Forever Young Couloir

North-facing couloir dropping off Youngs Peak into the Asulkan drainage in Glacier National Park, Rogers Pass. From the Asulkan trailhead, skin up the valley toward Asulkan Hut, then break climber’s right toward the Illecillewaet–Youngs glacier system and gain the obvious north cirque below Youngs Peak. The line is a straight, enclosed gully with a clean fall line that spits you back toward the main Asulkan exit.

Terrain is full-on alpine: glaciated approach with crevasse hazard, overhead seracs in places, and a steep, confined start zone. The entrance is usually obvious but rolls over with a convexity, so you’re committing as soon as you tip in. Typical reports describe sustained steep skiing with serious consequence for a fall, and Parks Canada has documented at least one fatal fall in adjacent cirque terrain near Forever Young—slips here are not trivial.

Common problems are wind loading at the top, touchy storm slabs over old hard surfaces, and sluff that can pile up fast in the choke. The north aspect preserves cold snow but also keeps weak layers alive; many parties treat this as a true high-stability objective. Time it for a solid overnight freeze, low hazard in alpine start zones, and good visibility so you can read the overhead hazard and the runout.