Little Sifton Traverse - Rogers Pass

Distance: 12 km

Elevation: 1400m

Time: 6hrs

A rare clear day in Rogers Pass gave us the perfect opportunity to tick off the Little Sifton Traverse

A Roger's Pass classic, the Little Sifton Traverse gets you up high in the alpine above Grizzly Shoulder and offers excellent views of Sir Donald, Illecillewaet, Asulkan and Cheops. There are options to summit Little Sifton, or ski some yo-yo laps on the way down the confusingly named Grizzly Slide Path out the the Hermit Parking Lot.

We had a good weather window between storms to start our second annual Roger's Pass weekend with Sabina. With the weird snowpack this year, we wanted to keep things conservative, making the Little Sifton a great option. Along with plenty of turn-around options, Sabina had lots of local knowledge about the descent route to Hermit to give us a fun ski down. Surprisingly, Kyle and I had never actually skied Little Sifton. It tends to be pretty stormy when we ski Rogers Pass and this is for sure a route you do for the views!

Grey skies but a high ceiling as we make our way up Grizzly Shoulder

We hopped on the super highway skin track at the visitors centre and started up Connaught Creek. The snowpack was noticeably better than our last trip to the pass back in December, but still very low for early February. The skin track up Grizzly Shoulder was well established and we gained elevation quickly up to the treeline.

Walking up through the wind-scoops below the shoulder

The clouds lifted to give us a great view

Rogers Pass is a magical place

We followed the climb to the top of the shoulder, and regrouped at the top of the short bootpack for a snack. At this point, we had gained 2/3rds of the elevation to the top of the traverse. From the ridge you can access Rogers Run or Puff Daddy, our go-to run for stormy days. Continuing up the ridge takes you towards Little Sifton Col, the entry point into Grizzly Path for the descent.

Short bootpack to gain the ridge

Spectacular day in Rogers Pass

Taking in the views

The sun makes a brief appearance

Looking ahead to Little Sifton Col

We contoured up the gradual moraines below Little Sifton as the clouds started to roll back in and the light turned flat. As we arrived at the top of the col, we had lost our visibility and made a decision to skip the final push to the top of Little Sifton, choosing instead to transition and drop in from the col.

Final approach to Little Sifton Col

At the col, there is a cornice which we avoided by entering at the far skiers left. The first pitch punch wind slab with some barely covered rocks. Fortunately the light improved briefly to allow us passage. Once we made it into the bowl, we traversed below "Big Sifton" gazing up at some of the big chutes and lines above us.

The boys waiting for the light, ready to drop in from the col

The skiing down into the Grizzly Path was really fun. The short pitches of varied terrain kept things interesting and we found some excellent snow. Sabina showed us some fun pillow lines and tree skiing lower down the run. It was a quick and easy ski back to the car we had dropped at Hermit Parking lot.

Kyle finds some fresh snow