- Backcountry Skiing, British Columbia (and nearby), Sea to Sky, Trip Reports, Varsity Outdoor Club (VOC)
Sphinx Hut: Beginner Friendly on Easter
The trail up to Garibaldi Lake was at first bare, and then treacherous ice. In several places people had slid off the trail and obliterated it, making travel on skis annoying. Half the time I was wishing I had crampons. The group moved reasonably fast but gradually slowed down as the beginners ran out of energy. Crossing Garibaldi Lake we had great views of the peaks above the hut, still about 5km away: Castle Towers, Phylis’ Engine, Mt. Carr and the Bookworms (L to R). Arriving at the Sphinx Hut, some of us were wondering where the hell the hut was. There has been so much snow, that the Sphinx…
Marriot Basin: Secondary Shoulder Season
A few weekends ago we headed to Marriot basin with Pascale and Ignacio, their friend Michelle, Marius and Adriana, and Piotr who joined last minute. When Pascale contacted the Alpine Club to make a reservation for the hut, they said that the hut was closed due to the outhouse being too full. After promising to carry out our poop, they said we could still go. Of course, all the people who just go up there without making a reservation, and perhaps without paying, wouldn’t have known about this. We were surprised to find another car full of VOC’ers at the trailhead. I had emailed Ran to ask if he and…
- Backcountry Skiing, British Columbia (and nearby), Sea to Sky, Trip Reports, Varsity Outdoor Club (VOC)
Garibaldi Neve Traverse: Neve Say Never
I organized a two day traverse of the Garibaldi Neve which ended up attracting 14 people with a good mix of experience and speed. We set out on Saturday morning, in a minivan that we had borrowed from the car coop. The road up to the Diamondhead Trailhead is notoriously dangerous in winter, but in spring it is often bare. We drove up to the chain up area, and from there noticed that the road had some white fluffy stuff on it. Ben suggested putting on the chains, but there is always that voice that tells you that you might be able to go a bit farther without the chains……
- 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), Duffey Lake Road, Trip Reports, Varsity Outdoor Club (VOC)
Mt. Rohr: Beginner Friendly Mission
As we made our way north to the Duffey Lake Road, news of the cars that had broken down filtered through various cellphones. Ryan’s car’s battery was dead. They got Craig to drive over to Piotr’s place, so that they could pull out Piotr’s jeep’s battery and install it in Ryan’s jeep. However, the battery was too high, so the hood had to be strapped down to keep it closed. In the process of driving over, Craig discovered a major problem with his mother’s car, so he had to stay in the city. In the meantime Marius drove over to pick up a few passengers, in case they wouldn’t manage…
- 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…
- Backcountry Skiing, British Columbia (and nearby), Duffey Lake Road, Trip Reports, Varsity Outdoor Club (VOC)
Caspar Creek: Winter Camping at -30 Degrees
Last weekend we headed out on an Intro to Backcountry Skiing trip with the VOC. I volunteered to help “lead” the trip. The approach to Caspar Creek is mostly along surprisingly flat logging roads. Looking forward I could see a seemingly never ending ant line of backcountry skiers. There is something overwhelmingly satisfying in this sight, although I’m not sure what it is exactly. Olga was having some trouble with her boots, a common occurrence on beginner friendly trips. Richard valiantly offered to sacrifice his feet – apparently he had skied up here once with boots that were three sizes too small. In this case it turned out that they had…
Phelix Hut: Goodbye Lisa and Jules
Our friends Lisa and Julian returned to Austria. Just before they left, they organized a slew of excellent parties. One of the parties involved skiing up to a backcountry hut belonging to the outdoor club (VOC) and spending a weekend there. Maya and I stayed for three days with some of the others. It was a great combination of beautiful sun, blue skies and excellent snow. Here are a few photos: In the afternoon we broke out into the alpine and it got chilly. Anne apparently measured -22c, and it wasn’t even dark yet. No wonder Maya’s hair froze. In the evening we had a bit of a party in…
Mexico: November Sun – Cycling in Baja California
September was already rainy, October wasn’t much better. The famous “Mamas and the Papas” song “California Dreamin’ ” kept on going through my mind. The skies were indeed gray and the leaves were brown. As November was getting closer, “November Rain” by “Guns N’ Roses” was now stuck in my head. I had just submitted my thesis and the question “what to do now?” was looming from every direction. This time the band “Queen” had the answer, “I want to ride my bicycle”. Combining “California Dreaming”, “November Rain” and “Bicycle” resulted in a November cycle touring trip in Baja California, Mexico, which is even better than the American California. We…
- British Columbia (and nearby), Kayaking and Canoeing, Metro Vancouver & North Shore, Trip Reports, Varsity Outdoor Club (VOC)
Indian Arm: Kayaking Right From the City
Some highlights: – Indian Arm is located just on the other side of the city. It’s quite amazing how close it is – One literally leaves from town and ends up in this somewhat wild (albeit inhabited location). Many of the locals are supposedly somewhat weird (reclusive?), and many of them have outrageously huge houses. On the way back we saw a float plane land at one of them. – Kayaking right up to Silver Falls felt magical. Maybe it’s the fact that the falls are located within a niche, somewhat hidden, so that you don’t see them until you are close. – We saw a few seals. One of…
