Splitboarding at the Asulkan Hut with the ACC

Early in the winter some fellow board members in the Alpine Club of Canada Columbia Mountains Section and I started planning a club ski touring and split boarding trip to the Asulkan Cabin in Glacier National Park. We booked the entire ACC hut for 3 nights at the end of February, arriving on Friday and leaving Monday. We got together a group of 10, including two leaders, one assistant leader, and 7 participants all with an adequate level of backcountry touring experience. Sara was the master planner, booking the hut, securing the parking passes and overnight permits, and confirming the packing list.

Packing

It was many of our first time ski touring to an overnight hut in avalanche terrain and with potential glacier travel, so packing was a bit of an experiment for everyone. We needed all of our regular safety equipment - transceiver, probe, shovel, helmet, inReach, radios, warm layers, first aid and repair kits - plus 2 team ropes, personal harness and a few cords and carabiners for the possible glacier travel we were planning. Add to that a sleeping bag, toiletries, a set of clothes and booties for in the hut, and food (and drinks) for 4 days, it’s a lot to fit into a 40ish litre pack. Most of us opted for dehydrated food to save room and everyone made different sacrificial choices, like forgoing booties, taking it light on alcohol and treats, skipping a sleeping bag, or bringing a larger pack instead of an avalanche or typical touring pack. Each choice had different levels of satisfaction in the end, but it was a unanimous decision that some sort of inside footwear was a necessity.

Parking

We arrived at the Illecillewaet parking lot Friday morning at 9am, where we were met with our first obstacle of the trip - finding parking for 4 vehicles! The lot was totally full of vehicles and we were doubtful the group leaving the Asulkan Hut would make it to the parking lot anytime soon. Our best solution was to shovel out a small spot near the trailhead where we could fit our smallest car and then shuttle the rest of the vehicles to the larger parking lot at the Rogers Pass Discovery Centre a few kilometres down the highway. Once we confirmed with park staff that this was allowed and started the process, we were surprised by a large group of families returning to the parking lot from the Wheeler Cabin just a couple km up the trail. Even more surprising, I knew one family from La Ronge where they host the Napatak Ramble Music Festival every year. After they loaded up we were able to park two vehicles at each lot and we were on our way.

Approach

The ski tour to the hut is about 8km long with nearly 1000m of total elevation gain. The first kilometre is along an old rail bed and quite flat. It’s width was a nice way to get started, allowing us to skin 2 by 2 and chat with other group members. The following 4 km consist of a gradual grade following the Asulkan Brook in a beautiful valley. Just before the valley opens up there is a large terrain trap known as the mousetrap. Caution, adequate spacing, and appropriate speed must be considered through this section in the event of an avalanche occurring on any of the slopes above. Shortly after passing through the mousetrap the skin track heads into the trees for 2 kilometres of switchbacks and significant elevation gain. This portion of the approach was easily the most tiresome as my pack had grown extra heavy. We reached the alpine just minutes before the hut and still the shelter from the wind after exiting the trees was more than welcome. In total the approach took our group of 10 just under 5 hours.

The Cabin

The hut itself is a wooden structure with two floors. The main floor consists of a propane heater, a kitchen with propane stoves, pots, dishes, mugs, utensils, and wash basins, large tables with bench seating, propane lanterns, and plenty of gear hooks. A steep staircase/ladder takes you to the second floor where there are bunks with sleeping matts for 12 people. 2 of the bunkbeds are set up individually and the others make 2 large platforms with 4 matts on each. Again, there are a number of gear hooks upstairs - you never had to search too hard to find a spot to hang your wet mitts or skins. Additionally there are some books, board games, and reference photos on the main floor. The front door is kept locked with a combination pad lock and there is an emergency exit upstairs at the back with a ladder down to the ground. Large windows on the front provide beautiful views of the Asulkan Valley. Outside there are propane tanks, a grey water pipe, a snow collection area for melting drinking water, a two stall outhouse with barrels, and a pee area.

