Asulkan Stoke
Story and photos by Marcus Athans for the 2025 ACC Gazette
Frost collects on the inside of the car windows as we enter Rogers Pass’s world of pointy peaks, cold blue skies, and fluffy flakes. This trip has been marked on my calendar for the better part of a year and it’s finally underway. Our cars are full of eager skiers and a full Costco haul, and we’re heading for the ACC’s Asulkan Cabin for the weekend.
Our team of ten congregates at the bottom of the Illecillewaet Valley to check gear and divide the food. We’re all reluctant to add more weight to our already large packs, but eventually all the bits make it in.
We click into our skis, throw our oversized packs on our backs, and begin the trek to the hut, our steps a symphony of squeaky boots and crunchy snow.
Anticipation of the powder ahead fuels our ascent and we scurry our way through the last of the bottlenecked valley climb known as “The Mousetrap” and get our first view of the snowy playground ahead. I can’t help but visualize ski lines down all the surrounding slopes.
A stop for lunch below the tree triangle and the final ascent doesn’t last long as the shadows and cold breeze remind us that it’s -20. We push up the last climb and arrive at the hut, our home for the next two nights.
We load up the kitchen with our supplies and cook an incredible meal for our crew of starving skiers. Smash burgers and pasta salad are on the menu and two burgers each ensures maximum recovery from the day’s work. Hours of Codenames, our favourite board game, is followed with a heavy competitive spirit in the air.
Our first day concludes with the cozy jumbo bunks calling our names. The wind howls louder than our snores.
Our morning begins at the crack of dawn with laps on steep, deep, light powder for breakfast. Low danger avalanche conditions allow us to ski all the different aspects in the area and the Illecillewaet Valley quickly looks like a resort piste.
Winter days are short, and as the sun starts to creep away we turn back for the cabin, our thoughts turning to the pork belly burritos that will be our dinner.
The evening is a time of storytelling, guidebook reading, and of course more Codenames. We revel in the deep relaxation that follows a day of incredible turns, meals, and shared excitement.
One more day of skiing is followed by saying our goodbyes to the terrain, a ski down to our cars, and a return to “real life.” The memories of adventure, great meals and amazing company will last a long time.
Thanks team, and thanks ACC Asulkan Cabin; we’ll be back.
Regional ACC Sections are the Alpine Club of Canada’s strength. Membership in an ACC Section enables members to participate in numerous summer and winter mountaineering, rock climbing, and skiing activities, coordinated by experienced amateur leaders in their local area. The majority of activities offered by sections are either free or are offered on a break-even basis to their members. Through ACC Section trips you’ll learn all the basics you need to travel safely in the mountains, while meeting new friends to enjoy your experiences with.
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