- British Columbia (and nearby), Chilliwack and Nearby, Coquihalla, Downhill Skiing, Okanagan, Trips with Kids
Big White: Winter Grand Finale
On the Easter long weekend we headed to Kelowna. The main purpose of the trip was to go skiing at Big White. I found a sweet deal at an Air B&B in Kelowna, off the road leading to Big White. Last year on the Easter long weekend we went to Silver Star which is farther away, Neil was exactly a year younger, and we both remembered that the drive took forever. Kelowna is “only” five hours away, and Neil was a trooper, so this time the driving part didn’t actually feel that difficult. We stopped for a break at Bridal Veil Falls by Chilliwack where we went for a short walk to…
Illal Meadows: Our First Families’ Hike
Our friend Line invited us and a few other families to join a hiking and camping trip to Ilal meadows. We’ve been there twice before and in fact we just talked about going there again with Neil since the access is pretty short. In fact, on our previous visit, Neil was already peanut-sized. There was a lot of interest in the hike and six families showed up just after 9am at a rest area on the Coquihalla Hwy. There were quick introductions, but mainly watching the kids so they wouldn’t get run over by cars. At least we wouldn’t need to worry about that for the rest of the weekend. It was…
Allison Lake: A Short Return of Winter
We were heading towards Merritt. The rain was pounding on our car and it seemed like the wind was picking up. But we had hope. After all, many times when we’d driven east the weather was bad leaving Vancouver, but past Hope it would improve. And if it was still raining past Hope then immediately after going down from the Coquihalla summit, the sun would be shining, with no sign of rain. So we hoped. But the weather did not get better past Hope and it did not get better on the Coquihalla. In fact, as we were getting close to Merritt it seemed like the rain got stronger and the…
- British Columbia (and nearby), Coquihalla, Crosscountry Skiing, Downhill Skiing, Okanagan, Trip Reports, Trips with Kids
SilverStar: The Ski Combo
Google Maps claimed the drive would take five hours. I disagree, in fact it took about hundreds of hours, or at least this is how it felt. We’ve done this trip before, when I was pregnant, but it didn’t feel so long back then. I guess having a baby does change a few things. To break the long drive we stopped at Othello Tunnels, a nice place we discovered on our first bike trip along the Kettle Valley Railway. The tunnels are always impressive, no matter how many times we visit the place. We took a nice walk and had a picnic before continuing east. After a few hours we stopped…
Zoa Peak Loop: Not The Default Trip
Driving out of Vancouver, we had yet to decide where we’d be skiing that day, despite over thirty emails that had gone back and forth between us the previous week. The weather was unseasonably warm and rainy, so we weren’t expecting good snow. Our original plan was my suggestion to climb some an esoteric peak in Manning, Mount Forddred (I liked the name). This was shot down after a short discussion, due to the low snow conditions. Our backup plan was also discarded when we drove past it and again noticed a lack of snow on the approach. We were left with our default trip, Zoa Peak. Don’t get me…
Illal and Spiral: Who Knew There was a Trail?
At 10pm on Friday evening we were still trying to figure out what to do on the weekend. After scanning various maps and trip reports, I somehow recalled a trip we did five years ago to Jim Kelly and Coquihalla Mountain, a beautiful and under-appreciated area up the Coquihalla Highway, about a 2.5 hour drive from Vancouver. After a quick call to Pascale and Ignacio, we finished packing and headed to bed for a few hours of sleep. After a 20km drive on a smooth gravel road, we reached the trailhead for regular cars. It took us a few hours of relaxed hiking to reach the sub alpine meadows, with…
Iago Peak: When Everything Falls Right Into Place
There are those rare days in skiing that are a combination of both perfect sunny weather and excellent snow conditions. Last Sunday was one of those days, so we were off to the Coquihalla for some backcountry skiing. It was our third day in a row of skiing, but each day was of a different type. On Friday we skied downhill on Cypress. It was the first day of spring and probably the best skiing conditions we have had up there the whole season. On Saturday we went to Cypress again, but this time for some really nice and relaxing cross country skiing. It snowed the whole day and the…
Merritt-Kamloops Loop: Off the Beaten Track on Canada Day Weekend
As Canada Day long weekend was approaching, the forecast for Vancouver and the area did not look encouraging. But three hours east everything looked much better. We left not too early on Saturday morning and it was raining until Hope. As we passed Hope we realized why this town is named Hope, once you pass it there is hope for sunshine… We continued driving until we reached the small town of Merrit. We asked some people if we could park in front of their house for three days, but they weren’t so enthusiastic and suggested that we’d park in the Walmart parking lot. They said that anyway it turns into…
- Backcountry Skiing, British Columbia (and nearby), Coquihalla, Trip Reports, Varsity Outdoor Club (VOC)
Nak, Yak and Thar Peaks: Nak n’ Cheese
Last Sunday we headed to Nak Peak for a day trip that I organized through the VOC. A Nak is a female Yak, by the way. On the way it was raining hard, and I was starting to wonder if we were going to suffer in the rain. We had three cars that arrived within 10 minutes of one another, and after not too long we were on our way up. The snow was hard, and the route heads straight up through pleasant glades (well spaced trees). Higher up we passed through a grove of rime covered trees, like natural sculptures. We arrived to the Yak-Nak col and took a…
- Backcountry Skiing, British Columbia (and nearby), Coquihalla, Trip Reports, Varsity Outdoor Club (VOC)
Iago Peak: Beginner Friendly Day Trip
I sometimes hear it claimed that there aren’t any good backcountry ski day trips from Vancouver. This is simply untrue, the only caveat being that one has to drive quite far to get to them. We managed to fill three cars to capacity, despite some passengers bailing and others joining in at the last minute. This was termed a “beginner friendly” trip, but it quickly became evident that out of 14 participants, the number of “beginners” was no larger than three, and all were good skiers. The first part of the trip was along an old logging road which leads up to Ottomite Mountain. We left the road a bit…
