Lost Ledge to Rossiter

A quick decision was made to do a ski traverse from the Lost Ledge cabin (near the headwaters of Schroeder Creek) to Hwy 31a via a pass near Mt Schroeder and Rossiter Creek. Accordingly, a half-dozen enthusiasts gathered at the cabin on Wednesday facing weather forecasts of frigid temperatures to come. This time, the forecasters were right. Thursday morning at 2000 m, dawn came with clear skies and a temperature of -25C.

Departure was delayed briefly to allow the sun more time to do it's job and to wait for 2 additional group members to arrive. They had the early start, leaving town well before 6 am to drop off a vehicle and make the ride and ski up to the cabin in the dark and the cold.

Just before 8:30 am, we started, with the run down through the forest to Schroeder Creek. Skins went on the skis, where they stayed until we reached the pass south of Mt Schroeder at 12:30 pm. We climbed through old-growth cedar and fir forest, across and up wide bowls and open slopes, where, despite the air temperature, the sun and the climbing kept us all quite warm.

The pass was cold, so other than removing the skins and admiring the view across to Rossiter Ridge and Mt Brennan, everyone soon started the descent to the valley bottom. The terrain leveled out there and what remained was a gentle descent along the creek alternating with, for me, somewhat hair-raising runs through West Kootenay woods. The road was reached at 3:45 pm where we all managed to cram into Webster's truck for the ride back to town, where it was still -10C. Photos of the trip can be found here.