01

Dolomite Peak Circuit | 2011-04-10

Dolomite Peak Circuit
  • Location: Banff National Park (Icefields Parkway)
  • Activity: Ski Touring
  • Height: 2,567 m (8,422 ft)
  • Elevation Gain: 850 m (2,789 ft)
  • Distance: 16.7 km / Traverse (10.4 mi)
  • Avg Steepness: 5.8°
  • Estimated Time: 5-8 hrs
  • Technicality: Expert
  • Fitness Level: Hard

Two weeks in a row I joined CSMC’s event. Back-to-back to Crowfoot area. This Dolomite Peak Circuit was my 5th visit in last 5 weeks maybe? I was quite glad that I did Bow Peak on Saturday because on Sunday the weather was simply bad. We had little bit of blue sky in early morning, but rest of the day was white.

Our plan was to have two cars, one car parked at Helen Creek and the other at Mosquito Creek. As popular as this is, the parking lot is very small and by the time we got there, there wasn’t space to park our car. The trail started right at the parking lot. There was nothing spectacular until near Ridge Summit (GR416260). On the other hand you have to across few avalanche paths from gullies from Dolomite Peak, so keep that in mind. Once on at near Ridge Summit, we were supposed to see spectacular view but once again just like when I did Cirque Peak, it was rather gray sky… We skied down to Kaherine Lake and regained elevation to a col at GR441265. From the col we could somewhat enjoy few turns. I wish snow condition was better then it would have been more fun. Spring spring! The valley, east side of Dolomite, was quite flat and we have to switch to walk mode for a while. From treeline, I am not sure what is the best way to get back to the car. I would say try to find Molar Pass trail by following creek because the way we went was bushwhack-skiing. Pretty much the reason why I rated this expert is the bushwhack-skiing part.

02

Dolomite Peak Circuit | 2011-04-10

Near Ridge Summit. Cirque Peak covered by clouds.

03

Dolomite Peak Circuit | 2011-04-10

Dolomite Peak looks like killer whale.

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Dolomite Peak Circuit | 2011-04-10

Tom, Double Pauls, Jenna, Mike and Eric. I knew everyone but Eric. I don't join club events too often, knowing so many people was my first.

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Dolomite Peak Circuit | 2011-04-10

We had a lot of this. White!

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Dolomite Peak Circuit | 2011-04-10

We found a big boulder to protect from wind and had lunch.

07

Dolomite Peak Circuit | 2011-04-10

See a lot of white!

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Dolomite Peak Circuit | 2011-04-10

At the highest point, the col. From here it was time to enjoy skiing.

09

Dolomite Peak Circuit | 2011-04-10

But like Bow Peak, skiing was hard because of spring snow condition and flat light making it impossible to read contour.

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Dolomite Peak Circuit | 2011-04-10

East side of Dolomite.

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