Icefall Lodge is one of British Columbia’s premier backcountry destinations – a remote wilderness lodge near Golden that serves as a year-round base for back country skiing, hiking, mountaineering, and glacier exploration. With routes that wind through wildflower meadows and up to ice-blue lakes, it’s a rare chance to experience the Canadian Rockies far beyond the beaten track.

Icefall Lodge, located at 1885 m elevation, is rustic, yet comfortable, consisting of two separate lodges and a sauna building. The new lodge is a bright, roomy, three-story building. The original building provides additional bedrooms and a separate living room. There is no internet or cell phone coverage.

This is not a “usual” Skyline Hikers location. On past Skyline camps there was normally a daily choice to hike a challenging, moderate or easy hike. This location does not offer much ‘easy’ hiking, so Skyliners need to think carefully if they are ready for this adventure.

Icefall Lodge was developed as a back-country ski lodge because of the steep terrain (double / triple black-diamond). Summer hiking is relatively new for the lodge. Most of the hiking routes are both steep and spectacular. Many routes offer proximity to glaciers. Skyliners should be comfortable on rough trails with steep and rapid elevation gain, loose rocks, drop offs, tree roots, uneven ground with occasional tight access around trees and rocks, and narrow bridges with no railings.

For Skyliners who are physically fit, possess good balance and stability, and remain active year-round, hiking at Icefall Lodge typically presents a moderate challenge in steep mountain terrain. Skyline Hikers has arranged to have three certified guides (Association of Canadian Mountain Guide (ACMG) to accommodate the fast and strong, moderate but strong, and slow yet steady hikers. To those Skyliners who are not regularly active hikers, and who may not have time to actively prepare to hike steep mountain terrain, then Icefall Lodge will likely pose a challenge. If you decide to participate but find the hikes too challenging, then hanging around a “rustic” lodge for a few days will not be satisfactory. Anyone who had difficulty at recent Skyline camps will definitely be challenged at Icefall Lodge.

Trips leave from the Acclaim Hotel near the Calgary airport hotel, with pickups in other locations before they head to Donald, BC (near Golden) before boarding helicopters to fly to the lodge.

On the final day after the hikers return to the starting point on the helicopter, the trips returned directly to the Acclaim Hotel with drop-offs along the route.

Photos on this page courtesy of Doreen Vanderstoop, Dave Osmond, Photini Papadou, Mark Phipps,  Shari Zisk and others and are used with their permission.