11.7 km to summit
24.1 km total
1,642 m start
2,565 m max
1,002 m gain
6 hr 18 min to summit
11 hr 10 min total
Ski ascent of Akamina Ridge with great conditions! Skied in from the gate on the Akamina Parkway then to Wall Lake. We had to ski over a massive avy debris field from several avalanche events NW of Wall Lake that occurred several days before. I would never go in this area unless avy conditions were bomber, a large component of this route is in a terrain trap below a corniced ridgeline. The melt-freeze crust was completely frozen solid because temperatures were just below freezing - this made for good snow stability but challenging travel. The snow surface was bullet-proof and steep slopes were impossible to skin up so we used crampons to climb. One slope in particular was fairly committing, a 30 degree boilerplate treed slope for about 150 vertical meters. We also had to cross some steep icy slopes once on the main ridge where crampons and an ice tool were necessary. The ski descent was horrendous and sketchy on the pure ice, I skied the all the way back to Wall Lake with my ice tool.
snow on route, avalanche danger
ice axe, crampons, skis