The Bugaboos to Rogers Pass ski traverse had been an adventure I have wished to achieve for several years but like many of life’s plans, finding the time, partners and motivation to coincide at once was often problematic. But with the phenomenal BC winter of 2005/06 and an April free of work and child commitments, I and three others completed what surely is Canada’s most acclaimed grand traverse.

Rather than provide a day to day chronicle of the tour, I thought I’d rather illuminate a few notable subjects and elaborate on those. Of coarse, in doing so, I will neglect to mention the months of planning involved, the precise selection of every item of gear, nor such golden moments as banking past the Bugaboo Spires in a Bell heli, or gaining Malachite Col on a bluebird morning with the entire Purcells and Selkirks stacked to the horizon. It was an incredible journey and I just never knew how much I loved doing committing, extensive traverses.

The Facts: C.R. Spooner (AT), Stewart Spooner (AT), Andrew Gross (AT), Chris Manhard (Tele) left Bugaboo Park March 30th, arrived Rogers Pass April 7th 2006. 9 Days Total, 130+ km. Used 3 huts, International Basin, McMurdo & Glacier Circle (Malloy Igloo was too removed from route for our liking). Max pack weight of C.R.Spooner: 16 kg. Groups of 2 camped in BD MegaMid and Bibler Eldorado. Food cache containing final 6 days worth of food, fuel and treats for night in hut was flown into International Basin. 2 avalanches, no injuries, no broken gear. Amount of GU packets consumed by C.R.: 26, best flavour: mocha chocolate.

The Best Skiing: Considering our late March departure, (we were the 3rd party so far that year) it was little surprise to that our tour was blessed with quality snow. Most northern aspects held boot deep fluff, (CMH was still flying) the exception being the last 2 days which saw rapid warming, rain to 2500m and elephant snot. The tone of the trip was established earlier with a sublime run down the Vowell Glacier from Snowpatch Col. There were also epic descents into Crystalline Pass, the Spillamacheen Glacier, off Snowman and Syphax Cols. But the best skiing of the tour was undoubtedly the 500m drop from Hume Pass, which seemed so effortless that I forgot I was wearing an expedition sized pack.

The dramatic icefall on International ridge.

Wildest Moments: The traverse abounds in gnarly terrain, with several enormous icefields to navigate, avie slopes to numerous to mention, large cornices, exhaustive climbs and many precarious ridgelines. The two largest icefields of the traverse, the Conrad and Carbonate happened to dish out whiteouts at the most inopportune times, resulting in certainly, our most challenging moment. The Carbonate Icefield is dissected by a prominent ridge off International Peak which was thoroughly unnerving in poor visibility. We approached it in what hindsight proved a far too high elevation and found ourselves atop a field of calving seracs on the edge of an enormous void. We roped up and delicately slid past crevasses to where a rocky outcrop broke up the soupy weather.

With no real escape route apparent, we decided to drop into a vague chute between the seracs and rocky buttress. This led to steeper terrain which cliffed out in a short distance, and rather than climb back up the chute and find another entrance we traverse this slope to find another chute and eventually open terrain. The entire descent reminded me of skiing the gnarliest line at my local mountain but with the added burden of a pack and poor sight. It was these moment of sudden and severe exposure, like the descent off Syphax Col, or the climb up onto Malachite Col, which contribute to the epic nature of this incredible traverse.

Off route and in a nasty place. We managed to ski out by staying close to the rocks.

Just some of the Spillamacheen Glacier

above McMurdo Hut.

Best Camp: Although I don’t mind the perpetual clamminess of a night spent in a BD MegaMid, particularly when it involves an unmatched location, however, the dry, spacious quarters of all 3 huts encountered were nights we all treasured. The best of the bunch was the Glacier Circle Cabin which rates highly in both character and setting. For south to north tourers, it sits as the final night of the traverse with the finish up and over the Illecillewaet, itself a cause for celebration. But it is also the rustic, dark quarters, steeped in amusing history, such as Fred Pepper who lived for several years in Glacier Circle with his family, which makes this hut stand above all others. The McMurdo feels like a sled-head cabin, while the International Basin occupies a terrific location and is remarkably warm, but it is also far too new, compact and lacks decent character.

