BURNIE GLACIER CHALET FEB 28-MARCH 7, 2025 TRIP REPORT

After a week where 50+ cm fell with moderate to strong winds and warm temperatures; finally, the skies cleared, the temperature cooled and the winds subsided. 

The majesty of the Howson Range revealed itself to our group from California and Alberta on March second. It was their first time to the Burnie Glacier Chalet and my fifth week guiding there. Éliel Bureau-Lafontaine was my co-guide for the week and a seasoned Burnie guide—it was his 19th week in the Range.

Our first full day of skiing was spent storm skiing on the SW shoulder of Tom George Mountain in limited visibility but fantastic snow. As the day went by, the winds tapered and temperature cooled, yielding promise for the week to come.

The Solitaire Glacier zone offers some fantastic skiing and several options for skiable summits with great views. Our objective was Solitaire Ski Peak—a great descent with awesome summit lunch spot.

Day Three was nothing short of spectacular. Éliel and I planned a route that would take us up the Burnie Glacier, through a pass and onto the Telkwa Glacier and back home through another pass. It would be a sold day of mountain travel 1700+ and 23km of heavily glaciated terrain.

The run off of All Stones col starts off as a glacier cruiser and rolls over into a fantastic glacial plunge; coupled with perfectly settled buckle deep powder it made for a crowd pleasing descent onto the Telkwa Glacier.

The Telkwa Glacier has an abundance of savoury descents, but one line to the west caught our eye—a beautiful ENE glacial ramp that topped out with expansive views to the west.

Day Four was a 1500m rest day as there was mildly flat light and we had a pretty epic day the day before. Tom George’s northwest bowl provides some exceptional powder skiing when the conditions are right. I’d avoided all week the week prior due to lingering instabilities and wind loading. However there was evidence of a natural avalanche cycle in the bowl and any wind effect had long since faceted out with the cool temperatures and clear skies. We skied two primo runs from the summit and the shoulder and headed back to the chalet to enjoy the sauna and some relaxation.

Day Five would take us back up the Burnie Glacier, but this time we planned to head south through another pass and return back to the hut via the Loft Glacier. Our original plan was to move through a glaciated pass locally known as the Miter Col. Unfortunately, as we started to move up the slopes below the col, I discovered the February 19th surface hoar/facet layer was preserved and sat below a 55cm pencil slab. There were too many overlapping hazards so Éliel and I agreed to pull the pin and head to a different pass that is less sheltered.

It was evident that they had both flushed mid-storm and were holding perfectly settled powder. With light wind, little solar input and cool temps, I decided to climb one of them with a group of skiers who were keen to ski some steeps. The entirety of the 200m couloir yielded 30cm of foot penetration and the snowpack was progressively resistant with zero wind effect—pretty much perfect conditions.

While we skied the chute Éliel took the other part of the group over to Loft Peak and scored perfect pow turns down the 550m descent below. We followed their track across the Loft Glacier and scored some amazing light for our descent.

The weather was changing for our last full day of skiing, but the arrival of the incoming low seemed like it would be late enough in the day for us to get one more day in the alpine. Due to the sub-optimal low elevation snow conditions, we decided to use our Burnie Glacier up track again to access the Loft Peak and the Loft Glacier. 

Moderate prefrontal winds made for a blustery passage across the upper Burnie Glacier en route to Polemic Pass.

Loft Peak generally harbours sheltered powder and this day was no exception. We skied two succulent runs down the glacier and from the summit of Loft Peak. Even with a bit of wind and marginal light the group was stoked to go to the top to get a view of the Sandpiper Glacier. 

As the snow began to fall and the clouds settled in on the peaks, it was as if Mother Nature had closed the curtain on another amazing week at the Burnie Glacier Chalet.

A heartfelt thanks goes out to Christoph Dietzfelbinger for having the vision to build a lodge there. A new chapter has arrived at Burnie and Tom Wolfe is taking over—another intrepid mountain guide. If you get a chance, go check it out.