Christmas Rescue

Unfortunately, Killaine & I's Christmas tradition of doing a backcountry ski up Seymour was pre-empted by a rescue for two stranded backcountry skiers in the Mt. Seymour backcountry.

In a nutshell, a couple of backcountry skiers who seemed to be inexperienced with the Mt. Seymour terrain went off for a tour on Christmas Eve.  They ended up lower down on the east side of Mt. Seymour, between De Poncier Lake and Theta Lake.  They had run into very steep terrain and apparently had both been caught in an avalanche, yet were able to extract themselves.  They spent the night out and called (via cell phone) for a rescue Christmas morning.

We were paged at around 11am to respond to our SAR station at Bone Creek.  At that time, the weather was generally clear, although clouds were starting to form on Mt. Seymour.  Our team leader was able to locate the skiers from the helicopter.  Originally, the plan was to do a long line rescue, but the clouds closed in before it we were ready to do the rescue.

So, Plan B was quickly formed - knowing the location of the stranded skiers, a ski team was dispatched from the Mt. Seymour ski area.  They encountered very deep snow, and called for a backup snowshoe team to help flatten out the trail for the climb back out.  Curtis, John, Doug & I were this team.   We took the Mystery Peak chairlift up Mt. Seymour, met up with one of the ski area's snowmobiles, and were transferred to the alpine trail near Brockton Point.  

From there, we made good progress along the alpine trail and then down into De Poncier Lake.  In the meantime, the ski team had made contact with Behnad - another backcountry skier stranded in the deep snow.  The ski team advised us of their contact with Behnad, so when we reached him at De Poncier lake, Curtis took him back up to the alpine trail and back to the ski area.  In the meantime, Fiona & Keith had skied down to us and proceeded onwards to meet up with the first ski team.

The ski team shortly made contact with the original two backcountry skiers - they were in good condition, though a little tired from their ordeal.  They started skiing them out as when kept snowhoeing in - we met up with the team, then the whole 12 person group (10 rescuers & 2 subjects) went back out as a single group.

The group in the darkness at De Poncier Lake

Doug offers me some M&Ms.  Note how well-dressed he is in our new Arcteryx team jacket & pants!

During this period, it was looking increasingly likely that I, plus most of the other rescuers, were going to be missing Christmas dinner.  That was more than a little disappointing for most of us. Fortunately for myself, however, I was back out at the parking lot by about 7:30pm and managed to get over to Hugh's place (Killaine's brother) just as everyone was finishing up Christmas dinner - they saved some for me, so that was great!  Unfortunately for some of the other rescuers, Christmas dinner was fully missed, so that was a shame.

However, it was a beautiful night out in the mountains.  Coming down from the peak of Mt. Seymour, low cloud was over Vancouver, so there was this cool orange glow coming through the clouds - the sky was clear, and it looke very beautiful with the snow blanketed over everything.  

Snowy!

In the "be careful what you wish for" category ... Vancouver has been receiving truckloads of snow in the city.  Here's our place:

Note sure if you can see the stacks of snow beside Killaine ... I had to shovel the driveway twice yesterday - a day after spending a couple of hours at the NSR embassy shoveling the snow that was collapsing our vehicle canopies!  I actually enjoy shoveling snow ... but this is getting to be a little silly ...

Rescue off Hollyburn

A very successful rescue last night / this morning - a snowshoer fell ~30m down into a steep gully off the west aspect of Hollyburn Mountain - one of his companions was able to climb down to him, but both of them ended up being stuck on a 70 degree slope, hanging on to branches protruding from the snow.

Two members, Al & Jackie, hiked in quickly to the gully, but were unable to access the snowshoers from below.  Myself, Bob, Hannes, Paul & Connie made our way to the top of the gully.  Bob lowered me down into the gully and I made contact with the very cold and very scared couple.  I got harnesses on them, and Bob & team lowered them down the rest of the way to Al & Jackie.  Bob lowered me down, and I hiked out with our subjects.  

Both subjects were fine - the snowshoer who fell in had a few minor scrapes - but both were very cold, but warmed up quickly on the hike out.

A great rescue, and I was very happy to put my rope rescue skills to work.

Some news reports:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/12/16/bc-northshore-cypress-park-snowshow-rescue.html?ref=rss

http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20081216/BC_cypress_snoeshoers_081216/20081216?hub=BritishColumbiaHome

http://www.news1130.com/news/topstory/article.jsp?content=20081216_084705_15556

A photo of Paul, with me in the background:

http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/news/photos/2008/12/16/bc-081216-snowshoers-saved1.jpg

Quick Toodle up Hollyburn

Did a quick toodle up Hollyburn on Sunday while Killaine did some laps in the x-country ski area.  

Snowshoes were a good choice ... still lots of exposed shrubbery under the unconsolidated snow.  Beautiful, clear but cold day.

