Guided ski touring
Guided Ski touring Week This is the ultimate ski touring holiday. Deep powder, comfortable lodge, local guide, cook, and gourmet meals; all you have to do is show up and ski. You will be sharing the lodge with a small group of friends in a remote wilderness setting. Having a guide will ensure that you get the best ski week possible. Their familiarity with the area will allow you to comfortably travel to some of the farther corners of Icefall's huge area.
Although you could get excellent skiing and untracked snow without venturing more than a few kilometers from the lodge, there is so much more to see in Icefall’s vast area. The guides at Icefall enjoy skiing long runs, doing loop tours, getting to summits and showing you as many different areas as possible. Icefall boasts the longest ski runs in Canada and some of the longest runs anywhere. Having a guide with intimate knowledge of the terrain will make sure you get the best line possible.
There are over 30 separate glaciers at Icefall. These offer some superb alpine skiing as well as scenic crevasses, seracs and icefalls. Your guide will be able to take you up close to these incredible features.
Hut to Hut Traverse. Icefall Lodge has not one but two satellite huts. These are situated on the Lyell and Mons Glaciers. They are both one day travel from Icefall Lodge. They exponentially increase the amount of terrain that can be accessed from Icefall Lodge. If the weather and conditions permit, guests will be given the option of traversing to one or both of the huts.
Expand your options by using a helicopter drop off or pick up during the week. You can finish a 7000 foot run in a remote valley far from the lodge and get a ride back up to the lodge instead of skinning at the end of the day. Enquire for details.
Guides
Larry Dolecki is the owner and head guide at Icefall Lodge. He is an internationally certified Mountain Guide, ACMG and IFMGA. Ski guides at Icefall are certified by the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides ACMG and/or the International Federation of Mountain Guides IFMGA. They are familiar with the complex terrain at Icefall and will get you the best skiing for your uphill effort. In addition to snowpack analysis and avalanche safety, they are experts with glacier travel and crevasse rescue. Safety is the primary concern of your guides and their knowledge of the terrain and conditions will help you get the best ski week possible.
Groups
There will normally be 3 guides at the lodge and the group will be split up to go on different tours each day. These groups are not rigid and you can switch back and forth between groups or choose an easier or bigger day depending on how you feel. Sometimes both groups will start out in the same direction and split up part way into the day. There is often one group that stays closer to the lodge allowing the option to return early if you want an easier day. Every effort will be made to make sure that you are with a group that matches your ability.
Ability
To ski tour with a guide at Icefall Lodge you must be an advanced skier. Previous backcountry experience is helpful, but everybody has a first time. At a ski hill you should be comfortable skiing black diamond runs, although if you can ski powder better than piste this may not be a problem.
Either telemark or randonee gear is fine. If you are on telemark equipment you should have stiff boots and modern powder skis. If you are on randonee, the boots are stiff and it is still good to have modern powder skis. Your boots should be broken in and not giving you blisters. Snowboarders should be using a split board setup and should be experienced with their equipment.
Waiver
All guests will be required to sign a Waiver.
The Skiing
Below are descriptions of a few typical days on a guided week. There are many more options available.
Lyell Hut Traverse
If conditions permit, your guide can take up to 10 people over to the Lyell Hut for a night. This is the highest ski touring hut in Canada and offers access to some of the highest peaks in BC. You can watch the sun set from the summit of Christian Peak, (3390 meters, 11,122 feet) and ski down to the hut in the last light of the day. The terrain is on a different scale with massive glaciers and long runs. The hut is high enough that you get the full alpenglow colors. There are unforgettable sunsets and sunrises out the front window.
The traverse exponentially increases the amount of terain available at Icefall Lodge. It also means a lot more high elevation north facing glacier skiing which is a big advantage when the weather gets warm. The traverse can be done with a light pack. It is normally 6- 7 hours to the hut. The crux of the traverse is Crampon Col. Although you don't need crampons there is a steep section that is noramlly boot packed. Returning from the Hut is much faster, normally about 2-3 hours.
Mt Kemmel 3150m, 10,300 feet
This is a classic ski touring objective that can be skied in most conditions and offers outstanding views in all directions. The normal line skis up Home Run, traverses the Kemmel Glacier, and then ascends the south east ridge to the summit. Although skis can be worn to the summit, the final traverse of the summit ridge has more of a ski mountaineering feel to it, as you want to stay well back from the cornice on the right hand side. After you have finished taking in the views of the Columbia Icefield to the north, the Selkirk Mountains to the west, and Mt Forbes to the south you are treated to 1200m (4000 feet) of skiing back down to the lodge. Descent options vary from the relatively safe line that you ski toured up, to the more committing couloirs on the East face. Some of these lines are up to 45 degrees and offer over 600m vertical before reaching the Kemmel Glacier.
Mt La Clytte 2900m, 9500 feet
The north east facing glacier on La Clytte was made for skiing; long consistent fall line slopes, sheltered snow, and enough room to spend a couple of days. The ski summit offers superb views, while the true summit (50m higher) requires rope and crampons to ascend. The approach from Icefall lodge follows the summer trail for a couple hundred meters through the forest before breaking out into the open. A broad treeline ridge is followed to Keffi Pass at 2350m (7800 feet). From here there is a 200m run down the east slopes, before climbing up to the icefall at the toe of the La Clytte Glacier. The La Clytte Glacier starts flat getting steeper as you approach the summit. Some of the steeper shoulders on La Clytte offer pitches up to 45 degrees. Returning to the lodge is by the same route or several options including a skin up to Espresso Ridge and a steep ski straight down to the lodge. In good stability the Groove Tube, a broad chute up to 45 degrees, offers the most direct decent off the south west side of the summit ridge.
Tempest Glacier
This is a long loop tour that takes you under the dramatic East Face of Rostrum Peak and all the way down to Icefall Brook. From the high point of Porcupine Saddle, it is a 1600m (5,000 ft) ski to the valley bottom. This tour takes you through some of the most impressive glacier landscape that you will see anywhere in the world. The glacier features at Porcupine Saddle chage from year to year but are always unforgetable. The variety is huge with everything from tree skiing, to glaciers and unforgettable rock features. There is almost 2200m of skiing (and skinning) on this day.
Across an alpine pass to the west lies Rostrum Valley, an entirely separate valley for tree skiing. It is often possible to access this valley in marginal weather, making the bad weather options seem endless.