Ski-mountaineered up Snowdome (3452m) with Duncan this past weekend. Day 1 had us rope up on the toe of the Athabasca Glacier. Up past the end of the snowcoach road, under hanging seracs (only 1 collapsed) and up the headwall brought us to the vast Columbia Icefields. We contoured up right towards Snowdome, although the partial whiteout and lack of landmarks had us navigating mostly by GPS. We camped at 3100m on a small dug-out platform on Snowdome's southern slopes. After a windy night, we set out early from camp. Navigating again by GPS we eventually located the snow crusted measuring stick on the summit. After taking some measurements for the Candian Geographic Society, we took off the skins and flew down, needing only an hour all the way back to the foot of the glacier. Excellent trip.
