Had a nice trip out this weekend,
despite warmer weather than desired for a skiing trip.
Set out from the Raven Lodge at a little past 9am on Friday, March 2nd with Noah, Ellen and Pat. It was Pat's first time to the Paradise Meadows area so got to introduce him to the familiar features. Noah and Ellen came with me on a trip to Mt. Myra last year and I was glad to hear they had been out a lot this winter. Our goal was to get out to Moat Lake that day, do the Castlecrag Circuit on Saturday and then head home on the Sunday.
The skin out to Moat Lake was a bit of a slog. Pretty wet snow. Only sinking in about 5-10cms, though. There was a skin track laid out all the way to Circlet Lake, so that made it easier. Route finding from Circlet Lake to Moat Lake went well. It was my third time doing it and my most efficient so far. Don't want to go to high on that one or you get cliffed out and have to descend again. Camped at the far North end of Moat Lake. There was open water and the forecast said west and northwest winds, so it was a protected spot. Made camp about 3pm, so had a relaxing afternoon. After dinner, Noah and Ellen were nice enough to head out and set a skin track for us across the lake for the next day.
Got up on Saturday and weather was promising. The sun seemed to want to break out and we had a few occasions of nice visibility. On the way across Moat Lake, scoped out the line I wanted to ski down from the ridge, which is the summer route to Mount Albert-Edward from Circlet Lake. Had no problem ascending the eastern ridge of Castlecrag. Skirting around the south side at an elevation of about 1420 meters worked well, though we were under some big slopes for a while. Giant pin wheels were coming down and building to the size of a large truck tire, however they weren't propagating and setting off anything bigger so generally felt good about the stability.
Had lunch just under the the col between Castlecrag and Mt. Frink. Visibility was still ok. Decided to keep going. Didn't want to head back beneath those big slopes on Castle as the day continued to warm. Headed up into the white out at the top of Mt. Frink. Figured it wouldn't last long and we would be down beneath it on the far side in no time. Getting to the top was no problem, followed the few patches of tree. Coming down was a bit sketchier, couldn't see more that a few feet in front. Went around in circles for a while where the ridge to Mt. Frink becomes the ridge to Mt. Albert-Edward. Was quite relieved when we got it figured out and found the right ridge to descend on and could see all the way to Mount Jutland at the far end. Was getting pretty late at that point and we were losing day light to.
We got to the spot where I wanted to ski down from. Didn't know if it would work out, thought there was a possibility it would cliff out at the bottom. However, if we played it safe and stuck to the summer route, we'd end up route finding in the dark. So decided to risk it and skied down. It worked out beautifully and we made our way down a really fantastic line and popped out on Moat Lake in no time. All now tired but smiling.
Sunday was uneventful. Just another day skinning back out to the Raven Lodge, appreciating how beautiful Paradise Meadows really is.
Set out from the Raven Lodge at a little past 9am on Friday, March 2nd with Noah, Ellen and Pat. It was Pat's first time to the Paradise Meadows area so got to introduce him to the familiar features. Noah and Ellen came with me on a trip to Mt. Myra last year and I was glad to hear they had been out a lot this winter. Our goal was to get out to Moat Lake that day, do the Castlecrag Circuit on Saturday and then head home on the Sunday.
The skin out to Moat Lake was a bit of a slog. Pretty wet snow. Only sinking in about 5-10cms, though. There was a skin track laid out all the way to Circlet Lake, so that made it easier. Route finding from Circlet Lake to Moat Lake went well. It was my third time doing it and my most efficient so far. Don't want to go to high on that one or you get cliffed out and have to descend again. Camped at the far North end of Moat Lake. There was open water and the forecast said west and northwest winds, so it was a protected spot. Made camp about 3pm, so had a relaxing afternoon. After dinner, Noah and Ellen were nice enough to head out and set a skin track for us across the lake for the next day.
Got up on Saturday and weather was promising. The sun seemed to want to break out and we had a few occasions of nice visibility. On the way across Moat Lake, scoped out the line I wanted to ski down from the ridge, which is the summer route to Mount Albert-Edward from Circlet Lake. Had no problem ascending the eastern ridge of Castlecrag. Skirting around the south side at an elevation of about 1420 meters worked well, though we were under some big slopes for a while. Giant pin wheels were coming down and building to the size of a large truck tire, however they weren't propagating and setting off anything bigger so generally felt good about the stability.
Had lunch just under the the col between Castlecrag and Mt. Frink. Visibility was still ok. Decided to keep going. Didn't want to head back beneath those big slopes on Castle as the day continued to warm. Headed up into the white out at the top of Mt. Frink. Figured it wouldn't last long and we would be down beneath it on the far side in no time. Getting to the top was no problem, followed the few patches of tree. Coming down was a bit sketchier, couldn't see more that a few feet in front. Went around in circles for a while where the ridge to Mt. Frink becomes the ridge to Mt. Albert-Edward. Was quite relieved when we got it figured out and found the right ridge to descend on and could see all the way to Mount Jutland at the far end. Was getting pretty late at that point and we were losing day light to.
We got to the spot where I wanted to ski down from. Didn't know if it would work out, thought there was a possibility it would cliff out at the bottom. However, if we played it safe and stuck to the summer route, we'd end up route finding in the dark. So decided to risk it and skied down. It worked out beautifully and we made our way down a really fantastic line and popped out on Moat Lake in no time. All now tired but smiling.
Sunday was uneventful. Just another day skinning back out to the Raven Lodge, appreciating how beautiful Paradise Meadows really is.
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