First Descent of a Big Ski Line on Niflheim in B.C.
Christina Lusti and Andrew McNab have skied a wild looking couloir in the Monashee Mountains
The backcountry ski season has been marred with touchy snow conditions and several avalanche deaths, but on March 8, Christina Lusti and Andrew McNab made the first ski descent of southwest couloir of Mount Niflheim in B.C. The descent was filmed by Joshua Lavigne with assistant Andy Gallant, two local skiers.
Photo by Joshua Lavigne/Andrew Gallant
Photo by Joshua Lavigne/Andrew Gallant
Photo by Joshua Lavigne/Andrew Gallant
Found in the Monashee Mountain’s Gold Range south of Revelstoke, climbers and skiers are probably familiar with the nearby peaks such as Thor, Cranberry and Begbie. At over 2,800 metres, Niflheim is the third highest peak in the range.
“We climbed up linking a line through the lower exposure, and climbing over the upper chock stone to reach the top,” said Lusti. They reached the top at around 11:15 a.m. The slope reached 45°. “Skiing down the beautiful walled in couloir we rappelled the two cruxes.”
Lusti and McNab have skied several first descents together. In January 2021, with Brette Harrington, they made the first ski of Gold Card Couloir M4+ WI4 C0 60° 800m, a serac-threatened line in the Monashees. In February 2022, Lusti and McNabb made the first descent of Thor’s south face near Niflheim. And in 2020, the two made the first descent of Mount MacDonald in Rogers Pass.
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