Since the Glacier Park Lodge closed a few years ago the frequency of my annual Roger's Pass pow trips have suffered. There was something very special about stepping out of the alpine lodge and accessing some of the best snow the Columbia Mountains can offer. It's been over 20 years since I first discovered the magical Selkirk Range and the birthplace of Canadian ski mountaineering. It's as if this place was created for pow shredding perfection. The endless steep pillow filled hallways with perfectly placed old-growth trees create some of the most legendary ski lines on the planet. The one thing that stands out for me however is the scale of the Pass. It's not uncommon to put your head down early in the morning and spent all day putting in a zipper track to get one single BIG run in December. If you're lucky you might get a high pressure day or two in the winter months and break into the massive alpine glaciers. This trip would become a bit of a reunion tour for me and we would end up hitting my three favorite zones.
After the hotel closed Kurt found some pretty solid accommodations in Revelstoke where we would base this trip from. The crew would be Chris, Dave, Kurt, Dimitri and myself.
We piled into Dave's truck early Thursday morning and soon we were among the Glacier National Park giants on a BLUEBIRD day!
Sir Donald is always a humbling site no matter how many times you see it!
And as Mt Avalanche and the Glacier Crest appear you know you're only one corner away from the pass.
We passed our tests and acquired the new annual passes that allow us to hit permit zones without checking in each day.
Mt Tupper stood mighty as always....
The temp was -15degC.
It was turning out to be a staller day....
We made our way along the shoulder of Mt Sifton....
And found ourselves in the Roger's Pass alpine!
A scenic area where Mt McDonald dominates the background....
The snow quality was exactly what we came for....blower!
Needless to say the Puff Daddy delivered!
Day 2 we worked our way into my favorite storm shredding zone where remnants of the original rail line are still standing.
And entered a pillow zone I regularly dream about....
It puked most of the morning adding to the already deep base....
The groups stoke was high after our first lap!
Lap's two and three were even better....
Back in Revy our "Beeramid" was coming along nicely but needed some more work and was far from done....
Thanks for all those memories Glacier Park Lodge. I hope we can spend some more nights together in the future....
Day 3 we saved the best for last and entered the Cheops permit to hit a line that never disappoints....
The snow depth and quality was unbelievable on the up-track!
And it rode better than it looked....Man Boobs deep!
We called it a day after this putting this cherry on top of the trip....
And admired our lines from this vantage point on the way back to our cabin. After a great evening in Revelstoke taking advantage of some new eating and drinking establishments we headed back to the city where another snowpocalypse was taking place. It's tough to argue this season is shaping up very nicely!
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