Chatter Creek Ski Runs

Ski Runs at Chatter Creek Snowcat Skiing

2005-08-09T08:55:00.000-07:00

This ski weblog lists the ski runs, major ski areas and land features at Chatter Creek Snowcat Skiing, located in the Canadian Rocky Mountains near Golden BC.

The ski runs and ski areas appear alphabetically, grouped by major cat skiing zone. This is work in progress. Scroll down or use the links in the following index. Click any ski photo to enlarge it.

This is part of the Chatter News family of ski weblogs about Chatter Creek. The links at the top of the page connect to the Chatter News and some if it's related ski weblogs.

General
Maps Locating Chatter Creek,    Cat Road Network,    3D Satellite Images

East Ridge
Enchanted Forest,    the Nose,    Sweet & Sour, the Fat and the Skinny,    Spruce Slide,    Super Spruce and Super Bowl,    Tree Skiing (miscellaneous runs)

Lodge Ridge
Crystal Light, Far Out, Pillow Talk & Waterfall,    Dewar's Bowl,    Home Run,    Mommy's Run

South Side
Anticipation Peak,    Harbourview,    Lakeview,    MCO,    RUZM Gully and Rugi,    South Park,    SX2,    SX3

Stovepipe Mountain and North Side
Bouncing Chuckles,    Jo-Pal and Jo-Pal to East Creek,    Megahooped & Megahooped Trees,    Mullet Bowl,    Spruce Pass and the Golf Course,    Terrain North of Vertebrae Glacier,    Vertebrae Glacier,    Windlip,    Wonderland

West Side and the new Lakeside Addition
Clamshell,    Fruit Loops and Forbidden Fruit,    Game Creek,    Oyster Bowl,    Staff Trees & Bermuda Triangle,    Waterfall

Index of (all) Names related to Chatter Creek: - A to D, E to K, L to R, S to Z (with links to ski photos and related information)

Alphabetical Listing of Ski Run Names

Maps locating Chatter Creek

2005-08-07T08:57:00.000-07:00

Three depths of map locating Chatter Creek Snowcat Skiing in Western Canada's British Columbia, just north of the town of Golden BC. These MSN "MapPoint" maps are available on the MSN Maps & Directions Web site. Click on any map image to enlarge it, use the browser's "Back" button to return.
Map 1 locates Chatter Creek north of Golden BC, south of Jasper National Park and just west of Banff National Park. Chatter Creek is in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.
Map 2 locates Chatter Creek between the SelKirk Mountains (mis-labeled on the map) to the west of Kinbasket Lake and the great icefields of the Rocky Mountains, to the east and north.
Map 3 locates Chatter Creek just southeast of the Clemenceau Icefield and just southwest of Mt Columbia, the Snow Domes and the Columbia Icefield, all of which are all easily visible from Chatter Creek's Vertebrae Glacier. For more information, see "Where is Chatter Creek" and Travel Information for Golden BC
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Cat Road Network

2005-08-07T07:15:00.000-07:00

The Chatter Creek Ski Run Index is organized by cat road network as described in Cat Skiing Terrain. Each network is a maze of access roads and pickup roads that accesses one or more major skiing zone(s). Each zone would constitute a large ski area. Most zones are named according to their location relative to Vertebrae Lodge, Chatter Creeks remote mountain lodge.

   1. South Side Super Road
   2. West Side Road to Oyster Bowl & Game Creek (Lakeside Addition)
   3. Lodge Ridge Road
   4. Road to Vertebrae Glacier & Chatter North
   5. East Ridge Road Super Road

The images show a Chatter Creek snowcat on the col between Harbourview and Lakeview and a contour map showing the cat roads and named ski runs on East Ridge. The viewpoint in the first image is across Lakeview towards Stovepipe Mountain, in the far distance.

