Mission range ski routes

Note:  A tribal conservation permit is required to access the Mission mountain range from the Salish-Kootenai Reservation.  Permits are easily obtained online, and from most sporting goods stores.  I have been checked multiple times at the trailhead.  Also, a grizzly bear conservation restriction forbids human access of any kind in the McDonald peak area from July 15 to October.  Please respect the restrictions.  

Skiing the upper West face of Greywolf peak.

Saint Mary's reservoir

Saint Mary's reservoir is the best access point for skiing in the Mission mountain range. 

Driving directions: From Missoula in the spring, it is fastest to drive via the Jocko river.  From I-90, drive north in Highway 93 for 15 miles, and take Coldwater lane, which leaves the highway about a mile before the town of Arlee.  Take Coldwater lane north for a mile, then turn right on the Jocko road at a T intersection.  Continue on this road for 8.5 miles, and turn left on P-5000.  This is a major intersection which occurs just after crossing the Jocko river for the second time. Follow P-5000 for about 5 miles, and take a left at the Y intersection at Twin lakes.  Continue past Twin lakes and Saint Marys reservoir on the West side.  Take one of several spurs onto the dam at the outlet of St. Marys reservoir.  If the campsite where the trail takes off is occupied, it is recommended to park in the large parking lot below the dam.  The road is suitable for all passenger cars. P-5000 is often snowed in until mid spring.

In winter, or from the Kalispell area, it is fastest to drive up the St Marys lake road from St Ignatius.  From town, just south of the grocery store, turn onto the St Marys lake road.  The route is intuitive, but generally head  southeast, either following the St Marys lake road the entire way, or taking the Mission Creek road east, then the Foothills road south to re-join the St Marys lake road and continuing to the reservoir.  The road is plowed to within a couple of miles of the reservoir all winter, and is normal melted out by sometime in April.  Driving access to St Marys lake is occasionally open all winter in low snow years.

The climber's trail takes off from a dispersed campsite at the northwest corner of the lake.  Take the time to find the trail.  It is good, and will save a lot of bushwacking.  The trail starts out just west of a small creek and parallels it for about a hundred yards before climbing 4,600 vertical feet to the southeast ridge of East St Marys peak at 8,600 feet.  From here the possibilities are endless.

East St Marys peak: East St Marys peak is usually approached via the east ridge.  The most popular route is to ski the east ridge ascent route.  The east ridge is recommended as a great tour, but not the most exciting or engaging ski run off the peak.  Take note that avalanche exposure on the upper 600 vertical feet of the east ridge is unavoidable. Good moderate runs drop to No Fish lake and Dry creek from all along the ridge.  The southeast face of East St Marys peak drops to Power creek, and is one of the most accessible steep ski descents in the range.  From the bottom of the face, the most common exit is to climb up and west to the approach ridge.  It is also possible to contour back to the approach trail at approximately 6,600 feet. With the blessing of the routefinding gods, the contouring return goes cleanly, but plan some extra time to thread your way through cliffs.  Reports of the exit from the southeast face down Power creek vary from mildly bad to heinous, so explore at your peril.  An overlooked but excellent moderate ski run is to take the Northeast ridge to Vacation pass, then down and west to the highest lake in Sonielem creek.  The southwest aspect of the peak provides excellent skiing, but the exit down to the St. Marys reservoir road is unknown, which in the Missions probably means it is quite bad.  Plan on returning to the car over the summit of East St Marys peak.

Southeast faces of West St Marys (left) and East St Marys (right) peaks in winter.

Climbing in front of the northeast face of East St Marys peak.
Vacation pass is just out of view to looker's left.

Normal climb up the east ridge of East St Marys peak with Greywolf behind.

West St Marys peak:  West St Marys peak is difficult to access, but is worth the effort.  It is most commonly climbed via the wild east ridge from East Saint Mary's peak.  Give cornices along the ridge a wide berth.  The southeast face provides at least 2,000 vertical feet of good steep skiing.  The northeast face has a complex and exposed moderate run on the skier's right edge.  Enter the face at a break in the cornice a few hundred feet below the summit, ski north for about 500 vertical feet, then exit hard skier's right. The Northeast face could be skied directly, but would involve steep skiing and tricky cliff negotiation on the lower face. The wild west face drops for over 6,000 vertical feet to the Flathead valley. 

Climbing in front of the Northeast face of West St Marys peak.
The Northeast face ski run takes the open slope lookers left of the peak,
then takes the sunlight ramp looker's left between the obvious cliff bands.

