I have to say that one of the things I enjoy the most about skiing at Rogers pass are the seemingly endless choices. More often than not, the call of where to go and what to do isn’t finalized until  the skintrack begins to unwind beneath the feet.   As Jeff and Julie and I rolled east,  we discussed a few options, including the Ross Shoulder path, heading further up Loop Brook, but as we kitted up in the lot, we decided on Afton.  Might as well try for a summit, right?  Maybe these clouds will clear off… 

Ski-mo-ers Jeff C and Julie M skinning up Afton's shoulder.

 

Jeff with Afton peeking through the cloud.

 

As we climbed through the layers of clouds towards the peak,  I day-dreamed about returning to a wild S facing chute that drops into the Asulkan side of the ridge, starting just west of Afton’s summit.   I put the idea to J and J, who were game, so after a few minutes of summit time, we headed back  down the W ridge to our ski’s.  The top of this line has been bony both time’s I have been here, it seems to hold only a little bit of snow, hiding a number of jagged rocks.  We walked down to where it had filled in a bit more, and it was looking pretty fine. 

Picking our way down the boneyard.

 

 Turned out it was, here’s three shots of Jeff, gettin’ DOWN! 

 

 

 

The powder got even better the lower in the bowl we skied, and as we pulled up on the bench at treeline there were smiles all round.  Instead of dropping to the bottom of the Asulkan valley and further away from our car, we decided on climbing the Dome glacier, thru the notch and onto the Lily glacier, back into the Loop brook area.  The ceiling was dropping again, but we did catch this glimpse of the top of our run. It’s the wider, looker’s left hand line. 

 

J and J rollin' on up the Dome....

..and dropping down onto the Lily.

  

More great turns down the skiers right of the slots on the Lily Glacier, and we headed out the creek , filled with the day’s adventure. So many choices!

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