Darton Ski Descent, June 21 2011

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Hiked/Skied Darton on June 21, summer solstice. Approach was out of Circle Park Trailhead to Rainy Lake. From there, trended westerly toward the summit, utilizing a long, gentle slope to reach the base of the peak proper. Skied with skins from a no-name lake above Rainy Lake, with occasional short stretches of boulder hopping. In lesser snow years, much of this skin route could be out of condition by late June. Approached via the south side of the summit proper, between the rim overlooking Chill Lakes Cirque and Darton. This was an easy switchback on skins. Summited, then down-climbed to look into the head of the cirque that drops off on the northeast side of the peak. South Darton Couloir was in good condition, but the top is rimmed by 8-20 ft. rock walls and is not skiable without rappel, unless you are feeling very lucky. North Darton Couloir had a nice line in on the skiers left, but a large cornice still threatened safe descent. I climbed back to the Darton summit and skied straight east of the peak. At the bottom of the main snowfield, I turned left and skied down a steep couloir that dropped me another 1000+ vertical into the cirque below. The following morning I returned via the same route, and skied Chill Couloir, the main couloir that overlooks the top Chill Lake. It would have been a straightforward climb back up to the plateau with ice axe and crampons, but snow was too warm already, so I made a long loop, skiing down Chill Cirque, and to the top of Lame Deer Lake- from here I climbed back onto the long east bench descending from Darton and returned to camp. Approach was pretty easy- I camped about 1.5 miles west of Rainy Lake, and it took me only a few hours up to this point, carrying a heavy pack with overnight and ski gear.