From the Moraine
Lake Road winter trailhead, follow the road to
the Paradise Valley trailhead; continue on the trail to Annette Lake.
Head south-east towards the col between Big and Little Temple, 566904;
seracs threathen this section. It is possible to ski to the
top.
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Charles, Fabrice and
I are joining Andrea and Raff for this ski tour. |
| Ski touring:
RT 8.0; 5.0 up. We had planned to visit
K-Country over the weekend but warm conditions had us reconsider; Raff
suggested we go to Lake Louise. Although the weather wasn't stellar,
the snowpack was stable and solar radiation was minimal. We met
Charles, Raff and Andrea at the Moraine Lake Road trailhead and
proceeded along the road to the Paradise Valley Trail. We continued
along the well-used trail towards Annette Lake; travel was pleasant
until the snow started to stick to our skis, no one was spared... It
was so bad that Fab had to pull out his candle to wax all the skins; it
helped for a bit but the snow still stuck to the skis right until we
started climbing to Annette Lake. My goodness, by that time I felt
gutted just dealing with the extra drag... Ahead, the troop carried on.
We stopped at the lake; looking at the seracs on Temple, we talked
about tsunamis. After a snack, we made our way to the col
between Big and Baby Temple. The snow quality improved as we climbed
higher; I was looking
forward to the ski down, even in flat light. Charles and Andrea were
plowing in front; surprisingly enough, Fab was right up with the
youths! As for myself, I was well in the back; luckily, Raff was very
gallant and stayed behind to converse. We were reunited at the top
where we had lunch and good laughs. The sun tried coming out as we
descended. Skiing was decent and almost effortless. We enjoyed the
return on the trail as well, it was nice to glide. Once on the freshly
groomed Moraine Lake Road, we skated back to the trailhead; now, that
was way quicker than skinning! Kuddos to Raff for convincing us to do
this great ski tour and introducing us to Andrea, rock on! |
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Little Temple left
of center. |
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Along the drainage
on our way to Annette Lake, the snow is sticking to our skis... |
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Raff showing off his
bent pole. |
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Ascending to the
lake. |
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Large seracs on
Temple loom over Annette Lake and our ascent route. |
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Heading for the col
between Big and Baby Temple. |
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Looking back. |
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Snow conditions
improve as we climb higher. |
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Looking back again. |
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Raff hangs back, we
discussed objectives of course.
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Reaching Little
Temple. |
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View into Paradise
Valley. |
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Summit picture,
yippee!!! |
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View north-east. |
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The sun comes out as
we leave; quick, get the camera out! |
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The skiing is good
despite the flat light. |
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Returning on skis is
the best! |
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Whoot, whoot, see
you next time! |
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