North Face of Slalok Mtn from Joffre Lake
We took advantage of the well entrenched, high-pressure system on Saturday and drove up to the Duffy Lake Road to ski the North Face of Slalok. We got an early start from Pemberton and hit the Joffre Lakes trailhead before 8:00.
The NW Face of Mt. Matier looking tracked out.
Sarah boot packing the summit ridge.
Travel up the lakes was tricky on skis with a hard freeze making the well tracked trail very slick. Sarah opted to wear crampons and carry skis. From the upper lake, travel got easier and we came into view of the face. We could not make out a discernible track up the face while there was a clear one going up the Matier Glacier so we opted for that route. We stopped for lunch on the glacier and then pressed on, boot packing part of the summit ridge and skinning to the top.
The face was completely skied out so we took a few careful turns on the upper section and then cruised on to the lower face, hitting spring crust, then slush at the bottom. We made it back to the car in just under 8 hours. It was a nice day with endless views, lots of sun and decent skiing. I can now say I have skied the three major summits of the Matier Group.
Gear:
Slalok doesn’t require any special gear aside from crampons and an ice axe. Here’s my Basic Ski Alpinism Kit
Looking down our run from the top.