Valkyr Adventures – backcountry skiing in Canada
Day1 Flyin || Day2 Naumulten Circumnavigation || Day3 Rollins Ridge || Day4 Grizzly || Day5 Heart Ridge || Day6 Rollins-Viking || Day7 GrizzlyStoneyLookout
Day 3 – Rollins Ridge
On our 3rd way at Valkyr we skied with Carl, Greg, Mike and Andy making it Team Polite Freedom. We headed out S of the lodge via the Heart Zone to Rollins Ridge.
Given the poor condition of the solar-exposed south facing slopes and given that stability was better then we had expected Rollins Ridge was a good option for another pleasant ramble to scout steep N facing treed slopes. Plus the inversion was breaking down and high clouds combined with scattered flurries meant a low vis day. It also allowed us a look into the Far Bowl zone, which would also be good if the South and East facing slopes delivered.
We got to this area by staying high on Naumulten and skiing down the Prow into the Heart Zone. We then toured into the Heart Zone along Rollins Ridge to treeline to then ski down the NE facing slope of Mt. Rollins. We then skied into the lower Rollins Ridge zone.
After one run on Rollins ridge, Carl and Sharon headed back to the lodge taking three hours to return. Lee, Greg, Mike and Andy had two more runs on Rollins Ridge including a 750m shot E of the ridge and further down-valley before they slogged back in the dark but just in time for dinner! Very civilized for a headlamp ski. All return paths came back via Lo Rollins, down Heart Glade, around the western aspect of the Prow, through Heart Bypass and back to the Lodge.
The Red track was our route this day.
Rollins/Heart Ridge, looking towards pass to get into Far Bowl Zone. Very rocky.
Skiing down East facing slope of Mt. Rollins
Skiing into Rollins Zone
Skiing into Rollins Zone
Greg off North Facing slopes of Rollins Ridge
Andy getting sick before he got sick!
They guys go back for ‘ just one more run! ‘
Good long runs off Rollin’s Ridge
Greg getting down
Zbo railing the 700m slidepath
Andy milking the pow
Rollin’s slide path in the back.
Team Polite Freedom ack just in time for dinner!
Snacks
Everyone else spends their evenings stretching and relaxing.
Google Earth Image from Above
Valkyr Map from Valkyr Adventures
While we as a self-guided group found that we could unlock the massive potential of some of the more gnar terrain of the Grizzly, Viking and Rollins zones with some effort we did notice in the hut log that many self-guided groups meandered around in the more mellow terrain. If your group is a tad more hesitant/less-willing to explore we’d suggest Zenith Guides (Evan Stevens). Lee and Evan geeked out on maps and terrain before getting to Naumulten; an exercise that proved fruitful!
