Icefall Lodge, BC Rockies, Mar. 21-28, 2015

[raypruit]

I went to Icefall Lodge (icefall.ca) in the western BC rockies for the last week of March. it was the best week of shredding I've ever done. We did everything from tree runs to high alpine glaciers weaving through crevasses and massive seracs, and rode nothing but powder for a week. We averaged about 1500 m a day for 7 days, which in my book is a lot of pow. The highlight for me was the best run of my life - a 900 metre vert, sustained 40 degree slope in 2 feet of pow with massive cliff walls on either side. Our guide said it was a "slightly above average" week. I think a good week would blow my mind.


At the risk of making it harder for myself to book a spot next season, I have to say that if you like backcountry skiing, you are blowing it if you don't make it to this place at least once. The available terrain here is absolutely massive. They have pretty much everything you could ever want to ride. All aspects, all levels of gnarlyness.


Long, sort of repetitive video of all the down:
https://vimeo.com/125130438


Pics of the up:















The run of my life happened down the obvious couloir in the background:



We rode this 400 metre pitch called Home Run right back to the lodge to end off almost every day. it never got old:






Some of our group set off this size 3 while they were bootpacking up the ridge:


















not a bad lunch spot:









The view from our room:

[LeeLau]

Nice timing. I find the terrain at Icefall to be above average.

[raypruit]

Lee, the Icefall TR you posted on your website was definitely a contributing factor in booking our trip. We definitely lucked out. I was expecting subpar snow given the season we've had, but it dumped a foot the day we got there and half a foot more a couple days later.

[406]

Wow, looks awesome.

[europaul]

awesome! looks like a fun time

[grskier]

I'm kicking myself for not going last year.. and now this year too.

Great TR, thanks for sharing.

[StanWagon]

Yes, Icefall has truly great terrain (been there 3 times winter, once summer). The traverse they do via Lyell and Mons Huts is also worth doing.

In the "view from Lodge" photo you can see the base camp we set up across the way (in TR I just posted). Guide Pierre had been looking at that area for many years from the Lodge, and arranged our wonderful week in the snow,

[raypruit]

A potential trip to the Lyell hut was suggested during our trip but weather came in making it not an option. Although I don't mind the occasional scenic traverse, I'd rather invest my energy into riding the steep and deep, and it seems like to give the Lyell hut the time it deserves from the lodge would take 3 days: 1 to get there, 1 to ride the big peaks around it, and 1 to get back to the lodge. To me, that would spend too much time traversing out of the 7 days we had. I'd rather just get a heli bump up there and get more time to ride what's around the huts (a heli bump was actually suggested to shave a day off but the timing/weather didn't work out).

Pierre mentioned that when the snowline is low enough (i.e. not this season) it's also possible to ride ~2500 m from a high point around the Lyell hut right down to the valley, using a heli-bump at either the beginning or end to make it doable in a day. That would be pretty amazing.

To be honest, I would have been perfectly happy lapping vitamin P over and over again until it was completely tracked.