These are big mountains and civilization is always at least a 2 day ski out to the highway. Not many people do this traverse due to its remoteness. Along the entire route there is no more than 4 peaks and 2 glaciers that are named. Many of the cols and passes it travels through reach 2500m or higher- its not as if the mountains are too small to name.





Our original intention was to carry 8 days food and fly another 6 to a pass near the end. We planned to drop into the Premier Range, which is bigger and steeper again, and set up a base camp. From there we wanted to do day ski-mountaineering objectives on 3500m peaks surrounding the base camp.

We didn’t make it into the Premier Range, We did complete the Nth Cariboos Traverse however, and that in itself was an accomplishment. The trip took 11 days in total, with 2 of those stuck in tents as a storm blew through with fury and compassion, leaving us 50cm of fresh powder.

We followed Chic Scott’s route description from his book, “Summits and Icefields”. Some of the route description is not accurate, however, and in the account below I will clarify any grey areas for those of you contemplating undertaking this traverse.




Day 1- We organized a sled shuttle with Mcbride Ride'n Hide to drop us off 20kms up the logging road by the Dore River. From here we shouldered heavy packs and started skinning. We made good progress, skiing some good snow down to the lake where we enjoyed the alpin glow as we set up camp.

Day 2- Fresh and ready to roll, we began the day climbing our first unnamed glacier for 8km. As we approached the col, visibility dropped to only a few meters. At the crest of the col we were buffeted by 60-80km/h winds that gave Eric frostbite on his nose. Unable to ski down the other side and not willing to camp in such an exposed spot, we dug a windbreak to keep warm and offer us some shelter while we waited for a break in the conditions.
Just as we were beginning to get really cold and begin pitching tents,we got the visibility we needed and spotted a wide, low angled ramp we could ski. Taking the opportunity while it presented itself, we poked our way through the milky white. We skied down onto the next glacier where it was bluebird and not a breath of wind. Swapping down jackets and goggles for sunglasses and cream, we couldn't believe how crazy it had been only minutes earlier. Standing there, gazing back up at the clouds blowing over the col, it was surreal.
We continued on across another glacier and as the afternoon wore on, the clouds came in again. We pitched camp on the glacier in a white out in a safe spot on the south side of Mt Lunn.




Day 3- Poking our head out of the tents into the cold morning revealed white out conditions. With plenty of food and facing a technical crux of the route, we decided to sit tight, enjoy a sleep in and monitor conditions.
Close to midday, it looked like visibility might improve so we broke camp and pushed out into the soupy cloud that clung to the glacier. At the top of the climb the clouds burnt off and we could see forever. We skied a nice run, threading our way through crevasses to the base of a narrow ridge.
Here the guidebook describes the ridge as a quick boot pack, but in fact it is quite a serious undertaking and requires good visibility. Some years the ridge forms a double cornice and is too dangerous to ascend. Parties can attempt to climb the large face, however it is very exposed or ski down to the valley floor and around into Niagra Creek, which is a whole days travel.

As if the mountains had conspired to grant us passage, we kicked steps up the ridge, bathed in sunlight. On the right, a beautiful, movie line down the face, on the left, a sheer drop down into to the next valley and the signature of our descent with our tracks visible on the glacier behind us. It was pure joy to be in the mountains that afternoon, climbing with our skis on our backs and the sun inching closer to the horizon as we crept toward the summit.
We topped out and enjoyed the alpin glow on all the surrounding peaks. Stoked to be alive, we stepped into our skis again and began the descent.
Reminding us that the degree of our enjoyment rested in the hands of the mountains, the skiing turned from soft to a breakable suncrust. The first 300m were fantastic! The next 500m were heinous.
We camped by open water down close to the valley floor, content with what we had achieved for the day.




Day 4- With a solid freeze overnight, the skiing was easier as we made our way down to Niagra Creek. Niagra Creek is a stunningly beautiful spot with animal tracks everywhere. We followed bear tracks for a few hours up the creek to where the glacier spills into the valley. Here the guidebook is a gain somewhat euphemistic, with directions to "climb along the crest of a lateral moraine". In reality, it is barely a moraine feature, but rather a series of cliff bands with a painful, alder field at the base to destroy morale before beginning the sun exposed ascent to gain the glacier. The alder is merely tedious, but the skin above deserves some serious thought. We kept our skis on the whole time, weaving through the trees close to the icefall before traversing left more into the open below a cliff band. The ascent is steep with many switchbacks and in warm, isothermal snow, we tried to stay in the trees as much as possible and to keep space between us.
We decided to try and cut over onto the glacier and luckily we found a clean entrance just above the icefall. In the late afternoon we zigzagged through towering seracs, only to bump into another party of 3 doing the traverse in reverse.
We camped high on the glacier, tired from the previous days and the exhaustive heat of blue bird days.




