Elfin Lakes Backcountry Skiing

After our last trip to Hidden Lake on Mount Seymour, Oudi and I discussed some options for a beginner-friendly backcountry skiing trip. Fatmap’s guide on beginner ski touring routes was helpful. Based on the avalanche forecast and proximity, we decided to go to the Red Heather-Elfin Lakes area on February 12.

Territory Acknowledgement

I would like to acknowledge that this trip took place on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) peoples. I commit to learning about Indigenous peoples and issues and making reconciliation an ongoing effort.

Source: Native-Land Pronunciation Guide: First Nations.info

Red Heather Shelter

I left home around 5 am and then carpooled with Oudi from North Vancouver Trail Parking Lot. The Garibaldi Park Road was clear, and we had no issues driving to the Diamond Head Trail Parking Lot. We arrived relatively early and started skinning up the Elfin Lakes trail just past 7 am.

It was hard-packed snow on the trail, and although I didn’t have issues skinning up, I wondered about skiing down this trail. If I don’t have my act together, I might turn this into a bowling alley – taking down skiers and hikers on their way up.

Elfin Lakes Trail to Red Heather Shelter

Around 8 am, we reached Brandvold Falls about halfway to Red Heather Shelter.

After about an hour and 30 minutes, we were at the Red Heather Shelter, which is about 5 km from the trailhead. It took me about 15 minutes less to hike up to this shelter in October, although the conditions then were different. Not sure if I would have been any faster hiking in winter with microspikes.

Elfin Lakes

After a brief break, we continued on Elfin Lakes (winter) trail. As we got higher up, we got a panoramic view of the Tantalus Range.

The winter trail is marked by orange poles and easy to follow as this trail is popular among skiers and snowshoers. The winter trail is to the South of the Round Mountain compared to the summer trail to the North.

The trail traversing South of Round Mountain was narrow and icy in some sections. It took us about 10-15 minutes to cover this section, and soon, we were at the high point of about 1610 m on Paul’s Ridge. From here, we followed the ridge to Elfin Lakes. It was a beautiful day.

On our way to Elfin Lakes

There were a couple of short descents to the Elfin Lakes, and after all the previous trips, I felt comfortable going down in skin mode. It took us just under four hours to arrive at the Elfin Lakes.

We continued past the first lake and took a long break at the day shelter.

Descent

Oudi wanted to dig a snow pit and do a compression test on our way back. It was an excellent opportunity to learn, but I was too tired and was honest with Oudi. So as we got close to our high point on Paul’s ridge, we transitioned to Ski mode and started our descent.

We got back to Red Heather Shelter via the summer trail and then skied down the Elfin Lakes trail back to the parking lot. It was not as bad as I had thought earlier, and I managed to ski down without hurting anyone. Although, a teenage boy jumped into a ditch by the side of the trail when he saw me skiing down. Parents hiking/skinning up warned their kids and kept them closer. I am still working on my style.

For now, I am just happy to make my first long (22 km) trip on skis with just a couple of falls in okay conditions. I had a great day in the backcountry while learning a thing or two about backcountry skiing. Thanks, Oudi.