First ski descent of Mount Deltaform's North Glacier by Brette Harrington, Christina Lustenberger, Gee Pierrel

We departed the Moraine Lake trailhead at 7 a.m. on January 17th, with my truck thermometer reading –18°C. Hauling our gear in toboggans, we covered 17 kilometers to reach the base of Mount Deltaform. High winds blew across the surrounding peaks sending spin drift down the cliffs, leaving us with feelings of uncertainty as we approached. Deep in the Valley of Ten we set up our tents below our objective.

A calm air settled in during the night, so the following morning we began climbing Deltaform. We ascended a series of exposed ramps that led to a couloir, looker’s right of our intended descent line. Near the top of the couloir, where it pinned shut against rock bands, we stepped left crossing a sharp fin of snow. Here we built an anchor and rappelled into the hanging glacier to continue climbing the steep upper section.

After reaching the top, we transitioned and skied to the edge of the hanging serac, making two rappels to access another hanging snowfield. Two more rappels delivered us onto the lower portion of the route, where we finally skied all the way down and back to camp. One more cold night followed by a long walk out on our third day capped off the trip. A beautiful, full Canadian adventure.

- Christina Lustenberger