November 3, 2021

Ski Touring and Splitboarding Highway 93 South

Highway 93 south has been growing ever more popular over the past few years for ski touring and splitboarding. It felt as though it was overlooked for many years due to the lower elevation trailheads and deadfall ridden lower elevations. The secret seems to be out now and traffic in this region has grown dramatically in recent times.

For splitboarders this region holds the appeal of a lot of vertical relief right from the highway. So, in short, if you are a splitboarder who doesn’t like skiing for long periods of time, there are lots of zones that climb right out of the parking lot. In saying that, there are lots of long sloggy adventures to be had too.

For this article we are referring to the ski touring zone from Castle Mountain Junction to as far south as Vermillion Crossing. There is a bunch of riding to be done further south than that, however, I have done little exploring down there and it is very subject to snow conditions as they tend to be much thinner.

HIGHWAY 93 SOUTH SKI TOURING CHARACTERISTICS

Snow

Lower elevations near the road the snow tends to be on the thinner side compared to places like 93 North. This zone in general tends to have a later start due to massive amounts of fire related deadfall (needs a bunch of snow to fill it in to make travel pleasant). In saying that, if you are accessing ski touring and splitboarding zones that have an established summer trail, this horrendous bushwhacking can be avoided.

Crowds

As I mentioned earlier, Highway 93 South has seen quite the boom in popularity. It’s proximity to Calgary and easy access to some great terrain and snow make it an appealing day out touring for backcountry skiers and riders. That being said, midweek is pretty chill and if you travel a little ways away from the main zones you can usually find unridden snow well after a storm.