Sonielem ridge including Lowary peak and Peak Y:  The Sonielem ridge is easily accessed from Vacation Pass below East Saint Marys peak.  The west faces of Lowary peak, Peak Y, and the Sonielem ridge, and Sonielem couloir all provide excellent ski runs into the South fork of Mission creek. This is big country, so beware glide avalanches.  The steep and complex eastern aspect of the Soneilem ridge drops into the head of Mission creek and has at least two skiiable passages.  The east couloir of Lowary peak is off the radar of most skiers, but is a highly recommended ski run.  Cornices guarding the entrance are usually passable on skier's right, but require some level of trickery.  The upper several hundred feet are steep, convex, and can form tension cracks in spring, so be prepared to deal with some hazards on this otherwise excellent ski run.

West face of Lowary Peak and Peak Y.

The East couloir of Lowary peak in condition.

Greywolf Peak, west aspect:  The west couloir of Greywolf is one of the best ski runs in Montana.  Long, splitter, beautiful, and  just steep enough to be engaging, it is an adventure of grand proportions.  The couloir runnels fairly early in the spring, so go early.  The couloir funnels all manner of ice, rock and snow sluffs from the west face, so treat it with respect. (Early or first descent Colin Chisolm, Chris Spurgeon, May 2005ish)

The west face is skiiable from the exact summit with a deep snowpack, and is an excellent adventure.  Several cliff bands make the route engaging on both the ascent and descent (Early (or first?) descent Brian Story, Shasta Hood, February 2010).  There are several narrow couloirs to the north of the west couloir which provide steep and difficult alternative to the west couloir.  The lower portion of the next couloir to the north has been skied at least once from about 1/3 height.  The Index Finger couloir has been skied with one 30 meter rappel from a dead tree (First descent Brian Story, April 2011).  Accessing both couloirs from the top is exposed and confusing.  There is also a short, moderate and excellent couloir to the south of the west couloir, informally called the Thumb.

West aspect of Greywolf peak.  The West couloir is unlabeled, but should be obvious.

Exit routes:  The standard exit to St Marys lake is down the climbers trail.  It is fast and efficient.  Alternately, several steep bowls and tree shots funnel down into an alder choked and cliffy drainage just east of the climbers trail.  Exiting all the way to the reservoir via this drainage is not advisable, but it is feasible to ski to approximately 5,500 feet, and traverse back west to the climber's trail.  The traverse involves some stout bushwacking, but is not too long.

There are several interesting, long southeast facing gullies down into Dry creek.  The exit out Dry creek is unknown, but looks to be unpleasant at best, and unpassable at worst.

Other Mission skiing objectives:

Twin Lakes access/Greywolf Peak south and east:

Driving Directions: Take road P-5000, or the Saint Mary lake road to the Y intersection on the south side of Twin lakes.  Take the road heading northeast toward Twin lakes, and follow the road past a campground on the east edge of the lake.  Continue around the lake on the north side, and cross a bridge. Take a hard right onto a logging spur, and look for boulders blocking the road and the trailhead.

Approach: The approach to Riddell lakes and beyond takes off from a recently closed logging road near the outlet of Twin lakes.  Hike up the closed road to the top of a clear cut, then straight north up a very steep jeep trail which turns into a climber's trail and contours to the east before climbing toward Riddell lakes.  The standard approach is to climb the ridge to 7,200 feet, then contour east to the basin below Riddell lakes.  A skier was killed in an avalanche on the traverse in the past, so be aware.  From upper Riddell lake, climb and ski the obvious South couloir of Greywolf peak, or climb east and drop into the Scenic lakes basin for access to the East couloir of Greywolf peak.  The BS gully is another fine ski objective which begins on the exact summit of the peak.  The hanging upper snowfield is a wild place to make turns.   The North face of Greywolf peak is skiiable from the exact summit.  A straightfoward 10 foot downclimb off the summit may be required to reach snow.  A long traverse skier's right is required to bypass cliffs mid way down the face.  

South couloir of Greywolf in June from Riddell lakes.

Skiing the East couloir of Greywolf peak.

East aspect of Greywolf peak.  The BS gully is shown with red dots.  The east couloir is visible on the left.

North face of Greywolf peak.  A rappel free descent is available to skier's right.

Lucifer Lake:
With care to detail, the approach to skiing above Lucifer lake is reasonable, and the skiing is extensive.  The prime season seems to be a month long window from mid-April to mid-May when the trail is melted out to near the lake, but Lucifer lake is still safely frozen.

