McMurdo Ski Touring

The McMurdo Cabin is a rustic backcountry hut maintained by the Columbia Huts Society. We managed to get a weekend booking in mid-December and were pretty stoked to check out a totally new zone. The cabin is accessed by sledding up the Spillimacheen and McMurdo FSRs, accessed from Parson 35 km south of Golden on Highway 95. The sled access is fortunately maintained by Sled Golden and was in great shape. We paid our $25 trail fee then drove up the icy FSR to a staging area at the 21km mark. From there we loaded up the sled and toboggan for a cold 30km rip up the groomed roads. At km 57, the road makes a big sweeping right turn and a small single track trail leads up a drainage for about 1km to the hut. It could be easy to miss if you aren't paying attention!

Ripping up the Silent Pass access road maintained by Sled Golden

We followed the little trail up the drainage and across a meadow. The hut was just past the meadow and marked the end of the sled tracks. All the terrain above the hut is a non-motorized zone and all the sledders go up to Silent Pass instead. It took a bit to figure out how to open the door, but once we figured out that you had to pull a little string to the left of the door to raise the latch inside, we were in.

Made it to the hut without any issues

We got to work warming up the hut and making lunch before heading out for an afternoon ski. It was nearing the winter solstice and the days were very short. By the time we reached the ridge top around 4:30, it was getting close to dark. There wasn't any recent new snow but we still found some nice turns back to the hut.

Alpine glow from the top of the ridge

Enjoying our own private sunset

The next morning we were up early to make the most of the day. We toured up from the hut to the col between Beverley and David Peaks and had a long ski back down to the valley bottom.

Skinning up the gully

Into the alpine

Heading for the ridge top

A good view of David Peak

Aiming for the col between Beverley and David Peaks

Looking over the edge into the Robbie Burns drainage

Excellent picnic location

Great views

Beautiful day

Skins off, time to ski!

Early season turns

Can't go over it, have to go under it!

We got back to the hut with some light to spare so took the sled up the road towards Silent Pass. We followed the well traveled sled track up to a bench below Silent Mountain, but didn't go any further. The trail got too extreme for our sled and our skills. 

Doing some evening exploration up towards Silent Pass

Hut games

On our final morning we went to ski a line we had scoped out the day before. We followed our uptrack into the alpine then made our way up onto a ridge on Beverley before dropping in.

Crazy crystals

Going up again

Trying to find the right chute

Dropping in

Feeling recharged after a great weekend getaway

The terrain above the McMurdo Hut is awesome. There is something for everyone with bit open alpine slopes, glaciers, peaks, trees, chutes and pillow lines. It is also like your own private touring area thanks to the non-motorized zone rule. We had an amazing trip and it felt so good to get away and clear our minds.