An aspect of cat skiing at Chatter Creek is that the network of pickup roads permit skiers and riders to be picked up, each run, where the good skiing ends. There is no skiing down cat roads and through poor or skied-out terrain to reach a common pickup point.                               Back to Index

Anticipation Peak

2005-08-06T22:30:00.000-07:00

Anticipation Peak is in the MCO ski zone. It provides a number of steep slopes with one, Smoking Herb (towards the left of the first photo) being quite steep. (named after veteran guide Herb Bleuer). The photos above are all the work of Chatter Creek's in-house pro photographer, John Dougall. Back to Index

Bouncing Chuckles

2005-08-06T20:29:00.000-07:00

Bouncing Chuckles is a an area of broken terrain low on the west side of Stovepipe Mountain, in the center of Megahooped. It lies just south of Wonderland. Bouncing Chuckles ends just north of the Megahooped Trees and just above the bottom of the Golf Course. Bouncing Chuckles offers a number of lines through wide openings and draws in a broken cliff area with some sparse trees. Back to Index

Crystal Light, Far Out, Pillow Talk & Waterfall

2005-08-06T18:57:00.000-07:00

Adjacent to Mommy's Run, Far Out, Crystal Light, Pillow Talk and Waterfall lie on the east side of Lodge Ridge and descend from the crest of the ridge to the Spruce Creek gully, at the foot of the Megahooped Trees. The pickup road for these side-by-side runs is the Road to Vertebrae glacier and to Spruce Pass. The first photo shows the southern end of Lodge Ridge and the ski runs "Far Out" and "Crystal Light". The second photo shows "Mommy's Run", Pillow Talk" and "Waterfall". The third image is taken on Crystal Light. See Mommy's Run for more photos. The order of the runs is Far Out, closest to the south end of the ridge, followed by Crystal Light, Mommys' Run, Pillow Talk and lastly Waterfall, furthest to the north and closest to Spruce Pass and the Golf Course. Please note that we have also used the name "Waterfall" for steep feature on the outrun from Forbidden Fruit and Fruit Loops (See the Clamshell)

Dewar's Bowl

2005-08-06T18:00:00.000-07:00

Dewar's Bowl is located on the west side of upper Lodge Ridge and forms part of the Chatter Creek drainage. Dewar's Bowl itself is a depression in the broad alpine slope of upper Lodge Ridge. However, it is typical of the terrain further north on Lodge Ridge, towards the Chatter glacier. It provides a great deal of medium steep open alpine skiing, with some tree skiing near the valley floor. As one moves further up the valley (further north), there is less and less tree skiing at the bottom of the runs. Photo #1 is an aerial shot of Lodge Ridge from the west. Dewar's Bowl is in the center of the photo. Photo #3 is in the Chatter Creek valley, below Dewar's Bowl and looking in the direction of the Chatter glacier. Photo #4 is the west side of Lodge Ridge, viewed from the south, near MCO. Photo #5 is the view south from Lodge Ridge toward MCO. Photo #7 is of upper Lodge Ridge, north of Dewar's Bowl looking towards the Chatter glacier and the "world's largest halfpipe", which is located in the Kitchen Range of the Rocky Mountains. The remaining photos are taken in or near Dewar's Bowl. Back to Index

East Ridge Tree Skiing

2005-08-06T17:30:00.000-07:00

The East Ridge offers a continuum of tree skiing on both east and west aspects, some of which is unnamed. See "Sweet & Sour, the Fat and the Skinny" for photos of East Ridge runs that are largely open glades.

Tree runs on the east side of the ridge are "EMOP (Early Morning Old Phart), Percy's Knob, Primo and Salsa lying north of the glades and the Left Nostril of the Nose, lying to the south. Some of these have relatively open glades at the top, which drop into living forest. The Nose is a very sparse old burn. The east side of the ridge is always shaded and protected from wind and retains good quality snow for long periods of time.

Runs on the west side of East Ridge start in living forest and open up into a large cut block. These include Bad Boys, MJ Gully, Tin Horn, Hidden Valley, Roller Coaster and Brier, followed by the Enchanted Forest and the Right Nostril of the Nose, which are in an old burn. The west-facing runs offer very good skiing, but in sunny weather, the snow can become sun-crusted.

