With the prospect of good stability and clear weather Mark H. and I headed to the Icefields parkway to attempt a ski descent of the Silver Horn on Mt. Athabasca. Despite the -19 early morning temp, the lack of wind made it bearable. The sky was perfectly clear, without a cloud in sight and the forecast called for a high of -5. Too bad we were on the north face and in the shade all day. As we approached the route we could see a complete lack of snow, and nothing but bare glacier ice. With a ski descent no longer possible we decided to climb the route anyways and pushed forwards with our skis on our backs and axes in hand. Very slow progress, fadding day light and the prospect of a difficult glacier descent prompted us to traverse the face 50m shy of the summit and head down. We made it back to the car without incidence and the desicion was worth it in the end!
Early morning start.
The route starts to come into focus.
Mark starts up the route.
Looking back down towards the glacier.
Mark reaches the belay, half way up the mountain.
Mark leading into the upper sections.
I almost fell into this crevasse half way up the mountain while crossing a snow field.
Making our way down the descent.
Heading onto the glacier.
Intact and on our way home.
Despite every picture showing us carrying our skis, we did get some turns in!
The route from a distance.
The route from a distance. 
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