The last time we skied up Mount Gordon was just shortly after our Wapta Icefields traverse back in 2009. It was great, but we got clouded in at the summit.
This time round, I didn’t actually know I was going to Mount Gordon. I just knew that I was going skiing for the day, and a friend had kindly volunteered to mind the Moosling so Alex could come too – the first offspring-free ski trip together since… well, a good long while, especially if you count the times when I had an in-utero passenger.
We set off at a fairly decent pace, leaving the car at 8.20am, and making it to Bow Hut by 10.40am – with a few photo and sunscreen stops along the way. A brief snack stop, harnesses on, then onwards and upwards and onto the glacier.
I may have been inclined to lead at a fast pace, with the lurking worry about our toddler-minding friend being stuck with a screaming and unhappy Moosling, and no mobile phone reception so I could phone and check if they’d both been eaten by bears. But it was a gorgeous blue-sky day (perfect for getting the first sunburn of the year).
There’s only one brief steep section to get to the summit, and can be managed with skis on if you really want to, but we all opted for boot-packing and carrying the skis for a few metres.
I actually made it to the summit just before the clouds came along though, and these were the tracks of the guys who skied off just as I was arriving at the summit.
… watching the other guys approaching the summit.
By 1.50pm we were all sitting on the summit eating a late lunch, and admiring the clouds. The mountains had retreated into their standard afternoon shyness, so swathed in swirling cloud we sat eating our lunch and straining to catch a glimpse of view.
And then there was just the downhill to go! The snow was fantastic on the descent from Mount Gordon, and still pretty good on the way down to Bow Hut. The condition of my thighs by the time we reached Bow Hut -> not so good.
After dropping down from Bow Hut, there was the usual debate about whether with or without skins was quicker. No skins wins, but leads to a few frustrating climbs on the rolling terrain out.
Back at the carpark we thought it was all over. I was innocently eating my sandwich. And then I was swooped by a cheeky Whisky Jack, who tried to make off with the whole sandwich. He was pretty bold, and kept sitting a few metres away, waiting until he thought I wasn’t watching, and then swooping at my sandwich again. So we lured him into the car and cooked him into pie that night.
Dist: 24km. Elevation gain: 1280m. Max elevation: 3203m. Time: ~8hr10min
(Oh, and as you can see, posting is a little sparse these days – life was busy to begin with, and now I’m working full time as well. Or rather, doing standard, paid, turn-up-to-an-office, 9-5 kind of work. For another 2.5 weeks more anyway. As well as toddler-wrangling, and trying to keep making dolls, and getting into bike-fitness for the season on these awesomely dry trails, and attempting to train for a half-marathon that’s on in town this weekend.)