BACKCOUNTRY NEWS AND FORUMS

Hey Bekks, I have limited experience in the Rockies along the Icefield parkway in the Banff National Park and I would say it is nothng like ski touring in the Kootenays. After one attempt on Mt. Hector and two completions of the Wapta I can confirm that the snow pack is much less and the stability not a good. The much colder weather and shallowewr snow pack facilitates depth hoar typically but the views are second to none. There may be more and better snow in the Kootenays  but the Rockies have the big peaks and big views. 

Have a look at some of these routes in Banff National Park and you can get a better sense of things.

The Icefields has some ok trips (look up crowfoot glades, Hector, bow summit etc...) but nothing to compare to the kootenays. The nice thing is that it's close to Calgary (where I live) and due to the elevation of the parkway, you can get to the tree line really quickly to ski the alpine. But like Shredr said, stability can be iffy.

Thanks for the replies. I'm in Edmonton after living in the Kootenays for most of my life, so it seems like a huge effort just to get to the mountains now.

Hi Bekks, I have lived in Canmore for a long time and now in Rossland.  The powder skiing is way better in the Koots but the ski mountaineering is far superior in the Rockies.  The Koots doesn't have the big alpine terrain, awesome ridge climbs and scenery that the Rockies has.  That being said, colder temps and the continental snowpack can make for more challenging conditions and the powder is harder to find in the Rockies.  There are some amazing ski tours and ascents in the Rockies (Andromeda, Columbia, Hector, Victoria, Resplendent, etc etc).  Check out Chic Scott's guide books on touring and ski mountaineering in the Rockies.  There are endless opportunities there and a much longer season (I have had some very good ski days in early november and late may there).  In an ideal world you would ski the Koots until end of march and then ski mountaineer in the Rockies for april and may.  However, all being said, can't beat the BC pow!

It's the BC pow and terrain (tree skiing) that I was hoping to find. I guess I'll have to make the most of it whenever I get back to the Kootenays.

Don't despair too much. The tree skiing is certainly sub par when compared to the slackcountry around Whitewater (the only backcountry skiing I've done in the Kootenays), but there is still a lot to be found around here. And it's amazing how quickly driving four hours there and four hours back feels normal. :)

I tend to focus on the Lake Louise area over Jasper since its about the same distance from Edmonton and most of my ski buddies are from Calgary and area. There are some interesting areas around Jasper that I want to check out for sure. If you need trip ideas let me know, but as mentioned above summits and Icefields volume 1 covers a lot of easily accessible stuff in the Rockies.

I make the trek from Edmonton as well. Having hookups in Canmore, I usually ski in K-country, and I rarely make it out to the parkway until the spring for summits, traverses, and couloirs. The routes on this website deliver the goods if you are looking for midwinter pow though...

I'm always looking for partners, but on the fitter side because I like crushing vert. If you have a set of dynafits, send me a message.