Driving on the road just outside of Kirovsk there is a nice looking mountain rising directly off the roadside. It dominated the the landscape with numerous chutes and a steep and direct climb all the way to the top. Being possibly the easiest access ski tour within the Khibiny Mountains it can be somewhat popular. While the South side is stacked with couloirs the east side is an avalanche swath which goes between trees. With a storm arriving and visibility being limited we decided to head for the east side. From my research this mountain has no name on maps so that is why I call it Roadside.
Walking up on day 3 of our trip to Kirovsk the weather had changed for the worse. What was semi clear the day before looked gray with clouds on the summits of the surrounding mountains. Looking at the maps we needed to find some tree skiing to be able to see anything. In the end we decided to head out to the Roadside mountain in hopes of finding powder on the East facing slopes.
Heading out to Roadside Mountain
Leaving the car we walked 5 minutes before things started getting interesting. Knowing that the terrain above us was technical we thew ice axes on our backpacks and put on crampons. Ilkka was familiar with the route so he led the way through tight trees before the terrain above us started to open up.
While we were in a storm the route forward was straightforward and the snow was starting to accumulate. In the distance we could see the faint shadows of the Khibiny Mountains barely being able to see Kirovsk.
While the past two days the terrain had been relatively mellow here the terrain was much steeper. Under our feet was around 20cms of soft snow but under that was ice. Using our crampons we slowly crawled up towards a small ridge which would allow us to hike all the way to the summit.
Climbing the Technical Section
Making our way through a small gut we soon found ourselves on an exposed ridge. Below us to the left was some nice looking couloirs but there was a rock cliff making them unobtainable until higher up. It was time to take out a ice axe for better grip.
Slowly we crawled up the exposed section and before long we were through the crux of the Roadside Mountain. The terrain had mellowed out with the stress of a fall being gone we made our way towards the summit. By now the visibility was getting worse with us not being able to see Kirovsk anymore.
Arriving at our high point we were deep in the clouds with views limited to only a few meters. Knowing that the visibility was better down lower we switched our gear over to riding mode and carefully walked towards the East slopes. A step at a time we walked over until we were on top of the face and prepared to snowboard down.
Snowboarding Down Roadside Mountain East Face
Dropping into the East face of the Roadside Mountain we could barely see anything. Though we weren’t excited about visibility the snow was smooth and good powder. There had been around 20cms of fresh powder and would be the best turns of the trip so far.
With every turn the visibility started to improve and before long we could see the ship of the gully we were in. The top turns were quite steep but had mellowed out to a perfect ramp with deep powder on the sides.
Having chose the east side of the Roadside Mountain our exit was going to be painful traversing back to the car. Wanting to make the most of our run we would ride all the way down the swath before the trees tightened up. From there we would do a low angle traverse back to some train tracks before walking 20 minutes to the car.
Conditions had gone from firm to fresh after 3 days and we still had 3 more days to make the best out of conditions. I was excited about checking out the East face of the Roadside Mountain. It had both steep and mellow slopes with a great gully feature all the way to the valley. While we experienced it in bad weather I looked forward to returning for the South Chutes once weather improved.
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