A photo taken by some folks on their camera-phone.

Winter is Here!

Finally!  Winter arrived on the North Shore!

About 70 or so cm has been dumped on the North Shore mountains - not "tons" by local standards, but enough for Killaine & I to finally get out.

We did the standard short ski up the alpine trail at Mt. Seymour, starting up at around 11:30am or so.  At that time, the trail tends to be busy with backcountry skiers and snowshoers, but everyone seemed quite happy to finally be out in the snow!

My pager went off as we were approaching Brockton Point (at the top) for an injury on the Dog Mountain trail.  So, we ditched our skins and skied down the runs in the ski area.  The ski area wasn't fully opened, so the runs were ungroomed - the skiing was good in the 40cm of new snow, but extreme caution was needed 'cause of the relative shallow depth of the snow, and that the 40cm was pretty much unconsolidated.

Back at the parking lot, I got my radio from my truck, got in touch with my North Shore Rescue colleagues, and quickly jumped into the helicopter for a very short flight into the First Lake on the Dog Mountain trail.

The subject, a 12 year old boy had slipped off a small log bridge with his snowshoes on and had twisted his knee quite badly.  I helped package him in the stretcher and get him back to the helicopter, where he was flown out.  Bruce & I accompanied out the other members of the party.

By the way - the party was a scout group out for a snowshoe as part of learning how to survive in the winter.  They appeared to be very well equipped with extra clothes, thermal blankets, etc.  It's good to see people getting out into the backcountry, and being appropriately prepared for emergencies.

Will Winter Ever Come?

Howdy folks,

Things have been quiet here on the blogging front recently.  But, aside from that, the current question is when will it snow?  It's December 6th today ... and the snow conditions on the south coast of BC are pretty darn minimal.

I've been trolling lots of weather sites, and have an impressive list of sites to uncover snow depth and weather info.  But, the reality is that this is a very late start to winter this year.  I skied at Blackcomb on November 27th last year - had a 9000m day, and recorded " blue sky, fresh snow, and cool temperatures - a perfect day!".  I recall a great snow pack.  In constrast, right now Whistler/Blackcomb has a 40cm base (that's, like, one foot and 3 inches or so).  On the local hills, there's no snow covering the lower cut on Grouse Mountain, and only a few centimeters of snow up higher.

Further afield, I've heard that folks have been having some good skiing at Roger's Pass - up above treeline. 

I'm supposed to lead an alpine club trip next weekend to explore up the S and W sides of Mt. Sproatt from the new Whistler Olympic Park (that's where the x-country and ski jumping will be for the 2010 Olympics).  But, they only have a few centimeters on the ground, so very likely I'll be canning that trip ... unless there's a big dump of snow down to 1000m or so (not looking good right now).

Ron, Carole, Gord, Jenny, Killaine & I are planning to do the Bonnington Traverse near Nelson over New Years - snow is pretty light out there too (again, 40cm reported at Whitewater).  

Ah well ... one thing is (hopefully) certain ... it will snow sometime soon!

Wake Up, Freak Out - then Get a Grip

Here's a really good little video on the causes, impacts & solutions of climate change:

Wake Up, Freak Out - then Get a Grip

My Friends Have an Adventure

Some "as of yet unnamed" friends of mine had an adventure on a "big route on a sizable peak" somewhere in a Canadian mountain range.  This is how it ended up:

They're totally fine, though they have retired from big routes for a while.

Points if you can identify the mountain range, area, peak or the names of these folks!

Good Article on Short Rope Effectiveness

Here's a good article on the effectiveness (or not) of short roping on icy slopes > 25 degrees):

ShortRopeTests

In a nutshell, a short rope will not hold anyone who slips on an icy slope of 30 degrees. Period. Problems can be compounded with multiple people on a rope, when just one slips.

Radio options in the backcountry

Here's a good article (from Lou Dawson) on radio options in the backcountry.

Trevor's Visit

Just (finally) finished adding a couple of postings on my friend Trevor's visit to Vancouver in June:

• Our day of biking in Squamish; and
  
• Our hike up the South Needle.
  

Black Diamond Voodoo Ski Reviews

Lou Dawson's backcountry skiing website has had a thread on Black Diamond Voodoo skis - these are the ones I skied on last winter. Some good comments on these skis:

http://www.wildsnow.com/?p=1176#comment-10608

I added my own comment in there as well:

I skied on the Black Diamond Voodoos last winter as well, with Dynafit bindings.

Prior to the voodoos, I had a pair of Hagan Titanal skis - for me, I found that this skis didn’t have the flotation I was looking for in powder, they didn’t have the stiffness for awkward conditions, nor did they have the sidecut for tight turns in bushy trees (I live in British Columbia). The voodoo addressed every one of these issues for me, and I found it to be a great ski. The stiffness took a bit of getting used to, and I found I had to push the skis into the turn on hardpack.

