Splitboarders Simon and Joj had constructed a solid plan to check off their bucket list Christmas Couloir, located in Rogers Pass. I joined the crew at the last minute, hoping to ski yet another famous line this season. The day was as epic as it was dangerous. Even with exemplary decision making, our crew had a too-close-for-comfort experience with a large avalanche, enough to bury our party. While the close call was a big red sign that turned us away from skiing Christmas Couloir, we still had a helluva time shredding powder down Cougar Brook under the cold sunlight.

Related: Grizzly Couloir Rogers Pass: 3-Day Couloir Marathon

Report from December 9, 2019

My 5AM alarm clock was buzzing in my ears. What a brutal wake-up! After five consecutive days of storm skiing, I needed my sleep. I shoved a hearty breakfast down my throat and grabbed my backpack, packed the previous night.

Joj, Simon and I drove up to Rogers Pass, located in Glacier National Park, BC. I call this place the mini-Alps, for its saw-toothed ridges, steep chutes, and narrow valleys. The frigid sunrise was shining on Mt Tupper, adjacent to the Camels. Fun fact: the December sun shines at an angle of 5.54 degrees, which makes it perfect for ski photography.

After checking our avalanche transceivers, we zig-zagged through the old-growth trees of the Connaught Valley. The first step of our mission was to gain Balu Pass, roughly 4.5km up the drainage to an elevation of 2076m. The climb up to the pass was very gradual but we had to keep our wits about. The Connaught Valley is classified as “complex” terrain for its slopes are lined with several large avalanche paths. We had to keep a watchful eye on the aspects above us, especially when crossing avalanche fans, typically covered with brutal alders.

We took a short break at the top of Balu Pass. I casually snapped a few headshots of the boys and snacked on my delicious homemade granola bars. Within minutes, we were back in action, ready to complete the second step of our journey, crossing the vast expanse below the foot of Ursus Major Mountain.

We examined the avalanche danger in the Cougar Valley, the adjacent drainage which led us to spot a potential overhead slide hazard from the SW aspect of 8812 Peak to our right. The solution was quite simple. We crossed the large open snow plains by sticking to the top of the lateral moraines. Not only was it safer, but the snowpack was much thinner which made trail-breaking effortless.

An hour of trailblazing later, we stumbled across a striated rock face, reminiscent of the Canadian Rockies, with Christmas Couloir tucked at its foot. The feature was dwarfed by Ursus Major Mountain. We scrutinized the face for hidden dangers and plotted a course to gain the ridge. Here’s our thinking.

Booting up the center of Christmas Couloir is pure madness in Rogers Pass conditions. Our deep snowpack would make it extremely strenuous and please don’t get me started on the lengthy exposure to avalanches and rockfall from the towering headwall. We identified two options with the following hazards:

Such a dilemma makes avalanche terrain management so interesting. There isn’t always an easy answer but experience in the mountains will help. Either way, we leaned towards the first option if and only if we could set an uptrack on the steep slope. Before touring up the suspect face, we dug a snow profile in a spot where conditions were similar to the couloir’s and performed a shovel compression test. Our results confirmed our observations: the snowpack seemed stable enough.

In this particular section, we put some distance between us to minimize our exposure from the hazards overhead. I took the lead up the rocky face and set an uber-steep uptrack to reduce our time spent in this dangerous area. I was feeling the snow with my uphill pole every few steps, looking for a hidden windslab. I spotted a suspect rocky outcrop. The slope’s angle was by far the limit to which one can set a track on skins. After multiple awkward kick-turns, I crossed the crux, stopped on a safe spot and radioed in my safety. Joj climbed the crux with ease. As for Simon, he bolted up the track.

Once we were clear of the sketchy slope, we heard a large “whumpf“, the loudest we’ve ever heard, followed by the soft sound of an avalanche racing down the slope. Hairline cracks started shooting out of the snow below my skis reaching as far as Joj, 100m to my left. The lower section of the face was completely wiped out. Now, the upper section on which we stood was about to go for a ride as well, dragging us off the cliffs below. Simon had inadvertently triggered a stiff wind slab from a few meters away at the exact location I suspected earlier. Fortunately, no one was caught in its wake, probably due to our precautionary spacing.

Our plan to ski Christmas Couloir was thrown out the window. This wasn’t our first rodeo with avalanches although I bet Simon’s heartrate spiked for a moment. We backtracked to a relatively safe spot with a feather-light foot and quickly made our way down the slide’s bed which we identified as a solar crust dated back to Nov 23. The rest of the descent was great! Stunning views, deep powder, champagne snow.

After our amazing run, we couldn’t stop there. We headed down Cougar Brook without hesitation, jumping over stumps and alders. At treeline, the snow quality got even better. The additional shelter from the trees meant the coverage was consistently knee-deep.

After all this fun, we had to pay the price. We climbed back over Balu Pass for our final descent all the way to the car. By then, the fatigue had definitely settled in. We chose a mellow line down the Connaught Drainage. Sometimes, it’s great to ski carelessly and simply enjoy the fantastic views of Rogers Pass. We got back to the car within 45 minutes of leaving the pass. After our thorough avalanche debrief, we all agreed that it might have been safer to simply boot up Christmas Couloir, Rogers Pass will always surprise us!

Update: I successfully skied the Christmas couloir of rogers pass on my second attempt a week later with Jayden and Jack. This time, we climbed option #2 which ended up being a whole lot safer than my initial uptrack. Experience trumps all!

Shameless plug: Are you looking to chase the fresh snow as we do. If so, let me steer you in the right direction. Take a look at my tutorial on How To Get Into Ski Touring. There’s also useful information for splitboarders!

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