Temple Lake Ridge

<p>Ever heard of anybody skiing up this ridge? Well neither have we! Turns out it's unlikely to become a Lake Louise classic ski ascent - at least with the conditions we had. Absolutely heinous trailbreaking in spots, some of the worst I've ever done in my life. Bottomless facets meant ski penetration up to 50cm while breaking trail. But once the trail was broken, it was fine for everybody behind. Up at treeline we encountered a very prominent and very reactive wind slab layer along the crest of the ridge and partly down on the leeward side. Near the summit an exposed 35 deg slope backed us off due to the reactive wind slab. Booted up to the summit instead on the ridgecrest. Fun easy scramble on solid quartzite rock (ridge was mostly dry apart from some wallowing). The ski down was good in spots, although the bottomless facets makes for tough skiing. Tight trees depending on your ski route down. There's now a good skin track up there if you want to go check it out! Our route essentially stayed out of any consequential avy terrain. Views were superb!</p>

Terrain Ridden

Dense trees, Mellow slopes.

Terrain Avoided

Steep slopes.

Snow Conditions

Heavy, Wind affected.

Weather Conditions

Cloudy, Warm.