Driving directions: Take the Mission Dam road around the North side of the lake and park at the end of the road.  The road is not maintained, but any vehicle with moderate clearance will make it.

Approach: An good trail climbs from Mission reservoir to the spectacular Mission Falls.  From the falls, a steep and faint climber's trail climbs and contours all the way to Lucifer lake.  The approach is stout, but it is doable if you can stay on the trail.  There are many worthy objectives on all of the major peaks.

Kakashe:  I think the best route open to the public is to park along Mission Reservoir, bushwack North to the ridge, and walk up the ridge to the top.  There is a trail most of the way up Kakashe, but it has been maintained poorly, and there is so much downfall that it has been faster to walk directly up the ridge in recent years.  The skiing in this zone is very good, however budget time and energy for the inefficient ingress and egress.  

A 300 foot east facing run allows access to the  basin at the foot of the Northwest face of Kakashe and Flattop.  There are many good ski runs on all aspects of the peaks.  Note that the East face of Flattop is guarded by a huge cornice.  

Ashley Lakes:  From the highway, take the Ashley creek road.  Take the first left after the concrete canal bridge and take the rough 4x4 road as far as you can.  If in any doubt, I recommend parking very low on the road before it enters the timber.  One can also take the road that leaves the highway one mile north of Ashley creek and follow the canal South for about a quarter mile before the road begins climbing through meadows toward the trailhead. Once both roads converge, the road switchbacks to a trailhead at about 4,800 feet.  If the road is too steep or rocky, don't be afraid to park and hike, since the trailhead can be reached from the canal in just over an hour with strategic switchback cutting.  Parking spots are very limited along the road, but there are a few on switchbacks, at the historic trailhead, and a marginal one about a half mile before the trailhead where the road is very steep and rutted.

When in condition, the 4,400 vertical foot southwest face of Sheepshead peak (9,417) is one of the most iconic faces in the Mission range. Early descent, Ben Brunsvold and company approximately 2008.  It is most easily approached  via the lower northwest ridge and upper southwest face.  It is also a major avalanche path which ends in cliffs with a singular, tricky exit couloir, so treat it with respect.  There is also a moderate southwest facing couloir on the looker's left edge of the face which does not go from the summit, but is much more straightfoward.  Sheepshead peak also sports two distinct ski lines to Duncan lake on the south face, and steep terrain on the northeast face.  The east ridge and face is also a good ski run, and can be used as a highly recommended access run for McDonald peak.  The very steep north face might be skiiable, but would require a bold skier and a bit of a futuristic vision.  It was climbed in spring of 2016 by Damian Mast and partner (Justin Willis?), but they did not ski.

From the trailhead, a marginal trail drops southeast into Ashley creek before climbing to Ashley lakes.  When snow covered, the best way to pass the lakes is on the south shore, climbing straight up a gash in the south end of the cliffs that separate the two lakes.  From the upper lake, Upper Ashley creek can be accessed via a congested ramp at the southeast corner of the lake.  Ski terrain of all types is abundant on several unnamed peaks in Upper Ashley creek.  Upper Ashley creek also provides easy access to Kakashe Mountain, Mission Creek, upper Post creek, and the South face of Mc Donald peak.

Post Creek:  Post creek is most commonly used to access the long and beautiful northwest face of McDonald peak (covered in the McDonald peak section).  The trail takes off at an established trailhead at the southwest corner of McDonald reservoir.  The junction with the trail to McDonald peak takes off at roughly 2.5 miles, where the trail starts climbing.  The creek crossing can be difficult, but once across the creek, a faint climber's trail climbs just east of the creek to openings around 4,600 feet.  From here, it is fairly straightforward to climb to 5,200 feet.  Above here, a steep series of cliff bands must be passed.  It is easiest to ascend near the main drainage, which is much easier when covered in snow. Unavoidable objective hazards (snow bridges above the stream avalanche from above) in combination with a lot of bushwacking and slow going make this approach to the peak less recommended than approaching from Sheepshead or Ashley lakes.  The route from the top of the cliffs should be obvious.  Several steep slopes also drop into this basin, including slopes on the southwest shoulder of Sheepshead peak, and a striking west facing gully from the northwest ridge of McDonald peak  

The summer trail takes the south fork of Post creek, and it appears that there is interesting terrain on both sides of the drainage up near Summit lake.  The quality of the Post creek trail between the Mc Donald peak cutoff and Summit lake is fair.

