Top Hat Ski Traverse - Yoho National Park

 Distance: 16km

Elevation: 1216m

A perfect January day for a ski tour in Yoho

We met in the Emerald Lake Lodge parking lot at 8am, following the trail towards Hamilton Lake. It was still dark as we started out from the vehicles but the expected arrival of high winds later in the day had us eager to get up and through the alpine early. This was an ACC trip and my first time out with these members, but everyone was friendly and seemed to be very fit! We reached the treeline below Hamilton Lake rapidly as we worked our way around Emerald Peak. Above the trees, we had incredible views to the valley below. The air was still and the sun was shining. It was a great day to be out skiing.

The sun peaks out from behind the peaks as we gain elevation through the forest

Approaching Hamilton Lake with the shoulder of Mount Carnarvon ahead

Looking back down the valley over Yoho National Park

Easy travel up the skin track highway

Our objective for the day came into view as we reached Hamilton Lake. A well traveled skin track from the weekend helped us travel quickly up towards the col below the Top Hat. We had opted to forego the scramble to summit the rocky peak and left our crampons and axes in the vehicles. Save that for next time!

The Top Hat emerges above Hamilton Lake

Stunning views of the distant Goodsirs and Mt. Vaux, looking between Emerald and Carnarvon

Climbing up below the Top Hat to reach the Carnarvon Col

Above the clouds with Emerald Peak behind

The scramble/chimney to the summit of the Top Hat guarded by a small cornice

We had a brief stop for lunch at the col, enjoying the incredible views and complete lack of wind. 

Looking down the col towards Mt. Marpole and the President

Big walls above our long descent to the valley bottom

Soon, it was time to drop in. The route had been heavily skied over the last few days, leaving lots of tracked up powder. Fortunately, there was still good skiing to be had on the edges of the tracks and we had a 1000m descent down to the valley bottom with the Emerald Glacier, The President and Vice President towering above. There were a few gully features to navigate and we managed to avoid the large cliff/waterfall feature on the skiers left side of final long pitch by skiing the small trees below Emerald Peak. 

A bit of effort to find the fresh turns was worth it!

The return to Emerald Lake through the creek had a few sporty sections but we covered the distance to the XC ski trails quickly before 2km of flat skating/sliding back to the cars.