Description

This is one of the most beautiful ski tours on the Smith Dorrien.

This loop ski tour is a go to for many seasoned backcountry enthusiasts.

Park on the road about 1km after the Sawmills parking lot.

This is a loop ski tour, and there is usually a skin track already in.

When you get out of your vehicle and get on the skin track make sure you are taking a skin track that takes you to the valley between Mount Smith Dorrien and Mount Black Prince - if you start heading into trees immediately you are most likely on the down track.

The skin track up starts in dense forest but opens to some large, well defined avalanche paths, use caution and safe travel practices for crossing these.

The skin track heads up a fairly steep headwall through sparse trees to gain a bench below one of the towering ridges of Mount Smith Dorrien.

To mitigate exposure to avalanche runout the recommended up-track ascends a tree-d ridge to a dramatic and well defined Col.

At the Col you have a beautiful long descent into the shadowy valley below Mount Murray.

This run is commonly called, "Sweet 16." This is a big slope and prone to avalanche so make sure you assess conditions well before dropping in.

You also do not want to linger at the bottom of this ski run as it is a huge run out zone for many massive slide paths.

It is recommended to ski one at a time and regroup toward the trees.

To exit from the Mount Smith Dorrien, Mount Murray Valley you follow a sporty, mostly downhill route through the forest back to your car.

The bark is scraped off in distinctive notches on the trees to mark the route.

This is a stunning ski tour which has a super fun descent.

It gets busy primarily because its a great ski tour! Have fun!