On the topic of twintips - I don’t like them. The fact that you can’t easily stab a ski into the snow and use it as an anchor is a real inconvenience for ski mountaineering. As Lou pointed out, the twintips do feel different at the end of a turn - they seem to slide out of the turn more than I’d like - I’d prefer if it was a bit more “grabby”. (of course, this is just my personal observation - your mileage will differ!)

Finally, on the topic of quality … I had the exact same experience as freeheel above - the top sheet has been falling apart on the tails where the skins clip on. The skis look pretty beat up after just one year of skiing. I’ll contact BD about that and possibly return ‘em. Also, I found that the boot center mark did not align with the “true’ boot center (which was marked with a separate score). Caused some confusion for me with my ski tech.

All in all, I found the Voodoos to be great skis - if BD would ditch the twintips and improve the quality of the tail skin clips, it would be great.

A Shot of Brandywine

Killaine & I gave Brandywine mountain a shot today. Brandywine is a pleasant summit south of Whistler, on the same Cheakamus / Squamish divide as Cypress Peak. I'd climbed it once before several years ago. We were hoping we'd have a bit more luck on Brandywine than we had on Cypress Peak a week ago!

The usual "truck at parking area" shot

For some peculiar reason, I chose to drive to the 2WD parking area, rather than the 4WD area (which is about 365m higher, and a couple of kilometres closer). This made the day a bit more challenging than it needed to be!

Killaine hiking up the Brandywine trail

But, soon enough we got to the meadows. Still a bit of cloud lingering, but it cleared off through the day.

Brandywine meadows

The route is reasonably straightforward - through the meadows, then head up easy slopes to the south ridge of Brandywine.

Killaine climbing out of the meadows towards the ridge

The summit beacons

But ... we started running out of time (due to taking the "long start"!). At about 3:00 pm we were still a little ways from the summit ... so we decided to head back.

Great views from the upper ridge of Cypress Peak (center) and Tricouni (to the left).

Killaine takes a "dance break" on the way down

Beautiful flowers!

Finally, back to the truck at about 7pm. Then, all that was left to do was to grab some of the biggest rocks I could lift, and put them in the truck ... for our garden at home!

A small load of rocks

Mount Gardner

The weather forecast for today was kind of touch & go, so rather than investing the time to travel further afield, Killaine & I decided to head off to one of the islands on Howe Sound for a short hike.

We had originally planned on hiking up Mt. Liddell, on Gambier Island. But, the parking at the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal was full, so we ended up changing our plans to take the car over to Bowen Island and hike up Mt. Gardner.

It's a pleasant hike up through the trees, with nice views across to Vancouver, and up the Sunshine coast. Only about 3 hours return - so left plenty of time for beers back down at Snug Cove.

Killaine hiking up the easy trail

View across to Vancouver from the top

Killaine & I at the top

View up the Sunshine Coast

Giving Cypress Peak a Shot

Killaine & I went out on "BC Day" (August long weekend - Monday) to try and climb up Cypress Peak.  Cypress Peak, not associated with Cypress Bowl, is a rocky peak on the Squamish/Cheakamus divide.

 

The logging road in was in really, really good shape!  We were able to easily drive all the way to the trailhead.

 

Killaine in the bush

In spite of this picture, the bush, and time in the trees was completely minimal - maybe 15 minutes in trees 'til you break out into the open - then open hiking the entire rest of the way

Killaine past the first snow field

The route up was quite straightforward - boulder hopping along the side of the stream to the first snow field, then up a bit of steeper rubble to the glacier morraine area.

 

Cypress Peak above the glacier

The route continues under the toe of the glacier (not actually on the glacier).  Still lots of snow around.

The peak from the ridge 

Finally, some broad snow slopes eventually put you on the upper ridge - the route to the summit is straight ahead!

Bergschrund  below the peak

Killaine contemplates her self-arrest skills against the short gully traverse / bravely decides not to cross the gully.

However, there were still some steep-ish snow areas to cross.  Killaine didn't have alot of confidence in her self-arrest skills, so we decided it would be better to stop where we were.  Probably a good thing, 'cause there were some spots of tricky scrambling up ahead.

 

Mike, who we met at the start, on the summit (look closely).

"Consolation Peak"

Instead, we walked the opposite direction along the ridge, and summited a small bump along it - easy scrambling up it, and nice views all around.

Looking north to Cayley / Fee / Vulcans thumb area (if I've got the names right)

The area up there is very cool - many interconnected ridges that you could spend a good couple of days exploring.  We'll be back to this area shortly to scramble up Brandywine peak (somewhere in the above picture as well).

