There isn’t really any high end ski line in the Rockies more recognizable than Mt Victoria’s NE face. Sitting at the back of Lake Louise, one of the largest tourist draws, dropping seracs every few minutes on a hot summer’s day, it commands attention.<\/p>\n
I needed a single day ski to go for, before getting things together and heading out for a big Rockies expedition. So I had to pick something that would let me get home in reasonable time, yet was non-solar enough that the snow was still good. It was clearly time to slay Victoria. Leaving the car at 4am, I skated across a perfectly frozen and mostly smooth Lake Louise in 15 minutes. The surface was that perfect. Then up towards Abbott Pass. I went too far before heading to the right and up, and missed what was the right way to get up to the level of the Victoria Glacier. I did a bit of frisky skinning on hard crust and made my way via a different route, eventually ending up on track as the sun started to rise.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n After that I made my way through the crevasses, frequently consulting the Google Earth stills and my old camera shots to find the right way. Then up onto the upper serac, skinning over the scrund, then starting the bootpack. Again like on Murchison, snow went from hard crust to reasonably good snow all in a matter of meters and I was off up the face on only aluminum crampons and whippet. Climb, climb climb and I reached the top, 5 hours after leaving the car. I reasoned a bit of sun couldn’t hurt the ski quality, so I went tromping around to try to find the summit cairn unsuccessfully to pass the time.<\/p>\n