Author: Andrea Robertson
General area: Viking Ridge
Trip start date: 2021-05-15
Last summer when Hardy was working at Viking slabs he noticed some potentially fun ski lines off of Viking Ridge.
On March 28, 2021 Hardy and I ski toured east of the Viking meadows hiking trail to explore the area he could see from Viking slabs. We parked on the side of the highway and started up the old logging road. Conditions were mild and we found traveling through the forest much easier than slogging up the sticky road. As we ascended conditions cooled and we found fresh dry powder.
Our recon trip proved fruitful. Hardy squealed with delight when we confirmed the presence of a number of potentially skiable couloirs, and some blue ice for climbing. We planned to return when conditions stabilized.
On April 25, 2021 Hardy returned to the area with Ken to climb “Viking Falls” and found the ice in good shape. They both enjoyed the 70 metre climb, describing it as having an “alpine feel”. To access the area they skied up the old logging road, the route was 20kms round trip with heavy packs. By end of day they were exhausted, never so happy to see their vehicles.
On May 15th, 2021 Hardy, Dave and I returned to ski the couloirs! This time we hiked up the Viking hiking trail to about 1100 meters before changing over to our skis. From the meadows we headed east, south east, and up onto the ridge. The day was mild with forecasted temps of 8 degrees in the alpine, the sky was mostly blue, and the snow was in great shape for spring skiing. We had a great tour on the ridge and after some deliberations we skied down one of the couloirs. It was so good Hardy again squealed with delight, Dave smiled ear to ear, and I ranked the experience as one of my top 10 lines for the season. After our ski we climbed back up onto the ridge to be greeted by rain and wolf tracks. It was time to head home.
We have learned this area may have once been a popular ski area. We would be interested in any stories people have to share of their time skiing off of the Viking Ridge and any names assigned to the different couloirs.
There are some gentle ski lines in the area that could provide for a pleasant spring ski. If you chose to pursue the couloirs plan for avalanche conditions and overhead hazards.