Starting from a pullout on the south side of Castle Junction (interchange between Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 93), we squeezed our way past a seasonal gate and glided down to the summer parking lot before crossing Altrude Creek on a bridge.  Passing the turnoffs to Copper Lake and Smith Lake, we settled into a long but straightforward grind up Twin Lakes trail which was thankfully broken by previous skiers or snowshoers.  Following Dewit's GPS track, we turned off the broken trail in a glade at about the 6-kilometre mark and crossed a snow-covered creek to ascend the forested end of Little Copper's north ridge.  Unfortunately, any evidence of Dewit's group's passage had long been covered up by fresh snow, and we had to break our own trail up the ridge.  Andrea, Peter, Marta and Zosia all did a tremendous job of breaking trail for the rest of the ascent.  Shamefully, I was the weakest link on this day and could hardly keep up to any of them let alone break trail in front of them.  For some reason or another, my mountain mojo--as defined by Dewit in his trip report--was probably around a 5 on this day:  right on the cusp between reluctantly toughing it out to salvage some personal pride and reluctantly getting dragged up by my companions!

	Accessing Twin Lakes trailhead during winter is a bit complicated with the seasonal gate in place.  The actual trailhead is about 350 metres beyond this gate. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	It is a long uphill grind climbing Twin Lakes trail.
	The group drops down here to cross a snow-covered creek and head for the forested ridge which is partially visible in the distance.
	Marta takes a turn at breaking trail up the forested ridge. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak

The crux of the ascent was a steep and partly rocky section of the ridge just before a larch-covered high point.  Andrea was the only one that was able to skin up this section while the rest of us resorted to boot-packing or using ski crampons.  The snow quality here was a variable mix of sugary powder and hard crust, and I had an awful time keeping my balance while trying to grovel up to the high point.  The good news is that the route becomes easier beyond this high point, and after crossing a short dip, we were soon climbing above the last trees and enjoying some spectacular alpine scenery.

	For the ascent, this is the most problematic section of the ridge just below a larch-covered high point.  Ski crampons or boot-packing may be required to surmount this section.
	As Marta skis past a stand of larch trees on the ridge, there is a glimpse of Little Copper's false summit at left. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	The trees begin to thin out near the false summit (centre).  At distant left is Pilot Mountain.

We got our first glimpse of Little Copper's true summit upon reaching a plateau along the ridge.  The remainder of the ascent was straightforward as we bypassed a false summit and carried on up the final slope to the top.  Ski crampons would definitely help on this final wind-hammered slope, but they were not really necessary to reach the summit on this day.

The group stops on a plateau for a break while eyeing the true summit ahead.

With Storm Mountain in the background, Peter and Andrea prepare to move again after their break.

 

	The group dodges half-buried larch trees en route to the final slope before the summit.
	The group climbs up the final slope before the summit.
	Peter, Andrea, Sonny, Zosia and Marta gather on top of Little Copper (2592 metres).
	Evidence of avalanches can be seen below the false summit at left in this view to the north.  Castle Mountain also stands out in the distance right of centre. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Most noteworthy in the view to the south are Pharaoh Peaks (left), Haiduk Peak (centre), Shadow Lake, and Mount Assiniboine (distant far left).
	Storm Mountain (right) and its southern outliers dominate the view to the west.

After lingering for about half an hour on the summit, we removed our skins and skied back the way we came along the north ridge.  In retrospect, it might have been easier to ski down to Gibbon Pass and subsequently to the lower of the Twin Lakes, but then we would have missed out on all the "fun" we had re-applying our skins to get back up to the larch-covered high point followed by a sketchy descent of the crux.  To be fair, we experienced some great powder skiing in the forest at the north end of the ridge although the enjoyment of this was tempered somewhat by some bushwhacking lower down and a short but demoralizing climb out of the snow-covered creek to regain Twin Lakes trail.

The group prepares to ski off the summit of Little Copper.  Mount Ball looms large in the background.

 

Sonny carves a few turns on the wind-blown slope with Marta coming right behind him.

Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak

 

Zosia tries to gain some momentum to carry her across the flatter section ahead.

 

	Peter looks for a good line to ski down the end of Little Copper's north ridge.
	Zosia ponders her next turn while descending the steep slope.
	Marta glides through the deep powder effortlessly.

Much as I had feared, the descent of Twin Lakes trail was every bit as brutal the second time around at least for me.  The heavily forested slopes here do not allow for a lot of deviation from the steep, narrow and winding luge track, and this, in turn, demands a lot of tiresome snow-plowing on the part of hack skiers like myself.  I wiped out numerous times simply out of sheer fatigue, and just trying to get up after each wipe-out was in itself also exhausting.  In my previous trip report, I mentioned that the worst aspect of the descent was having to climb up the numerous uphill sections on the way out.  While these uphill sections are still unquestionably aggravating, my overall impression of the descent this time around is that the most soul-sucking aspect was having to stay mentally focused the whole way down--not an easy thing to do at the end of a long day.  Only when we crossed the bridge at the very bottom could I relax and just enjoy the glide of my skis.

In my mind, it is perhaps a shame that the arduous descent of Twin Lakes trail so overshadows what was otherwise a glorious ski ascent of Little Copper.  The scenic ridge may be worth a return trip someday via my proposed alternate approach along Redearth Creek.

I wish to thank again Andrea, Peter, Marta and Zosia for their hard work breaking trail during the ascent and for their patience throughout the day constantly waiting for me to catch up to them.  They probably do not share my sentiments about the descent, but as far as I am concerned, I will never ever ski Twin Lakes trail again!

	Zosia side-steps up one of the many annoying uphill sections on the way down Twin Lakes trail.
	After the arduous descent of Twin Lakes trail, Sonny is utterly spent while Andrea looks ready to go for another lap. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	The late day sun illuminates the top of Castle Mountain as the group makes its way back to the highway.
	Total Distance:  21.5 kilometres Round-Trip Time:  10 hours 29 minutes Net Elevation Gain:  1147 metres GPX Data