- 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…
- 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…
- 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…
Ring-Callaghan Traverse: Clawing the Thin Ice
I love frozen lakes. The thin ice covering them is like a call to arms. I feel drawn to the ice, to test it, walk on it, throw sticks and rocks at it, and am always surprised to see them bounce off the ice instead of making a splash in the water. Maybe this has something to do with growing up in the Middle East, where ice exists strictly in the freezer. My wonder at ice formations extends of course to the biggest pieces of ice we are likely to bump into, glaciers. Getting close to glaciers and traveling across them is still a novelty to me. This trip took…
- Backcountry Skiing, British Columbia (and nearby), Duffey Lake Road, Trip Reports, Varsity Outdoor Club (VOC)
Anniversary Glacier: More Spring Turns
Yet another trip up the Duffey Lake Road, this time a few kms beyond Marriot Basin, which we had gone to the previous weekend. The route to Keith’s hut is in the forest for the most part, but it is very mellow. There were a few entertaining creek crossings, and soon enough we arrived to the cozy hut. Apparently the hut can be very crowded on the weekend. In fact, I had read a report written by someone who had spent the night with three dogs on the bottom floor. For this reason we brought tents, but in the end didn’t use them. It had started raining not long before,…
- Backcountry Skiing, British Columbia (and nearby), Duffey Lake Road, Trip Reports, Varsity Outdoor Club (VOC)
Marriot Basin: Time for some Spring Turns
Last weekend we headed to Marriot Basin with Lisa, Julian and Colin. After strapping the skis to the roof in a jumble of ropes and bungee cords, we drove three hours to the trailhead. While we were getting organized, a rental car pulled over, also full of VOC’ers, but going to Mt. Rohr on a day trip. We headed up the logging road, admiring the views of the Joffrey group behind us, the fresh snow, and mostly the warmth and sun. We entered the forest, and were happy to follow tracks from the day before. We emerged from the forest, crossed a small frozen lake and soon found ourselves at…
