Vancouver Island Alpine Guide Albert Edward - 2094m/6870'

Albert Edward is undoubtedly the most climbed mountain on Vancouver Island. It can be clearly seen form the Mt. Washington ski area as well as the Island Highway north of Courtenay. This inspires many hikers to the their first summit. The main access to the mountain is provide by trails in Forbidden Plateau, see 'Hiking Trails III' .

Fast Ski Route to Circlet Lake The simplest and fastest route is to follow Mt Washington's groomed trails to the north end of Lake Helen Mackenzie. Leave the trail and ski to the SW end of Lake Helen Mackenzie, then head through steep forest to the Brooks - Elma Col. The route then heads south into Murray Meadows past a Ranger Cabin. Continue south and down, passing to the west of Hairtrigger Lake. The route now tends to the west to pass just to the south of Strata Mtn. When you are about to head down to Circlet and McPhee Lakes head SW again to the east shoulder of Albert Edward between Circlet and Moat Lakes. Longer Esthetic Ski Route to Circlet Lake The longer, and in my opinion more esthetic route, is around the east side of Mt Elma. What makes this route so nice is that it lake hops across Forbidden Plateau. Due to this, navigation is pretty simple. All you have to do is ski to the appropriate end of the lake or meadow, take a bearing, ski some forest, then in half a kilometer come out at the next lake. From the Mt Washington Nordic car park head south directly into Paradise Meadows, thus avoiding the Toll Both. Continue south across the meadows staying off the groomed trails (You didn't pay did you?). On the south side of the meadows head SE along the edge of the forest, until you sea a small snow capped hill to the right and above the meadow. 100m befoe this snow capped hill enter the forest and traverse slowly SE. Do not attack the slope, you want to gain about 30m and then follow the creek up to Battleship Lake. Just before Battleship you will cross a groomed X-Country Track. Ski south down Battleship. To get to Lake Helen Mackenzie and the fast route, leave Battleship lake a 100m before the south end of the lake and head west and down 10m. To continue around Elma continue to the very south end of Battleship, cross the groomed X-Country Track, and contine south just to the east of Kooso Lake. Traverse to the right slightly to avoid gaining too much elevation as you follow a creek up to Lady Lake. You want to get onto Laey Lake at its extreme north arm. East of this a steep bank makes it difficult to get onto the lake. Ski to the SW end of Lady Lake then follow the drainage up to Croteau Lake. Past Croteau the route drops steeply down to Murray Meadows. As you ski into the steep forest past Croteau, angle to the right/west for several hundred meters before switch backing into the top of the meadow. In the bottom of the Murray Meadows head west crossing the creek on a Park's Bridge in the middle of the meadows or across a snow bridge on the north edge of the meadow. Head up into the forest just to the left/south of the creek, initially heading NW for 50m before heading SW to Kwai Lake. Continue SW keeping to the west of Mariwood Lake and north of Meadow Lake. Drop into Whisky Meadows and follow the creek due west. Cross the south side of the creek when possible. Ski west and up WNW towards the south end of Strata Mountain.

From Circlet Lake Follow the trail up onto an eastern shoulder of Albert Edward between Circlet and Moat Lakes. The trail switch backs up through the trees and comes out into a meadow below the cliffs at the east end of the shoulder. The trail traverses west then up a gully and onto the shoulder. Continue west and up onto the ridge that leads to Albert Edward. Note where you gained the ridge so that you know where to drop off the ridge duting the decent in case the visibility deteriates later in the day. The route continues south along the ridge then swings to the west to the summit. During the summer, when there is no snow, this route can be done by strong hikers. Winter Ascent In winter it is possible to ski to the summit of Albert Edward. The route from Circlet Lake is identical to the summer route, with the most difficult (steepest) sections at the start, as you work you're way up onto the eastern shoulder of Albert Edward. Higher on the mountain the terrain is less of a problem, but the ridge is exposed to high winds, which remove the good snow, leaving the ridge icey. The west and north sides of the ridge leading to Albert Edward will be holding massive cornices which you must not venture onto. This is of particular concern if a white out developes.

In some ways the biggest challenge in skiing Albert Edward is getting to Circlet Lake. None of the routes are marked and all require backcountry navigation experience. Do not head into Forbidden Plateau unless you are confident you can return in a blizzard with 30m visibility.

Ski Trip Options

From April on, a strong experienced party might concider doing Albert Edward as day trip. You have to be able to ski hard for 12 to 14 hours, and start at or before first light. Due to the time constraints you can not affort to make a navigation mistake, so this is best attempted after an earlier reconansance/failure. The advantage of the day trip over a two day trip is that it avoids wasting an hour breaking camp and skiing out with heavy packs.