Climbing back through the trees to the logging road

So, although we didn't get the summit of Cypress, it was still a great hike in a very cool location ... and minimal time in trees!

An End to Finger Tapping ...

I've wanted to start drumming for a long, long time.  I finally managed to snag a set of Roland V-Drums in great condition through Craigslist:

 

Tucked into a corner of the suite kitchen / laundry room for now!

Finally up Mount Price

Mount Price is a modest summit that sits up above Garibaldi Lake.  Though quite an easy peak (mostly a "hike with altitude"), I'd been thwarted on two prior attempts.  The first was back in winter ~1999 - we'd turned back on a ski attempt when a storm hit the area.  My friend Mike & I tried it again in January, 2004 on another ski attempt, but ran out of time. 

January, 2004 - about to run out of time on Mount Price

The biggest challenge with the peak is just the distance - it's about a 28km round trip, with about 1700m of elevation gain.

So, fast forward to last weekend - my colleague Rod was looking for a good final hike before moving back down to Colorado with his family - so I thought that Mt. Price would be a good objective - plus, great scenery above Garibaldi Lake.

We left the car at around 9am from the standard Garibaldi Lake parking lot - we quickly dispensed with the switchbacks and covered the 9km and 900m up to the lake in 2 1/2 hours.

 

Rod at Garibaldi Lake - 2 1/2 hours in

The trail from the lake to Mount Price is well marked, though a little tricky to find the start of it from the lake.  Thanks to the guidebook, the description was easy to follow.

Mount Price (2nd peak from the right)

The trail to Mount Price was generally gentle and a pretty good trail by coastal standards.  However, there were several areas of Talus (from old lava flows - Mount Price is apparently an ancient volcano) to slow things down.

Mount Price above the old lava flows

The final scramble goes up and over the summit of Clinker Peak.  Again, straightforward hiking for the most part.

Rod climbing a snow slope, the Black Tusk on the horizon

The weather had started to turn a bit, though - with clouds getting lower and darker skies to the west.

Final slopes - Clinker Peak in the background

We made the summit at around 2:45pm - about 5 3/4 hours after starting. 

We started getting a few drops of rain at the summit.  Not quite the views I was hoping for ... clouds were coming in and out, and we only got fleeting views of Mount Garibaldi, the Neve, and points beyond.  We hung around the summit for around 45 minutes hoping for views to improve.  But, they never did - no bother, it was still a great place to be.

Rod at the summit

 

A final view of Garibaldi Lake

The descent went reasonably quickly, although the final trail down from Garibaldi Lake to the parking lot was it's usual tedious self.  Finally got back down to the car at around 8pm - total time up and down of around 11 hours. 

It was good to finally knock off Mount Price, and it was great to give Rod one final "send off" hike.

Finished the Haute Route story

Finally finished writing up the story of the Haute Route - here's a link to the post:

http://guyzblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/haute-route.html

Helm Creek / Gentian Ridge

I've been getting a little antsy to get out into the mountains for a bit more than a day - and preferably camp somewhere - ideally up in the alpine or something like that!

So, this weekend I laid my plans to get away, but then learned that Killaine's friends Tara & Neil from Ottawa would be visiting. So ... I adjusted slightly, changing to a quick getaway from work on friday and a hike in, then something a bit longer on saturday followed by a hike out - getting back to Vancouver early saturday evening.

I had originally planned on going up to Brandywine Mountain, but discovered that the access was closed (I didn't know that there was a different way in). So, a quick change of plans, and I headed up Helm Creek into Garibaldi Park.

It took about 2 hours to hike up to the campground where I spread out my bivy sack.

... and made a small supper on my small stove. There was just one other tent in the campground, and I never saw those folk. It was nice and quiet - even the mosquitoes eventually went to bed (when it got too cold).

The next day dawned clear - with clouds just down in the valley. I made breakfast (mmm ... instant coffee), and left the campground at around 8am. So, up I went to check out the Gentian Ridge approach to Gentian Pass.

This is Helm Peak, up on the ridge. Scramble-able, but difficult. I gave it a miss for today.

Great view of the Black Tusk. Still snow up there, but getting patchy and melting quickly.

North face of Garibaldi peak.

Some of the terrain along the ridge. It was pleasant hiking with a bit of scrambling, and non-stop views.

The north face of Castle Towers. The south (right) peak is an easy scramble - the main summit is a bit tricky. I'll have to come up on a weekend and give it a shot.

From Gentian Pass, I pondered heading across the Helm Glacier and circling back via Panorama Ridge. But, decided to decline crossing the glacier - perhaps not completely wise to cross it on my own with softening snow.

Pretty flowers back down in the meadows. Back at the campground at around 1pm. A quick lunch, then back to my truck, getting there at a little past 3:30pm.

Great hike to a spectacular area!