Saturday January 19 John and I were looking for a big cardio/endurance ski tour day. We changed our original plan because of big snow and big winds in the forecast. Looking for a low hazard option, we settled on ski into Skoki Lodge. John has never been to Skoki. I have been to the Skoki area many times over the years. My last trip was early 2010, Raff and I skied to the lodge, then skied and scrambled to the summit of Skoki Mountain and out in a day; that was a big day. John and I didn’t have conditions or the longer daytime hours to attempt this and were quite happy to lunch at the lodge and return. It is about 15 km from the Fish Creek parking lot, near Lake Louise ski hill, to the lodge. About 30 km round trip. We were 4 hours to the lodge, not including a coffee and muffin break at Temple Lodge on the Louise ski hill, and 3 hours out. Great day minus crazy high winds and low vis at deception pass and on the return across Ptarmigan Lake. Great ski out by headlamp from Boulder Pass out.
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| Nearing Halfway Hut, Ptarmigan Peak above John's head, and Pika Peak to the far left |
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| Nearing the crest of Boulder Pass |
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OSWB nearing Boulder Pass.
Photo by John |
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Tough conditions above Boulder Pass enroute to Deception Pass.
Photo by John. |
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| John resting in the lodge |
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OSWB getting ready to blast home, lodge behind.
Photo by John |
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Skoki Mountain as seen on the ski back up to Deception Pass.
My last trip out here was to ski/scramble this summit with Raff back in March of 2010. |
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| We are starting to feel the mileage as we near Deception Pass on the way out. |
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| Near whiteout conditions at Deception Pass on the way out. |
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| Skiing out by headlamp, lots of fun and great atmosphere |
