THE GREAT DIVIDE TRAVERSE

The longest traverse of all, it runs 320 kilometres (199 miles) along the crest of the Rocky Mountains between Jasper and Alberta’s Wapta Lake in Yoho National Park. First skied in 1967, it has been repeated only a dozen times in almost 50 years.

It crosses eight major ice fields. The traverse is more technical than most people think.

It has a logical start and finish, and it follows a logical line over ice fields along the Continental Divide. Since it’s largely within national parks, it’s still pristine and undisturbed. The Icefields Parkway parallels the route, making the placement of caches by hand possible.

History
In 1960, a six-person team composed of Hans Gmoser, Pierre Garneau, Philippe Delesalle, Kurt Lukas, Neil Brown, and Pat Boswell carried packs weighing approximately 35 kilograms each. Unfortunately, the attempt was unsuccessful.

In 1960, a six-person team attempted the Great Divide Ski Traverse, a 300-kilometre-long route through eight major ice fields from Alberta’s Wapta Lake in Yoho National Park to the community of Jasper. The team includes (left to right) Hans Gmoser, Pierre Garneau, Philippe Delesalle, Kurt Lukas, Neil Brown, and Pat Boswell, who carry packs weighing approximately 35 kilograms each. Although unsuccessful, the team inspires a young Chic Scott to attempt the same traverse seven years later and complete the route in 21 days. Photo: Bruno Engler.

In 1967, Chic Scott, Don Gardner, Neil Liske, and Charlie Locke started near Jasper and completed the route in 21 days, marking the first time the route was completed. This was Chic Scott’s grandest traverse.
It was a drastically different era – wood skis, leather boots, and no 1:50,000 topographical maps. They used hand-drawn maps created in 1920 as part of a survey of the Alberta-British Columbia border. They also studied aerial photos of the area. They had several rappels, steep climbs to remote passes, river crossings, and many crevasses and avalanche slopes.  They hand-placed their food caches by ski-touring into their intended route from various points on the highway. “We spent the whole winter planning it,” Scott says.
Most groups since then have taken as long or longer.

In 2007, a solo traverse by Janez Ales was completed in 17 days, the fastest time yet.

In 2017, Alex Heathcott of Calgary, Darren Farley of Canmore, Lynnea Baker of Revelstoke and Eliot Brooks of Revelstoke completed it in 21 days. It was the 50th anniversary of the Great Divide Ski Traverse, and Chic Scott greeted them on May 2 on the final day of their adventures.

Kylee Toth thinks that the Great Divide traverse is ripe for shortening and doing it with speed, or to extend it.