Glacier Crest Northeast Couloir

Northeast-facing couloir dropping off the Glacier Crest ridge above the Illecillewaet side. You reach it from the Glacier Crest skin track: from the ridge, trend along the crest toward the Illecillewaet Glacier until the line comes into view, then pick the cleanest entrance through the cornice or wind lip. The walls are fairly tight, with short, steep rolls that can build soft pillows or stiff wind slab depending on recent weather.

The entrance is the main crux. Cornices and wind-loading are common along this section of the crest, and the start often hangs above a convex roll. Dig and stomp right at the lip before you commit, and be honest about overhead hazard from the ridge. Once in, manage sluff carefully so you don’t get pushed into the sidewalls or down onto the morainal features lower down.

The exit fans out beside and above old moraine ribs and gullies. These can turn into terrain traps if you drift too far skier’s left or right, especially in low coverage or during warm spells when the snow bridges thin. In lean conditions expect rocks and ice bulges; in fat conditions you get smoother, pillow-ish rolls but still with enough structure underneath to hurt if you tomahawk.

This line sits inside Glacier National Park’s Rogers Pass permit system. A Winter Permit is mandatory for any backcountry travel here, and daily area openings/closures change with avalanche control work.