Ski Tour the Crowfoot Glades

Improvement District No. 9, Alberta

Description

A stunning area to check out for days when avalanche conditions are less than ideal. Mostly mellow terrain with limited overhead hazard.

Park at the viewpoint for the Crowfoot Glacier, roughly 32 kilometers after turning off Highway 1. It does sometimes get busy so you might end up parking on the side of the road.

From the parking lot head southwest, there is almost always a skin track here. No skin track? Freshies! YAY! After a short descent you will cross the southern section of Bow Lake, the source for the Bow River. The lake is usually frozen early in the season, but beware that there could be thin spots. People have fallen in here before.

The ski area will be obvious as soon as you are on the lake. On the southwest edge of the lake the skin track usually splits into three or four different directions. The South side (climbers left from the lake) is usually a bit steeper and the trees are more dense, where as the North side (climbers right from the lake) can be very open in spots. There are plenty of pillows to be found in the central upper area.

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Features

Snowboarding

Skiing

Easy Parking

Forest

Lake

Scenic

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Leave No Trace

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