Hut Life

A winter stay in an alpine hut provides a peaceful solace from city life. While the Asulkan has cell reception, our group all shared the mindset that limiting phone use was the best way to get the most out of our weekend. We passed the time in the evenings debriefing the day’s events, planning the next day’s adventure, and playing card and board games. There are also a number of daily tasks necessary for the group to make a hut stay possible, including:

• Monitoring the heater to make sure it is not too cold or hot for sleeping. There is a thermostat but it’s not the most reliable. Also be sure to bring a spare set of AA batteries for the smoke detector.

• Collecting snow and boiling it on the stoves for drinking, cooking, and cleaning.

• Washing dishes and dumping grey water.

• Shovelling stairs, doorways, walkways, and access to the outhouse and grey water pipe. This also includes clearing the snow behind the outhouse where the barrels are stored.

• Sweeping and wiping down surfaces. (Bring your own dish cloth!)

Weather and Emergencies

As always in the mountains, we needed to be prepared for changes in weather and emergencies that may arise. Though our first evening was stunningly clear, on Saturday the wind picked up, bringing a bit of a snow storm with it later in the weekend. The wind also forced cold air into the hut and meant some of our group members were a little chilly that night. One group member brought up a minor medical issue Saturday morning that was cause for worry. With questionable weather on its way, she decided to return to her vehicle on Saturday afternoon with two ACC Maintenance Volunteers who happened to have made the day trip to check up on the hut. Though not a major concern once back in town, in a remote setting we could have found ourselves in an precarious situation had her condition worsened and weather prohibited an emergency helicopter rescue. A number of our group members have wilderness first aid training and we were happy to avoid needing to put it to use.

Objectives

With such a large group (now 9), we were able to split into two groups according to fitness, skill level, and general effort desired. On Saturday the entire team set on our way with the goal of summiting Youngs Peak, but as the wind picked up we stopped to re-evaluate. Three skiers and a splitboarder were happy to continue on the wind affected terrain to the peak with hopes of checking out Youngs Coulior. Myself along with two other splitboarders and two skiers chose to head to the col instead, in favour of less exposure and more pleasurable riding back to the hut.

Our group arrived back to the hut before noon. We enjoyed lunch indoors and helped the maintenance volunteers shovel out the iced-in barrels at the back of the outhouse (some groups before us hadn’t done their jobs so well). The other group contacted us by radio to let us know that they safely made it to the summit and back down to ski some trees below the hut. We later enjoyed a couple smaller afternoon laps above the hut before everyone made it back for dinner as the wind hit its peak around 50km/h.

On Sunday the group chose to ride the tree triangle below the hut to provide some respite from the alpine winds. We enjoyed 3 laps before returning to the hut for a warm lunch. The last bit of the skin back to the hut was especially brutal, with the wind really laying it on us. Myself and one other participant decided to stay in the hut for the afternoon, while the others went back out for a couple more laps in the same area. We cleaned up a bit and enjoyed some quiet time knowing we would still need some energy for the ride home the following day.

Returning Home

With snowfall overnight and more expected Monday afternoon, we planned to leave the hut by 9am on Monday. After breakfast, it took the group an hour to get the hut cleaned up and paths shovelled outside for the next visitors. The tree triangle was full of fresh powder for us to enjoy on our way down into the valley which was a great last hoorah as we left the hut.

Splitboarders take on an extra challenge exiting the drainage, as it’s long and quite flat. From the edge of the trees we first needed to ride one at a time through the mouse trap, careful not to lose speed or catch an edge, which would force us to hike through powder to get to the top of the next hill. We all made it successfully, with 3 of the 4 splitboarders falling in a divot just metres before the group’s meet-up spot. The next portion following the brook was a mix of short downhill parts with flat spots in between. The other splitboarders chose to transition to split-skiing shortly after the mousetrap but I stuck it out on my board using my poles or taking out a foot to push myself along as needed. It’s a bit of a coin toss as to which option is best, but I think we were all satisfied with our decisions. I eventually transitioned to split-skiing when we reached the rail bed and the short downhill part into the parking lot confirmed that I am much more capable on one plank than two.

The trip back to the parking lot took 2½ hours. We split into a faster and a slower group about halfway out, with the faster group shuttling the cars in the 15 minute lead they had on those of us with a more leisure pace.

One final piece of advice - always leave a snack in the car for the ride home!