Distance

8.9 km to summit

18.6 km total

Elevation

1,832 m start

3,033 m max

Vertical

1,159 m gain

Time

5 hr 39 min to summit

8 hr 45 min total

Mt James Walker - Apr 3 2021. Described by Chic Scott as "for those who have skied everything else in Kananaskis Country" which is kind-of funny and I somewhat agree. It's a lot of touring for some likely wind-blasted alpine turns... but it's a very fine summit and if you time the conditions well it could be an excellent corn snow ski! The book says it's 12km return and 1100m gain, it's 19km and 1300m gain. At least the book is consistent in sandbagging! We started the day with a great refreeze, -4c and clear sky. The temp/solar crusts were thinner than I expected, about 1-2cm below treeline and disappearing around treeline in this area. The alpine is absolutely wind hammered and made for tricky skinning at times. We ended up bootpacking the face instead of bothering with trying to skin up it. We didn't find any reactive windslabs. The ski down was a mix of terrible and bearable, improving as we got lower. We ended up skinning the entire way out once we hit the valley since it's so undulating. It was a great day but I'd only recommend this one for peak-baggers or folks looking for a bit of adventure. Crampons were an asset but not mandatory.

Route name

Southwest Slopes

out-and-back
Obstacles

routefinding, snow on route, avalanche danger

Key gear

crampons, helmet, skis, trekking poles, GPS device