This contour map shows all of the named ski runs on the East Ridge. See also, "Skiing the East Ridge". The first two images above show the west and east sides of the East Ridge, respectively. The photographs are from the Nose and the Enchanted Forest. Click on the images to enlarge them. Back to Index

Enchanted Forest

2005-08-06T16:45:00.000-07:00

Enchanted Forest is an old burn on the west side of the East Ridge, near the Nose. The snags are well spaced. Below the Enchanted Forest, the run opens out onto enormous cut blocks that contunue to the bottom of the Chatter Creek valley. In the third photo above (East Ridge from the Clamshell), the Enchanted Forest is the area of sparse trees to the right of the living forest, Vertebrae Ridge rises in the background. Back to Index

Fruit Loops and Forbidden Fruit

2005-08-06T13:59:00.000-07:00

Fruit Loops is the valley to the north of the Clamshell on Chatter Creek's West Side. The first image is an aerial view looking down Fruit Loops from above its entrance from Oyster Bowl, west of the Clamshell. The area in shadow at the bottom of the image is Game Creek. Forbidden Fruit and the Plank are two exits from the Clamshell that drop into Fruit Loops. Forbidden Fruit (far left) passes above the rock spire and over the Waterfall. The Plank passes below the spire and beside the Waterfall. The 3-D satellite image shows the Clamshell and Fruit Loops, to the west of Vertebrae Lodge. It also shows major cat skiing areas in the South Side of the Chatter Creek tenure. Oyster Bowl and Game Creek, to the west of Fruit Loops, are in the new Lakeside Addition. Back to Index

Game Creek

2005-08-01T13:15:00.000-07:00

Game Creek is a large drainage in the new Lakeside Addition at Chatter Creek Snowcat Skiing. We don't have any skiing photos yet from Game Creek, but the images above show its location and give an indication of its size. Back to Index

Harbourview

2005-07-07T18:41:00.000-07:00

Harbourview is the southernmost bowl in the "South Side" of the original Chatter Creek tenure. It drains west into Kinbasket Lake. There is undeveloped cat skiing terrain further to the south, toward Bush Arm. SX3 and SX2 lie to the east and Lakeview lies to the north.

For a tour of the surrounding Chatter Creek terrain, click this link to our Cat Skiing Terrain photo gallery.

Click any image to enlarge it. Use your browser's "Back" button to return.

This page is part of the Chatter News family of Web logs about snowcat skiing at Chatter Creek. Back to Index

Home Run

2005-07-07T18:03:00.000-07:00

The Home Run is a large cut block at the base of lower Lodge Ridge, immediately above Vertebrae Lodge. Vertebrae Lodge can be seen in some of these photos. The perfect end to a cat skiing day is a good line on the Home Run ending at the lodge door. This is a west-facing slope, so snow on the Home Run does not remain light for long periods and a fresh snowfall is needed for good skiing here. Other open cut blocks are found on the East Ridge. The cut blocks provide a wonderful playground in stormy weather.

The road to Vertebrae glacier traverses to Home Run and passes through the trees at the top, on its way to the Spruce Creek gully. A run on the Home run usually starts somewhere on the road and passes through the trees before emerging at the top of the cut block. A line on skier's rignt can end right at the lodge. Back to Index

Jo-Pal

2005-07-07T15:25:00.000-07:00

Jo-Pal is on the west side of Stovepipe Mountain. Upper Jo-Pal starts at the top of the Windlip and passes through an opening in the rocky ridge that separates lower Jo-Pal from the Windlip. At the bottom of the opening, Jo-Pal turns to the skier's right and lower Jo-Pal descends to the top of Megahooped. A second line, Jo-Pal to East Creek continues straight from the bottom of upper Jo-Pal and descends behind East Ridge to East Creek. The first image shows Jo-pal from Lodge Ridge. The next two images are aerial photographs in which Jo-pal is marked. The first two photos in the second row show upper Jo-Pal and the last two images are of lower Jo-Pal. Image 5 shows the view from Upper Jo-pal of the East Creek valley, behind East Ridge. See the Road to Vertebrae Glacier for additional views of Jo-Pal and of Jo-Pal to East Creek. Back to Index

