Stay Safe Early Season Snow Hunters!

Words by: Kylee Toth

Photos by: Sean Freidberg

Under the street lights snowflakes fall to the ground like angel’s feathers. This is a fond memory of the first snowfall from my childhood. As the temperature drops, the anticipation rises.  For people afflicted with “skiing-itis” like me, fall is one of the most exciting times of the year. The first snow falls with the promise of an epic winter to come.

As soon as a good amount of snow has begun to accumulate the snow hunting begins.  Let’s leave, “good amount of snow,” open to individual standards and interpretations. Other sports have this phenomenon also.  Ice climbers look for early season ice, surfers try to find the best waves, rock climbers hunt south facing crags to accelerate the spring climbing season.  If you’re hooked, you’re hooked! 

If you’re new to this obsession or have caught the snow hunting bug like me, you become adept at finding good early season snow stashes.  I live in the Canadian Rockies. This is an area known for breathtaking landscapes, a sketchy snow pack, big glaciers and alpinism.  To be an early season skier in the Canadian Rockies and keep it safe takes a fair amount of diligence.

Here are my favorite places to ski and early season considerations surrounding them:

As a rule of thumb, the higher the elevation during the early season, the colder the temperatures. This equates with the precipitation falling as snow in larger quantities and greater quality. In the Rockies the snow sweet spot is around 2000 meters (6500 feet for the Americans), anything above this usually fills in quicker.

Glacier skiing:

You are very fortunate if you have these year- round permanent icefields in your neck of the woods.  The pro of glaciers is they provide an immediate base so less need for shark dodging.  However, what lurks below the surface instead of sharks are treacherous crevasse holes thinly veiled by newly fallen snow. Glaciers are notoriously sketchy in the fall when enough snow has fallen to hide the crevasses, but not enough to properly bridge them.  If you choose to ski on an early season glacier in the fall, which I routinely do, the best way to stay safe is to sneak a peek at it before the snow flies. Get your mountaineering boots and crampons out and go for a walk.  Classic mountaineering is generally not my favorite, but for the purpose of conditions scouting I’ll suck it up.  If you have a watch, create a good GPX track that navigates the crevasses.  It is also best practice to travel on glaciers with minimum two additional buddies in a group of three, so wrangle your close friends into this scenic walk with promises of future early season pow. Once you are familiar with your local glacier this is a great place to make a regular destination. When the snow starts to build you have a good route on the glacier and a broader understanding of the hazards that lurk below.  The pictures in this article are of Mount Hector, an 11,000er in the Canadian Rockies. They were taken in October 2024. 

Couloir Skiing:

High elevation couloirs can fill in earlier than big broad slopes due to wind sifting and sheltered accumulation.  There are a handful of couloirs, none of which are super steep (40 degrees or less) that I routinely snow hunt in the fall.  These are couloirs that I am familiar with and comfortable with in other seasons, namely spring.  With couloirs it’s important to note what the snow is bonding to.  Is it a rock slab? (could be sketchy) Is it varied terrain with more anchoring? Is there a propensity for the top to be super wind loaded and have a thin to thick avalanche problem?  Following the snowpack as it accumulates in terms of temperature gradient and accumulation can also be helpful.  

Grass Slope skiing:

This is what I dream of, but it doesn’t exist in the Rockies.  However, I have been to some places where nice grassy slopes fill in with pillowy soft pow. The benefit of a cruisey lower angle grass slope is they are way less sharky, not littered by big rocks and boulders. Just keep in mind that a steeper planar grass slope can be problematic for anchoring the snow, so pay attention to slope angles, temperatures and bonding.

Big Rocky Choss bowls:

Ah, a Rockies’ special!  If we had a menu, that would always be on sale! We have no shortage of these to ski in the Rockies and this is where shark hunting really shines.  These come into condition above 2000 meters first and usually slight gully depressions in the slope get filled in first.  Although you need very little snow to skin uphill, skiing down with caution is advisable until you have at least a meter of base.  One thing to be cognizant of as well, is overhead hazards on the slope you are skinning and skiing. Often these choss fans are flanked by higher, steeper, larger walls that can rain snow mushrooms, point releases, and other garbage that can hit the main slope and potentially step down to create a rather large avalanche. Remember, an early season avalanche often has larger trauma potential as the snow will rip to ground- meaning rocks, sticks, etc. are all in the mix.

Things to never do when early season snow hunting:

-Travel on a brand-new glacier by yourself, don’t be that person

-Rip down at mock speed into unknown sharky waters

-Wear your brand-new ski kit

-Forgo bringing glacier gear or avalanche gear because, “there isn’t enough snow to slide.”

-Underestimate the amount of snow or the consequences of an avalanche, if it steps down to ground.

Things to always do when early season snow hunting:

-Wear a helmet

-Dial your downhill speed down a notch

-Post about how awesome the snow is (even if it’s mediocre) to create FOMO amongst your friends and enemies

-Wear your rock skis 

-Holler and hoot like it’s the biggest powder day of the season, get that stoke going!

-Bring glacier and avalanche safety gear

-Ski with friends and have lots of fun!

-Keep your standards low, skis fat, and think light thoughts.

The curmudgeons will say, “The season is long. “You will be tired of skiing by spring.” “What’s the rush?” “You might hurt yourself!” “What about core shots?” To this I say, “you do you!” If you are stoked on skiing pretty much year-round like me, be smart, make good choices and embrace the child-like stoke you get for those first mediocre turns or snowflakes flying!

Happy skiing friends!