McDonald Peak:  McDonald peak is the highest and most commanding peak in the Mission range.  It is also a skiers peak, with excellent skiing on all aspects.  Access is difficult by any route, but with good conditions, a strong touring party can ski the peak in a reasonable day.  In the authors opinion, the easiest and most reliable way to get McDonald done is an out and back via upper Ashley creek and the south face of the peak.

When in condition, the finest approach route is to go over the top of Sheepshead, ski the east ridge and face to the base of the McDonald peak Northwest face, and climb the peak from there.  The peak can also be accessed from the east via Glacier, Heart and Cliff lakes once the road opens up in late spring. The approach from Post creek is direct, but slow and somewhat hazardous (see directions in the Ashley Lakes and Post Creek sections).  The south and east faces of Mc Donald peak are both moderate and excellent.  The cliffy north face of Mc Donald peak has been skied directly to McDonald glacier, but is extremely steep, and requires a deep and stable snowpack to be skiable.  Alternately, McDonald glacier can be accessed from the main summit by skiing the upper Northwest face and hopping over the Northwest ridge.  The glacier is a wild and remote place, and the skiing is all quite moderate and enjoyable.  Although it appears a feasible exit to Post Creek exists from the toe of the McDonald glacier, perhaps a more certain strategy is to climb back out and exit via the Northwest face, or circumnavigate the peak and exit via Ashley lakes.

Respect the Grizzly bear closure from July 15 to October 1.  

Eagle Pass:  The Eagle pass trail is well maintained, and provides good access to the West, Southwest, Southeast faces of Mount Calowahcan, and miscellaneous terrain near Eagle Pass.  The West face of mount Calowahcan sports an excellent, difficult ski run from the main summit..  The West face of the south summit of Calowachan also provides an excellent, steep ski challenge.  The basin from below the west face of Calowachan is most easily accessed via a steep north facing gully below the south summit.  The South face of Calowachan has an enjoyable, rolling ski run on the South face.  It can be skied from a point about 200 feet below the summit.

Mollman lakes:  There is a bunch of interesting, shorter ski terrain including a collection of striking  couloirs surrounding the drainages immediately adjacent to Mollman lakes.  The trailhead is about 1/2 mile north of what is shown on the map.  The trail into Mollman lakes exists and is maintained.  Several good couloirs drop to Elk Lake.  Several good couloirs drop from the northeast shoulder of Calowahcan.  The east face of Crow mountain has several steep and complex couloirs.  An abundance of interesting ski terriain drops to the summer a mile or so shy of Mollman lakes, including north facing gullies and the large southwest face of peak.

Lindy peak:  Lindy peak is a popular ski objective which can be accessed from the road above Lindburg lake.  The classic runs are on the Southeast aspect of the peak. The typical season is late spring.  It appears that with a little creativity, one can access more terrain to the west of the peak.

Skiing off the summit of Greywolf Peak with Glacier, Mountaineer and McDonald visible.

Looking South from Mc Donald peak with Glacier, Mountaineer, Greywolf,
East and West St Marys peaks and the Sonielem ridge all visible.

Mission Traverse:  The traverse from East Saint Mary to McDonald peak is one of the finest full value mountain adventures in the area. It is demanding and committing enough that a full arsenal of ski skills, mountaineering savvy, fitness, and knowledge of the approach and egress are required for a successful one day outing.  Please treat this outing with a healthy dose of respect.

My recommended route is as follows (approximately 11,000 vertical feet): Climb East Saint Mary peak via the normal Southeast ridge.  Ski Northeast ridge to Grizzly lake.  Climb North onto the long plateau leading to Mountaineer peak (cornice hazard).  Take the broad plateau toward Mountaineer.  Climb the peak just South of Mountaineer (recommend bypassing the craggy Southwest ridge).  Ski the obvious ski run immediately West of Mountaineer to the flats above Picture lake.  Climb the South face of Glacier/Shoemaker.  Ski East of the crest to Lake of the Clouds,  make a short climb to the North, then ski West facing ramp to Icefloe lake (alternately, climb Glacier peak and ski to Lake of the Clouds).  Climb McDonald and descent McDonald via South face and egress via Ashley lakes.  Alternately, ski the Northwest face of McDonald and climb the East ridge of Sheepshead, and exit via the ski route of your choosing off Sheepshead.  In the photos below, the red line is the route I took in 2019.  The blue routes are the variations that I think would provide the least technical route with the best safest skiing.  Pink lines are longer variations.

East Saint Mary toward Mountaineer.

Mountaineer to Glacier.

Glacier to Icefloe lake.

Icefloe lake to McDonald and Sheepshead.