Lakeview

2005-07-06T17:38:00.000-07:00

Lakeview is a watershed containing a tarn that is located south of Vertebrae Lodge, between MCO and South Park to the north and Harbourview to the south. The watershed drains west to Kinbasket Lake. The SX3 drainage backs on Lakeview, to the east. The "Google Earth" 3-D image views the Chatter Creek tenure from the south. The Lakeside drainage and it's tarn is apparent between MCO and Harbourview. Additional photos: 1. road into Lakeview from Harbourview 2. aerial photo showing Lakeview located between Harbourview and South Park. See the South Park description for more information. Back to Index

MCO

2005-07-06T17:35:00.000-07:00

MCO (Multiple Cascading Orgasms) is a large ski zone south of Vertebrae Lodge. It offers a great variety of terrain. MCO Pass lies at the top of MCO and provides access to SX3 and SX2. MCO lies adjacent to South Park and the cat road to the rest of the "South Side" terrain passes through MCO. MCO also provides access to RUZM, Elbow Drive and the Gong Show. MCO lies under the usual flight path of guests transferring between Golden BC and Vertebrae Lodge. MCO Pass (third photo)is the subject of many a guest photo taken from the helicopter. The peak at MCO is visible from Vertebrae Lodge. Click on any image to enlarge it. Use the browser's "Back" button to return. Back to Index

Megahooped & Megahooped Trees

2005-07-06T17:15:00.000-07:00

Megahooped is the entire bottom half of the west side of Stovepipe Mountain. Megahooped lies below Jo-Pal and contains the Wonderland and Bouncing Chuckles ski runs and the Megahooped Trees. Mullet Bowl, on East Ridge south of Megahooped, is accessed from Megahooped, but is considered a separate skiing zone. Spruce Pass and the Golf Course, which lie north of and below Megahooped are also considered a separate zone, although they too are accessed from Megahooped and "The Road to Vertebrae Glacier"

Megahooped Trees is a stand of trees low on the south side of Megahooped, immediately above the Spruce Creek gully. The Megahooped trees offer good tree skiing in stormy weather, but do not offer the vertical drop of the East Ridge tree runs. Back to Index

Mommy's Run

2005-07-06T17:00:00.000-07:00

Mommy's Run on the east side of lower Lodge Ridge drops from the crest of the ridge into the Spruce Creek gully between Lodge Ridge and the base of Megahooped Trees. The hillside is strewn with many large boulders which, under a deep blanket of snow, provide many interesting features and small drops. Great fun for expert skiers and riders! The second photo shows the ridgeline of Lodge Ridge and the breadth of Mommy's Run. The Kitchen Range rises behind Lodge Ridge. The last photo shows photographer John Dougall at play on Mommy's Run. Crystal Lite is a second ski run in this area. It lies adjacent to Mommy's Run, to the south, closer to the lower end of Lodge Ridge. Back to Index

Mullet Bowl

2005-07-06T16:45:00.000-07:00

Mullet Bowl lies on the west side of the East Ridge near its union with Stovepipe Mountain. Steph's Thumb rises above Mullet Bowl, to the south and Megahooped lies to the north. Part of Megahooped Trees extend below Mullet Bowl. Access to Mullet Bowl is from the Road to Vertebrae glacier as it climbs the south side of Megahooped. Back to Index

The Nose

2005-07-06T16:30:00.000-07:00

The first photo looks north along the East Ridge from the Nose, which is in the foreground. The view is toward Stovepipe Mountain. The second photo shows the Nose on the side of the Left Nostril. The Trojan, the Phat and the Skinny ski runs are the open glades on the right of the photo. The Enchanted Forest is the old burn at the top of the photo, on the far side of the ridge. The East Ridge Super Road traverses the west side of the East Ridge to the Nose and then follows the crest of the ridge north to Super Spruce and Super Bowl. The third photo shows a cat heading back south and off the Nose to pick up its group. Back to Index

Oyster Bowl

2005-07-06T14:01:00.000-07:00

Oyster Bowl is an enormous bowl in the new Lakeside Addition. It lies in the Kitchen Range of the Rocky Mountains, just west of the Clamshell, south of the top of Game Creek and backs onto the top of South Park. Oyster Bowl is part of a drainage that flows into Kinbasket Lake. Near the top, at the north side of the bowl, a valley exits to the top of Fruit Loops (photo 2). Photo 3 is an aerial view looking down Fruit Loops. The top of Game Creek is at the bottom of the photo (in shadow)and Oyster bowl is beyond, on the right. Click on any photo to enlarge it. use the browser's "Back" button to return.

