Mt. Matier / NW face

Matier's NW Face is a classic in ski mountaineering on the coast. 1500m of climbing takes you to the summit. A small but fun down climb into a notch and the face is spread out before you. A consistent panel of 40-45 degree terrain to the glacier below.

Scotty and I approached via Joffre lakes and the lookers left of the icefall. Pretty straightforward in the conditions we had but I could see feeling quite small in this area if you are unsure of the snowpack.

Our first view of the face. The ski line is lookers right, beside the rock buttress. Some climb the face but its more common to ascend the left ridgeline, the snow is more windblasted here and travel is generally easy. PLUS!, it takes you up and over the summit.

Scotty on the ascent.

Descending the summit rime.

Making turns down the face. We had wind buff this day, really chalky and cold but easy to ski, perfect conditions really.

The stoke is high, back to the car for 1:30pm, cocktails in Squamish by 4.