Elevation Gain: 1,328m
Distance: 16.9km
Total Time: 9 hours 43 minutes
Date: April 13th, 2025
(includes Three Bears)
Andrea and I had just finished descending from Three Bears Mountain and I still had a touch of energy left for one more thing. On the North End of the Icemantle Glacier lies a small rounded summit unofficially known as Goldilocks Mountain. We’d be passing right by it on our return and so this was my chance to expend the last of my energy for the day. Andrea wanted to have a nap on a nearby warm rock, so I skied down to the col and then started skinning my way up.
The terrain was straight forward and save for two steep skinning sections I reached the summit without any fuss. This additional side trip actually proved to be very worth it. Before me I had our first unobstructed view of the Icemantle glacier. I took a dozen plus photos and then skied off the summit back to the col. One steep grunt later and I was rejoined with Andrea.
We then ascended back up to the Baby Bear shoulder and discovered a major error in our timing. The sun had set just enough to refreeze the top inch of snow leaving a horrendous crust. For the life of us we could not ski it gracefully and resorted to zig zagging and falling our way down. Andrea faired better than I. Thankfully this remote setting removed all chances of a witness.
Once at the bottom we had an easier time back to the tent. We spent one more night and then shipped out in the morning. A perfect two nights in the alpine!
