Wawa Ridge
January 28, 2017, north assiniboine crest, banff national park
- Summit
- 2444 m
- Gain
- 800 m
- Distance
- 14 km
- Round trip
- 3.5 hr
- Technical
- OT2 YDS (Hiking)
- Activity
- ski
- Quick 'n dirty
- Class 2 - you fall, you sprain something
- Difficulty
- Easy / moderate scrambling when dry via the southeast bowl route.
Saturday, January 28th, 2017 was the perfect day to finally knock the easy and short Wawa Ridge ski tour off my list. This tour was perfect for a day when I didn’t feel like something bigger and wanted a solo ski. There’s nothing really difficult about it and I could have done it in less than 3 hours return except I tried taking a shortcut up through trees off the approach trail and got hopelessly lost for about 20 minutes or so. How does that happen at a bloody ski resort?!
Wawa Ridge Route Map
Just off the summit of Wawa Ridge looking towards Quartz Hill and Mount Assiniboine.
Near the top of the Meadow Park run I saw a few snow boarders who looked like they were headed to Wawa Ridge. They dropped into a small bowl in front of the ridge and I never saw them again, so I’m not sure if they turned back or not. The ridge looked pretty bare from a distance so I wasn’t sure why anyone would be keen to ski or board it on this particular day unless like me, they were primarily interested in the exercise and views from the top. I skied across the meadows to the south ridge which I followed up on hard snow to just beneath the summit. Rather than bash up my aging skis on rocks, I boot packed the final few vertical meters to the top of the ridge and enjoyed great views from there.
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