RUZM Gully and Rugi

2005-07-05T20:00:00.000-07:00

RUZM (Right Up Ze Middle) is a north-facing gully in a small hill located in Chatter Creek's South Side, just west of MCO and south of South Park. RUZM is visible from Vertebrae Lodge and a good set of tracks in RUZM viewed in the setting sun makes for a great "conversation piece" in the bar. Access to RUZM is from MCO. The cat road climbs straight up the south side of the hill. From the top. skiers may pass north down RUXM or ski the south side which is known as "the Rugi" (pronounced Roog-eye). The first photo locates RUZM relative to other South Side ski zones. The road to RUZM and the Rugi is in the center of the second photoand South Park is to the left. Photo #3 is a shot from upper East Ridge and shows RUZM in the middle of the photo. The photo with the bluish tinge was taken from Lodge Ridge and the last photo shows ski tracks on the the Rugi and the cat road to RUZM. Back to Index

Satellite Images

2005-07-05T19:12:00.000-07:00

We have used the "Google Earth" program to generate a number of interesting 3D images of the Chatter Creek Cat Skiing tenure. Some of these are collected here, in no particular order. Click on any image to enlarge it. The compass rose in the lower left hand corner shows the direction of view. The approximate elevation of the viewer's eye is shown at the lower tight hand corner. See also, Terrain North of Vertebrae Glacier. Back to Index

South Park

2005-07-05T17:33:00.000-07:00

South Park is a large east-facing bowl located in the "South Side" of the original Chatter Creek tenure, southeast of MCO. The cat road from MCO to Lakeside passes at the bottom of South Park. The "lake" of Lakeview also lies at the base of South Park. In the bottom photo to the left, South Park lies to the left, the entrance to Elbow Drive is just right of center and the road to RUZM climbs the knob at the right. Click on the "Google Earth" satellite image to view the names of features and cat skiing areas. Click here to see the satellite image without names. Back to Index

South Side Super Road

2005-07-05T16:00:00.000-07:00

Anticipation Peak (MCO)
Bowling Alley (SX3)
Elbow Drive (MCO)
Gong Show (MCO)
Harbourview
Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump (SX3)
Lakeview
MCO (Multiple Cascading Orgasms)
MCO Pass (MCO)
Oh My Gord (SX3)
RUZM (Right Up Ze Middle)
Smoking Herb (MCO)
South Park
SX2 (Stream Crossing 2)
SX3 (Stream Crossing 3)

Spruce Pass and Golf Course

2005-07-02T16:24:00.000-07:00

Spruce Pass separates Lodge Ridge from Stovepipe Mountain. North of Spruce Pass lies the new and relatively small 13 sq km Spruce Pass Addition. We have no photos from that side of Spruce Pass, yet. The decent on the south side of Spruce Pass, on the Golf Course, is very mellow. The Golf Course is bounded on skier's right by Lodge Ridge to the west and, on the east, by Wonderland and Bouncing Chuckles at the base of Stovepipe Mountain. The first photo shows the cat road up Spruce Pass and ski tracks well to the the left of the road, descending the Golf Course. The second photo shows Spruce Pass in the shadow of Lodge Ridge. Megahooped Trees are apparent to the right of Spruce Gully. The next two photos shows skiing on the Golf Course. In the second photo, Mommy's Run on Lodge ridge can be seen in the distance, opposite the Megahooped Trees. The first of the two satellite photos shows Spruce Pass viewed from the southeast. The second views Spruce Pass from the north, from a point over Stovepipe Mountain. The last photo is a panorama of Lodge Ridge and the Golf Course, taken from the top of Megahooped. Click on any image to enlarge. Back to Index

