SteveR
Member
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2016
- Messages
- 974
Full disclosure here- my wife Jo and I typically spend a few weeks each winter as hut keepers at Campbell Icefield Chalet, a backcountry ski lodge located in a remote area northeast of Golden, B.C.
Access is by a ten minute heli flight out of Donald, off the highway north of Golden.
The lodge is situated at treeline in a vast alpine basin-
(Note - the above pix are from our January week of his year)
A morning view of the main lodge, from our cabin-
The following pix are a sampling from February 18-25 which was the second of our two weeks up there- a trip organized yearly by us for a group of friends. For the first 3 days, continuous snow at temperatures just below freezing predominated- making for fabulous powder skiing in gladed and treed terrain, but not so great conditions for cameras or photography. By Tuesday afternoon though, the clouds began to lift, allowing some great skiing in the wide open alpine terrain of "The Dome"-
It all came together for our final three days- a skiers dream of fine weather and perfect snow-
The morning climb out of the main lodge basin up to the Saddle- the gateway for the next two day's excursions-
Skins off, and the first of a day's worth of 300 vertical metre runs in the Waitabit zone-
Happy skiers at a great lunch spot-
On the way home- Jo skinning out of the Waitabit valley, with another run back towards the lodge on the other side of the Saddle awaiting-
A tour to the Campbell Icefield and skiing the Diamond Dust run is always a highlight of a week at Campbell.. After another morning wake-up climb over the Saddle, here we are working our way through the moraines below the ice field-
Onwards to the Campbell Icefield. Mt. Freshfield on the border with Banff National Park is the skyline pyramid.
Topping out on Diamond Dust, above the icefield.
The upper pitch on the first of two laps on the Diamond Dust run.
The sauna and hut keepers cabin, at the end of a perfect day. Diamond Dust and the icefield are on the far side of the background ridge.
The week goes so fast! John said that a tour to the Bluewater Glacier would be the icing on the cake of a fine trip, so off we went-
It's a lot further than it looks from the previous photo! A look back from the halfway point on the glacier, to the lodge (spot it? Hint- mid pic, 3/4 across from left) and Mt. Alan Campbell in the distance.
Getting closer to the top-
It's low angle skiing on the Bluewater Glacier, but the fast ankle deep snow gave a long, fun run back down after lunch at the top-
Times up! Saying good bye the next morning while waiting for the heli flight out. That's the Bluewater Glacier below the cliffs in the background, with our ski tracks of the previous day just barely visible.
More pix here-
https://steveriggs.smugmug.com/Campbell-Icefield-2017
Access is by a ten minute heli flight out of Donald, off the highway north of Golden.
The lodge is situated at treeline in a vast alpine basin-
(Note - the above pix are from our January week of his year)
A morning view of the main lodge, from our cabin-
The following pix are a sampling from February 18-25 which was the second of our two weeks up there- a trip organized yearly by us for a group of friends. For the first 3 days, continuous snow at temperatures just below freezing predominated- making for fabulous powder skiing in gladed and treed terrain, but not so great conditions for cameras or photography. By Tuesday afternoon though, the clouds began to lift, allowing some great skiing in the wide open alpine terrain of "The Dome"-
It all came together for our final three days- a skiers dream of fine weather and perfect snow-
The morning climb out of the main lodge basin up to the Saddle- the gateway for the next two day's excursions-
Skins off, and the first of a day's worth of 300 vertical metre runs in the Waitabit zone-
Happy skiers at a great lunch spot-
On the way home- Jo skinning out of the Waitabit valley, with another run back towards the lodge on the other side of the Saddle awaiting-
A tour to the Campbell Icefield and skiing the Diamond Dust run is always a highlight of a week at Campbell.. After another morning wake-up climb over the Saddle, here we are working our way through the moraines below the ice field-
Onwards to the Campbell Icefield. Mt. Freshfield on the border with Banff National Park is the skyline pyramid.
Topping out on Diamond Dust, above the icefield.
The upper pitch on the first of two laps on the Diamond Dust run.
The sauna and hut keepers cabin, at the end of a perfect day. Diamond Dust and the icefield are on the far side of the background ridge.
The week goes so fast! John said that a tour to the Bluewater Glacier would be the icing on the cake of a fine trip, so off we went-
It's a lot further than it looks from the previous photo! A look back from the halfway point on the glacier, to the lodge (spot it? Hint- mid pic, 3/4 across from left) and Mt. Alan Campbell in the distance.
Getting closer to the top-
It's low angle skiing on the Bluewater Glacier, but the fast ankle deep snow gave a long, fun run back down after lunch at the top-
Times up! Saying good bye the next morning while waiting for the heli flight out. That's the Bluewater Glacier below the cliffs in the background, with our ski tracks of the previous day just barely visible.
More pix here-
https://steveriggs.smugmug.com/Campbell-Icefield-2017
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