Day 5- Fit and with ever lighter packs we trudged on over more unnamed glaciers. Today though we enjoyed a good ski down alongside Mt Pierreway.
At the pass we contemplated camping, but decided to push on and get the next big climb out of the way. We made it back up to tree line and camped at the toe of the next unnamed glacier as the barometer began to drop.




Day 6- Howling winds and in-and-out visibility confronted us the next day. We had a ridge of rocky peaks to handrail off of and so we pushed on. A day or 2 away from our food cache and down to a few days
rations, we were keen to keep moving while we could.
Facing 100km winds and whiteout conditions at the col, we decided to test our skills and try to ski over the other side navigating with the GPS, in the hope that it wouldn't be so windy lower down.
Our attempt was completely futile. We needed to wrap around a slight ridge, maintaining our elevation before skiing off the map and diagonally onto the next. The reality was that any direction we took, we were meet with vertical slopes we couldn't see and that weren't on the map. Confused and battered by the weather, we conceded and dug in.
And that's where we stayed.




Day 7- We weren't going anywhere. 20cms of snow had fallen overnight and the wind was still howling. We dug the tents out and used the toilet, but otherwise stayed confined in the tent, reading books and swapping stories to pass the time. The pressure began to rise in the evening and we were hoping for clear weather the next day.




Day 8- During the night the snow stopped and all the stars came out. We woke to -18°C, bluebird and 50cms of fresh powder. We had been rewarded to for our troubles.
Now we could see, we understood why we had been so confused navigating in the whiteout. We had skied into a huge wind scoop that towered around us on 3 sides. There was no way we were going to get out of there in a white out.




We were stoked though. We had pow with light packs and fresh legs, so we set about shredding a heli-ski style run down to the pass. It was incredible! None of us had come on a Spring traverse expecting bottomless powder, but we weren't complaining.
Within a few hours the frozen extremities of the morning were forgotten and replaced with sun burnt faces and parched mouths. We were making good progress though and hoped to reach Azure Pass and our food that evening. We had another crux to turn first, however, and that was the section where 2 small peaks simply weren't drawn on the map. The bench we hoped to use to wrap around a peak wasn't there either, so we went to the summit and skied from there.
We encountered some heavily wind-loaded slopes and boot packed back up the ridge a short way and skied a different line. Safely at the col, we had some lunch and applied sun cream yet again.




We still had a fair distance to cover before reaching Azure Pass so we marched on. Crossing a ridge to gain another glacier slowed us down as it wasn't at all as easy as the guidebook described. Rather than a bench, we skied a steep, 100m chute in heavy, isothermal snow. We cleared the avalanche debris from all the slopes surrounding us and
decided to camp on the glacier and have an easy day the next day, with a simple climb and ski down to Azure Pass.
Thirsty we melted water and pitched tents before relaxing and watching the sun set on the high peaks. Soon after we were once again reminded of the cold. With no clouds, the night was absolutely freezing. So much so, I even worried about my toes becoming frost bitten in my sleeping bag.




Day 9- No-one was happy the next morning as the cold had taken its toll. We waited for the sun to warm the tents before emerging at 10am. The ski to the next col was straight forward, but skiing off the other side wasn't. Bus sized cornices hung from the col, forcing us to down climb a short section to the left before a steep shot to easier terrain below. Silas managed to cut out a size 1.5 slab avalanche, keeping us on edge, even though we were so close to the cache and an afternoons rest. The crown wall was ~1m deep, 30m wide and ran for 150m. Silas triggered it above and not caught, but was still shaken.
The remaining ski down to the pass was uneventful, but the anticipation of all that food buried in the snow was too much. Erc fretted as we probed around heli stakes, but we found it without too much hassle and cracked open the metal edged wooden box that held our treasure.
We pitched camp near open water and had a bath in the frigid water before savoring smoked oysters and crackers. We discussed our options and decided it best to exit directly out rather than continue for another 6 days. We would take the North Thompson River out to the highway and from the description in the guidebook, presumed it to be
roughly 20kms on logging roads.




Day 10 and 11- How wrong we were! After climbing out from the Azure Pass and battling through the trees and creek t the logging road, we discovered we had 44km to reach the highway. Despondent, we marched on, stopping for dinner before knocking off another 10km in the dark and camping.
We made it back to civilization the next day, tired and sore, but happy to have completed the traverse safely and with unforgettable memories.
A good way to finish the winter I would say!