Spruce Slide

2005-07-02T16:00:00.000-07:00

Spruce Slide #1 and #2 are two side-by-side slide paths located low on the west side of upper East Ridge. Access is from above from Super Bowl or Super Spruce or through the trees from the Megahooped access road. Spruce Slide and the neighboring trees provide pleasant skiing in grumpy weather. The satellite image shows the west side of east Ridge. The Spruce Slides can be seen on left of center, near the Home Run cut block. Click any image to enlarge it. Back to Index

Staff Trees & Bermuda Triangle

2005-07-02T15:35:00.000-07:00

Staff Trees is a stand of living forest immediately west and south of Vertebrae Lodge. The area derives its name from its proximity to the lodge and the practice of staff of walking the lower portion of the West Side access road for a few hours of tree skiing during quiet afternoon hours and days off. There are many unnamed runs in the Staff Trees. The Staff trees are a site of late-day runs on the way home from the Clamshell and other West Side ski areas.

The Bermuda Triangle is a smaller stand of living forest located south of Staff Trees and just south of Lower Table. We don't have much info on the Bermuda Triangle yet, stay tuned.

Click any photo to enlarge it. Use your browser's "Back" button to return. Increase the size of your viewing window until the photo stops expanding.

Super Spruce and Super Bowl

2005-07-02T15:30:00.000-07:00

Super Spruce is a large open alpine slope on the west side of upper East Ridge, starting at the north end of the East Ridge Super Road. Super Spruce lies a little south of Steph's Thumb. Lines on Super Spruce can terminate at an extension of the Mullet Bowl road from Megahooped, or can drop into Spruce Slide. Super Spruce is a large slope! Super Bowl has a similar aspect, but starts further south on the crest of East Ridge. The first photo is in Super Bowl. Staff Trees, the Table, the Clamshell, Forbidden Fruit, the Plank and Fruit Loops can be seen on the opposite hillside. The aerial photo (#2) of Upper East Ridge and Stovepipe Mountain names most of the ski runs in these zones. Super Bolw and Super Spruce are at the bottom of the photo. Photo #3 shows the East Ridge Super Road near its northern end. The tracks on the left are on Super Spruce. The last photos shows skiers and riders on Super Spruce. Back to Index

Sweet & Sour, the Fat & the Skinny

2005-07-02T15:20:00.000-07:00

Sweet & Sour, the Fat and the Skinny ski runs are open glades on the east side of the East Ridge. They are never exposed to direct sun and retain light snow for a long time. The photos mainly show skiers in the Fat. Photos 5&7 are in the Skinny, which is furthest to the right in the top photo. There is excellent tree skiing on either side of these glades and there is a bit of tree skiing above the glade on the Fat. These East Ridge glades are old favorites in stormy weather. Back to Index

SX2

2005-07-02T15:15:00.000-07:00

SX2 is an east-facing drainage on the South Side of the Chatter Creek tenure. The top of SX2 is just east of Harbourview and just south of SX3. Access is from SX3. Like SX3, SX2 draws it's name from the stream crossing it creates on the Chatter Creek Road. Also, like SX3, the lower reaches of the SX2 drainage are not yet developed with access roads and there is tree skiing there that has not been explored. Click on any image to enlarge it.

SX3

2005-07-02T15:00:00.000-07:00

SX3 is an east-facing drainage on the South Side of the Chatter Creek tenure. The top of SX3 is just east of Lakeview and just south of MCO. Access is over MCO Pass. A number of runs have been named in the upper bowl of SX3, but the tree skiing in the lower part of the drainage is not yet developed and there are currently no access roads from the Chatter Creek Road which crosses the SX3 creek far down the hillside. Among the runs in the upper bowl of SX3 are Bowling Alley, Oh My Gord and Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump. The first photo locates SX3 relative to adjacent ski zones. Photo #2 shows the north and west sides of the upper bowl of SX3 with the Bowling Alley on the right, Oh My Gord in the center and "Buffalo Jump" on the left. Photo #4 is an aerial view from above MCO Pass, looking down the Bowling Alley and Photo #5 is an aerial view from above the pass into Harbourview. The sunlit area on the top right side of Photo #5 is the top of SX2. Photo #5 looks down the drainage. The Bowling Alley is out of the photo, to the left. Photo #6 names ski runs and features in the upper bowl of SX3. The 3d satellite image gives another perspective of SX3 and the South Side ski terrain and the last phot names the ski runs in both SX2 and SX3. Click any image to enlarge it. Back to Index

