Cold
Guide Doug Latimer approaches Elusive Pass Skiing the “Six Passes” Traverse in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada Let us get our skis ready, our minds set on a great adventure and travel through a mountain range with huge glaciers and snowfields, wonderful powder snow and long ski runs. Mind you, there are no overnight shelters and no place to buy food along the way. We have to carry everything on our backs. It is not as difficult and strange as it may seem. —Hans Gmoser Day 4 Elusive Pass is well-named. We’ve been skiing towards it for most of the afternoon, but it doesn’t get any closer. We have to stop for the night, but where? We’re above treeline. We’ve been skiing along the also-well-named Endless Chain ridge for days, a giant wall of rock and ice. As we stand around deciding what to do, we’re on not-quite-flat ground, but it’s exposed to the wind. Someone skis up the hill a bit further and we find an icy oasis, a mini-canyon of wind-carved snow. We immediatel...