Andrew, Stew and I (Chris taking photo) sharing dinner in the MegaMid - the ultimate shelter for this type of traverse.

Greatest Extravagance: In what will certainly be a memory venerated for years occurred on day 4 at the headwaters of Malachite Creek. We had just descended over Syphax Col, kicked off a large slab on the final pitch and set camp on a rocky ridge in what is perhaps the most spectacular setting of the tour.

   The bounty.

It had been an exhaustive day, both mentally and physically, and there we sat, on a warm boulder absorbing the sun’s rays and thinking about tomorrows battles. In the afternoon light, on a high point above camp landed a CMH craft with guest that proceeded to ski the mellow glacier a mere 30 feet from where we sat. It was a hilarious sight, punters and guides making lazy turns in the most unlikely of locations. Twenty minutes later, the helicopter returned, sans clients and landed slightly uphill from camp, pilot door opened and a package thrown into the snow before he lifted and banked a turn with blades only feet above the ground. We raced up to see what was deposited and found a hamper one could only dream of. Inside were soft brie cheese, crackers, oranges, fine chocolate, mangoes, candied salmon pieces, and four large cans of Guinness. Could life be any better?

The first turns of the traverse, the gorgeous

Vowell Glacier.

Random Thoughts: Chris is a demon on teles, the fastest, most powerful free-heeler I’ve seen, but frankly, he was no match to the alpine tourers. In Chris’s defence, he was fighting a flu, and carrying a behemoth camera pack. Nevertheless, the gap between the two (pun intended) systems was frightfully obvious and convinced someone like Chris, who has devoted his adult life to the drop turn, to swear allegiance to the fixed heel and source some Dynafits as soon as he returned to civilization.

Perhaps the best skiing of the trip, the long descent from Hume Pass follows the centre bowl.

Bugaboo to Rogers Pass Ski Traverse

Bugs to Rogers traverse

Bugaboos to Rogers Ski Traverse 2006

The dynafit crampons were one of the most helpful items we carried. The extra security they provide on steep, slippery uphills was so vastly superior than any loss of glide. Chris, the telemarker, cursed at not having found/devised a pair for himself.

All relieved to set camp in Malachite Creek after a demanding day over Syphax Col. I set off a class 2 slide on the final descent.

I’ve been caught in a few slides before this traverse, one life threatening, and I’ve done enough touring to trust my judgement on stability more than any other factor. And for whatever reason, I am also the chief guinea pig of the crew and that often makes me the most likely to get carried away. So when I dropped in to several steep NE slopes I knew the likelihood of producing a fracture. On two occasions during the traverse, I identified suspect slopes and proceeded cautiously, feeling confident that if they did fracture, I was prepared enough to escape. But what I failed to consider was that my heavy pack was the difference between skiing out to safety and being instantly toppled and unbalanced. Even a small, Class 1-2 slide was enough to tumble me over and for the first time in my life I was buried to my shoulders and pinned from the weight of snow.

Almost buried on the Spillamacheen Glacier after a small slide sweft me off my feet. I knew the slope could release but wrongly thought I could out-ski it with a heavy pack..

The crux of the tour is undoubtedly, the 60+m rappel off the Deville Neve, on the second last day of the tour. I imagine most of us were looking forward to it, having carried dedicate gear just for this event. But when the weather warmed and rain fell from the sky, apprehension and doubt quelled whatever testosterone was fuelling us and so the mind games began. We bypassed the Beaver with a plan to climb the Grand Glacier if the temperature dropped overnight. But it was if someone had flicked a switch to Spring and the rain came down all night bring avalanches into the Grand and pessimism all-round. With morning light we backtracked to the Beaver and proceeded 12km alongside the river to where Glacier Cirle burrows into the Selkirks and climbed up to below the Deville and watched ice blocks and natural releases pour off the headwall with abandon. Looking up to the rappel, I knew we made the right call, but I could not evade the lingering disappointment at having failed to accomplish what we set out to do.

The rappel from the Deville Neve is in the

extreme left of the valley. It wasn't to

be attempted on this day.

Bugaboo to Rogers Pass Ski Traverse 2006

alpine touring

Bugaboos to Rogers Traverse

Rogers Pass, Deville, Bugaboos