to R: Stefan, Cyril, Dave, Ian, Karen Woo, Alex Perel, Leo, me, Karen McGilvray and Boris Kaschenko.
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The Bow Hut at evening.
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Leo Markle, Karen Woo and Karen McGilvray inside the Bow Hut. The hut can be accessed directly from the highway and we had arranged with porters to carry some food – and wine! – up here in advance of our arrival (no helicopter landings allowed in Banff National Park). The wine was supposed to last a couple of nights, but it all disappeared in a few hours.
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Down-climbing from the summit of St. Nicholas Peak.
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On the way back from Mt. Gordon a few of us made a detour to scramble up St. Nicholas Peak. It’s really more of a knife-edge ridge than a peak.
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Leo, Stefan Kloppenborg, Ian Myles and Karen Woo at the summit of Mt. Gordon. Alas not much in the way of views that day.
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Skinning up the slopes above the Bow Hut, on our way to Mt. Gordon. The summit in the background is St. Nicholas Peak.
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The view from the dormitory window at Bow Hut.
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Our only logistical error was to assume that the huts would be stocked with toilet paper. This wasn’t a good assumption. Cyril came to our rescue by paying a handsome fee to our porters to part with their modest supply ($20 for two rolls!). Here’s Karen Woo carefully dividing this precious commodity between the ten of us.
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On the way to the Bow Hut most of us made a detour to skin up the gentle summit ridge of Mt. Rhondda.
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After two nights at the Peyto Hut we headed over to the Bow Hut, stopping for lunch on the slopes of Mt. Rhondda.
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Making turns on the glacier above the Peyto Hut.
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Inside the Peyto Hut.
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Dave and Cyril arriving at the Peyto Hut. Cyril had promised us that this would be the longest day on the traverse, but it didn’t quite work out that way.
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Skiing up the Peyto Glacier in the warm afternoon sun.
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Hiking up moraines near the foot of the Peyto Glacier. This was the only part of the traverse that was too steep for skins.
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Getting ready to ski across a frozen Peyto Lake.
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Google Earth image of the Wapta and Waputik icefields. The traverse starts at Peyto Lake on the Icefields Parkway and ends at Wapta Lodge on the Trans-Canada Highway . There are four huts en route – Peyto (Whyte), Bow, Balfour and Scott Duncan. Also marked are a couple of peaks that we climbed.