Powderface Ski

BOU AVENUE
Powderface Ski

Mindful of the considerable to high avalanche hazard in the mountains on 9 March 2024, Zosia Zgolak and I opted to do a relatively safe and simple ski tour to a cut block that we had visited the previous year on the east side of Powderface Ridge in Alberta's Kananaskis Country Public Land Use Zone. Just as before, we began our tour from the winter gate near Elbow Falls and skied about 3.5 kilometres up Highway 66 before turning off onto a logging corridor. Fortuitously, someone had already broken a nice trail through the snow for us, and we easily reached the cut block at the end of the corridor. The broken trail continued up to the top edge of the cut block, and we ran into our benefactor here--a solo Polish skier named Pawel. After a nice long chat, Pawel skied down the cut block while we continued climbing up a densely forested slope to a subsidiary high point of Powderface Ridge. Unlike the scenic knob we ascended last year, this high point is completely covered by trees and mostly devoid of views. As such, we only snapped a quick photo before descending back the way we came with climbing skins still on since the forested slope is virtually unskiable, at least for us mere mortals.

Back at the top of the cut block, Zosia and I again ran into Pawel who had climbed back up for a second lap. We had another long chat with him while we stopped to remove our skins and have a quick bite to eat. When we were all ready to descend, Pawel quickly disappeared down the cut block, and we would not see him again. Being inferior skiers, Zosia and I descended much more slowly and cautiously. On this day, the snow felt sticky and grabby, and it seemed to take a lot of effort to gain any momentum. We made a little better progress once we regained our up-track at the bottom of the cut block, but while the ski out the logging corridor was faster, we still had to remain vigilant for the occasional hazard lurking just under the surface of the snow. Ironically, the best skiing of the day was the return along the highway. For whatever reason, the mostly downhill ski back to the winter gate along Highway 66 has always been a slow grind for us, but on this day, we enjoyed the best glide to date along this stretch. Snowmobilers had packed down the snow on the highway while we were up high, and I suspect that, combined with the warm weather, this made the resulting track slicker than usual to our great benefit.

	Zosia skis up the snow-covered highway.
	Zosia leaves the highway here. The snowy peak in the distance is Rainy Summit.
	Zosia follows a broken trail up a logging corridor.
	The logging corridor leads to this cut block with views ahead of Powderface Northeast Ridge, a scenic knob that Zosia and Sonny skied up the previous year.

Good for ski touring; not so good for ski turning!

Zosia continues to follow a broken trail up the cut block.

	Above the cut block, Zosia climbs up a densely forested slope.
	Zosia and Sonny take a selfie on a forested high point (1994 metres) just east of Powderface Ridge which is partially visible in the background.
	The forested high point grants very little in the way of scenic views.
	Zosia skis the upper part of the cut block with a view of Prairie Mountain in the distance.
	Zosia cruises out the lower part of the cut block. Visible at distant right is Iyarhe Ipan.
	Although snow coverage in the logging corridor is adequate for skiing, vigilance is required because there are still some hazards lurking just below the surface.
	Zosia is surprised to see multiple snowmobile tracks upon returning to the highway.