Cold as Sapphire

On Tuesday, 6 December 2016 I went ski touring up at Rogers Pass with Glenn Westrup. There was deep unconsolidated snow (about 80cm) and cold temperatures (-15’c or so). Winds were calm.

We followed the skin track up towards the Asulkan Cabin and then veered off to the right and climbed up towards Sapphire Col. Glenn got tired at the terminus of the Asulkan Glacier and we skied down from there. The deep unconsolidated nature of the snow made mellow ski terrain difficult to ski, yet there isn’t yet quite enough snow to cover the trees and shrubs. It’s a difficult in-between period in mountains around Rogers Pass.

The main difficulties of the day were breaking trail through the deep snow and staying warm in the cold temps.

glenn reaching Alpine towards Sapphire Col
Glenn powder skiing near Sapphire 2.
Joel Skiing Asulkan
Glenn powder skiing near Sapphire.
Glenn powder skiing near Sapphire 3.
Joel Skiing Asulkan

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