Oxo Puzzle Peak

OXO Puzzle Peak, Ramp Runs

This large officially unnamed peak is found northeast of Dolomite Pass and its southeast shoulder offers plenty of great skiing options. The name “Puzzle Peak” was only ever “suggested” in the 1940’s and first climbed by E. Cromwell and Miss G. Engelhard in 1941; “OXO (Puzzle) Peak” appears in the summit register along with barely any registered climbs. The name “OXO Peak” now shows up on many online maps. The big ramp is visible from the road as you drive past Mount Hector and is hard to ignore as a skier. Once in the area you can get many laps in, as the area is quite large. The greater area would serve well for an AST 2 field day, as there are plenty of micro features to work on the way up and lots of big terrain close by.

Vertical: 900m access to the top, 400m run.

Distance: 4.5km access to the top, 1km run.

Directions: From the Parks Canada gate at the start of 93N drive about 24km and park roadside. Follow the open tree lane ways in the lower forest which head almost directly north while slightly trending climber’s right. After roughly 1.5km and 200m vertical you will either reach the lower open slopes of Dolomite Shoulder or at the very least see them through the forest if you ended up a little too east. Follow the trim line heading north before seeing the first drainage heading east and down towards Mosquito Creek. Continue north and then northeast over the ever-increasing rolling terrain before reaching the next drainage which you can begin to follow until escaping treeline. Above the end of the steeper walled drainage you will find an alpine area filled with rolling bumps, ramps and benches which can be worked almost all the way to the top of the run, otherwise you can head further north along the disappearing drainage and skin directly up the slope of your choosing. Skiing the slope is nearly the same regardless where you go down and to exit back to the road follow your access route.