Terrain North of Vertebrae Glacier

2005-07-01T04:14:00.000-07:00

This "Google Earth" satellite image shows the northeastern part of the Chatter Creek tenure (Chatter North) and features of the Rocky Mountains and North America's continental divide visible from Chatter Creek's Vertebrae Glacier. To the northeast, Mt Columbia, the Snow Dome and the Columbia Icefield can be seen and to the northwest, Tsar Mountain rises above the horizon and the Clemenceau Icefield is also clearly visible. Mount Norton, the Apex Glacer and Mt. Eden are part of the vista, but are not clearly descernable.

The Snow Dome in the Columbia Icefield is unique in being the source of drainage into three oceans, the Pacific, the Arctic and the Atlantic (by Hudson's Bay). The Columbia Icefield is the source of the famous Columbia and Athabasca glaciers.

The view from Chatter Creek's Vertebrae Glacier on Stovepipe Mountain. Panorama by Christopher Stratas. For more views from Vertebrae glacier, refer to "Glacier Skiing at Chatter Creek". Click on either image for an enlargement.
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Waterfall

2005-05-01T14:30:00.000-07:00

Note: the name "Waterfall" also applies to a run on the west side of Lodge Ridge. The Waterfall is a steep pitch in the run-out from Forbidden Fruit and Fruit Loops. The Plank, an outrun from the Clamshell bypasses the Waterfall on skier's right. The Waterfall has a central drop-off among trees and a more mellow pitch on skiers left. The drop-off is the scene of many "photo-ops". The first photo is the view from the bottom. From here, the outrun to the cat road is broken skiing down a narrow gully. Photos #2 and #3 are "photo ops" on the center of the hill. The last photo is from the top of the usual route of descent, on skiers left, well to the right of the first photo. Back to Index

Windlip

2005-05-01T13:31:00.000-07:00

The Windlip is an alpine slope named after a huge blowhole that forms around the base of a rock face. It is located high on the west side of Stovepipe Mountain, north of Jo-Pal. Elevation at the top of the Windlip is over 9500 ft. The Keyhole, which is the entry to Vertebrae glacier and Chatter North is reached via the Windlip. From the top of the Windlip, an opening in the southern ridge provides a pass-through to Jo-Pal. The Windlip provides many lines of alpine skiing between its top and the cat road as it exits from Megahooped and crosses the Windlip on its way to the Keyhole. The continuing hill, below the cat road, is not skied. See the Road to Vertebrae glacier for a fuller description of the Windlip. In Photo #9, the distant showcat is skirting the blowhole and approaching the Keyhole. Beyond the Keyhole, the high horizontal ridge of snow is the top of the Vertebrae Glacier. See our Dan Hudson Ski Photography Weblog for ski photos in the blowhole at the Windlip. Back to Index

Wonderland

2005-05-01T00:20:00.000-07:00

Wonderland lies at the northern edge of Megahooped and below Jo-Pal. It drops to the Spruce Pass cat road. Wonderland provides open slope alpine skiing with gentle undulations. There are few rock outcroppings or trees. The lower center photo shows upper Wonderland, above the trees. The broken hill and scrub trees in the lower background is part of Bouncing Chuckles. Above Wonderland, the Road to Vertebrae glacier climbs around the ridge to the Windlip. The second photo at the top is taken from Mommy's Run on lower Lodge Ridge. Wonderland is in the far background, to the right of Spruce Pass. The last photo shows a group waiting to push off at the top of Wonderland. Back to Index