Icefall Traverse Day 3 – Lyell Hut to Crampon Col to Icefield Lodge

April 20, 2024

I finally had a good night’s sleep, and even managed to fall back asleep after the 5:30 am Guide alarm. I was so rested, that I had all my gear nicely put away in one spot.

Breakfast was again oatmeal, with my own dedydrated berries and seeds. However, everyone else decided to get creative. The Lyell Hut had a large supply of Ichiban Noodles, and that was the breakfast of choice for everyone else. I didn’t try it, but the group all swore by it.

Despite the cold wind yesterday on our ski to Lyell Hut, we were actually dealing with a warming trend that would severely limit our scheduled travel. Today, we were supposed to ski down to the Alexandra Cabin, which sits at about 1,200 m elevation. With warm temps, the skiing in and out of the Cabin is brutal. If you’ve ever dealt with schmoo snow, it is not fun. Punching through, slow, sticky travel. However, the bigger issue was the overhead hazards. Getting through some terrain with overhead runouts would be very dangerous with a high probablity of avalances.

Our Guide Jesse needed specific weather to indicate if we could safely ski down there, but more important, could safely travel back up the next day. What we really needed was an overnight freeze at the Alexandra Cabin. As he took the 7:00 am weather radio call, the bad news came through – no overnight freeze, and temperatures are rising fast. This was actually a bit of a blessing, because it made the decision easy. No overnight freeze, overly high avalanche danger, so no go. Done.

We now switched gears. We would ski direct to Icefall Lodge, via Crampon Col. We weren’t the only group to suffer this fate, as the group following took our lead.

Another blow to our plans was that the weather up here was still white out and super windy. We were hoping to nab an 11,000′ peak before we skied down, but it was not to be. I feel like Mike and I are bad luck on traverses. Our last three major ski traverses – the Bow to Yoho, the Bonnington, and the Spearhead – were all done in whiteouts. Sorry gang!

Overview

Totals – Downloadable Tracks on Gaia, Displayed on Strava

Date: April 20, 2026
Group:  Ten (Alisen, Mike, Mike, Amber, Pam, Jeff, David, Iwona, ACMG Jesse, TG Sebastian)
Distance: 9.17 km
Elevation:  301 m Gain, 1,400 m Descent
Time:  5 hours 30 minutes (includes breaks)

Lyell Hut to Crampon Col to Icefall Lodge

After fighting to keep the door closed on the outhouse, and fighting to get the toilet paper to go down the hole instead of floating back up (yup, it was that windy), it was time to get going. We had a pale sunrise as the sun struggled to peak out below the clouds. We then struggled to get our skins on in the howling wind. There was no hiding from this wind.

We had a short ski up to get above the windscoop, and then we looked across the glacier to Crampon Col. So called, because Larry found an old pair of boot crampons there when he initially climbed it.

The ski down was uneventful, and was actually nice with good snow. Again Jesse swished ahead, and laid the perfect ski track for us to follow. It was a very easy ski right up to the base of Crampon Col.

Now the fun begins. Jesse and Seb spent a good 30 minutes cutting the most amazing trail and kick-turn into the steep wall of snow. They went back and forth on this several times, with Sebby taking off his ski and stomping in a good platform next to the rock wall. As for Jesse’s kick-turn platform – I have never seen better. This was an engineering feat on such a steep wall.

I went first, and was super impressed with the trail. In the video, you can hear me breathing hard. I guess I was more nervous than I thought, and I think I raced up there to get it over with. There was some overhead hazard, and I didn’t want to hold up the group.

Near the top, we took off our skis and strapped them to our packs. We hiked up to the col on flaky rock, and then traversed across to access the descent. As I looked down at a convext roll, bullet-proof hard pack, and so steep that I couldn’t see the bottom, Jesse said it was time to ski down. I just slowly shook my head. Jesse then said, “I will ask the group.” The Group? Hard no.

Like a trooper, Jesse simply turned around and kicked steps to descend. This was the right choice. I am a very strong skier, and I could have skittered my way down, but a slip would send me hurdling down the steep and icy slope. I have to say though, I would have prefereed to ski it. The bootpack down took forever! With skis on my pack, my back was killing me. Every few minutes I would look down, thinking surely we were near the bottom. Nope! Ugh!

We finally got off the steep stuff, and could dig out a platform to put on our skis. Yes! Back on the boards. Not so fast… It was now about 45 to 60 minutes of skiing in flat light with low intermitent fog. Jesse would wait for a slim opening, and then make a run for it. Even better, we had super icy and hard-pack ‘snow’. There were almost no tracks in the ice, and the skiers ahead were soon swallowed by the low light and fog. I have these amazing low-light goggles, and I could just barely make out lines from the edges of skis to follow.

In normal conditions, this would be a lovely ski. A wide open glacier, with gently rolling slopes. Instead, it was some of the most challenging skiing I have ever done. It was either snow-plow or side-slipping the whole way. Even Jesse wasn’t breaking out a turn. The highlight was skiing down a narrow gully. I’ve done gully skiing dozens of times, in tough conditions. This was next level. I got about half-way, then noticed that Sebby had skied ahead of the group, and was right behind me. All I could think was, how do I get this kid and his massive water skis in front of me? “Hey Alisen, mind if I go past you?” Holy yes! Seb plowed out a channel in the ice for us all to follow. Such a strong guy.

As we got lower, the temperature rose. The snow softened up a bit which allowed for some turns. We were now well off the glacier, and heading towards the trees. The closer we got to Icefall Lodge, the happier I got. These were runs I had been on several times in January when I skied at Icefall for a week. I knew the end of was near.

The final bit was a quick ski through tight trees on a thin track that lead directly to Icefall Lodge. We kicked off our skis, and walked 10′ to the deck. Ahhhh. Good to be back here!

As I had just skied Icefall Lodge in January, I got everyone settled into the rooms above the kitchen in the main building.

It was now time to relax, and unwind in the sauna.

As tomorrow would turn out to be super hot and a slower day, I will review Icefall Lodge over there.

Keep the adventure going!

Click here to keep the adventure going with Day Four and Five when we ski to Ice Pass, and have a day of Crevasse Rescue.

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Alisen