West Ridge - Christmas/New Years 2000-2001
The less than ideal start to the trip, or A Cultural Analysis Of Sub-rural Canadian Customs (and some B&W pictures). The remainder of the trip was excellent. Below the hut, super nice glades, there was unfortunately not enough snow for good skiing. However, above the hut, in the meadows, conditions were excellent, if a bit avalanchy. Indeed, on one aspect, there are sizeable fracture lines on 15 degree slopes!
It's Mount Robson! (left side of picture)
Matt and Craig, the bumbling epitome of quaint Canadian hick culture, tried to leave us with an empty bottle of liquor when they left the hut later that day, but when Matt returned to retrieve his forgotten hat, we alerted his attention to the bottle (this took about five attempts - perhaps it is a genetic, inbred thing that snowmobilers like to leave trash).
Amos and Mike chilling atop the knoll, while Matt D., Pancake, Leah and Darek (perhaps visible as tiny dots) summit the peak in the background.
That night was the Wrath Of Greg's Snoring! The rest of gang showed him a wrath of their own. Imagine Phil's suprise (Phil being the only one weating Greg-proof earplugs) when he awoke to boisterous laughter, and a flurry of mittens (and anything else within Matt Dobbs reach) being thrown at the GregMonster. The mittens would fly. Silence... then... SNOWRKRFGGGGWARK--fWKRKROCH! More mittens! Until finally the GregMonster was tamed. He woke in the morning surrounded by OR mitts, and never knew what hit him.
Amos gettin' some action. Amos' skiing is very photogenic, aggressive stance and lots of powder flying up!
The next day, Matt D and co. headed up to the peak, while Amos showed the rest of us where the goods were. An excellent day was had skiing powder in the sunshine. The night was filled with good food and good cheer for all! Greg began making prototypes of his backcountry skiing invention, made from raw material such as aluminum candle holders. Oren continued his wrath of being a klutz with hot liquids. Amos examined Matt Dobbs' knee with the astute observations of an aspiring doctor. He explained his actions with complicated words such as "laxity" and "crepitus", and though we all knew he was making these up, we humoured him anyway. Pancake entertained us with stories such as this one. At times, multiple conversations intertwined into unique mixtures. Leah and Darek bickered like an old couple. Well, ok, they didn't, but I had to write something about them.
Oren (magnified in inset) enjoying some late afternoon powder above the hut.
On the 31st, Matt D and co. unfortunately had to leave - Phil and Mike never got the chance to ski with them! Oh well, perhaps next year.
This day was overcast and dark - we explored the area north of the hut, where Michelle found out how much she just loves glades. The return to the hut in afternoon glow was sweet, except for the smelly sledders who finally made it up to the alpine, and zipped around for a bit. Land use issues are complicated here. The land is BC forest service land, but it is leased to CMH for their heliskiing operation. However, the hut is built by YORA, which promotes self-propelled recreation (however, while they do oppose sledding up to the hut, they do not object to being choppered in). CMH obviously doesn't want snowmobilers up there, high-marking their heliski terrain, and so "No snowmobile" signs are posted on the approach trails, with an explanation that this status has been agreed upon by several different use groups, including snowmobile organizations. These signs however, are for the large part ignored. And while the YORA brochure evangelized self-propelled recreation, a few of the repeat hut guests (who seemed to be involved in maintaining the hut) were definitely sledders, according to the guest log. Complicated. But not as complicated as Jasper politics, but I'll leave that for another time.
That night was New Years - we celebrated by going up for a midnight run in the meadows, by headlamp. Atop the windy knoll, this sound could be heard, as Greg let everyone try his new invention. Matt C. provided intelligent commentary. (More of his commentary can be heard by checking out GP.mp3 in the same directory as this .html file)
Setting sun...
After imbibing some homemade wine, the descent was made. The return to the hut meant time to eat the dessert concoctions, and drink more. We got to celebrate both Alberta and BC New Years.
Greg with his superlight-weight backcountry skiing invention in hand, on the porch of the West Ridge cabin.
The next day was more sunshine, and some new snow, and wind to cover old tracks. Another day of great skiing.
We're safe! We've dug a pit, and Oren is the victim of our Rustch block test.
The next day it was time for the rest of us to leave. The snow was so sparse below the hut, and so rutted and icy from the snowmobiles on the trail, that it was much quicker to walk down. An hour and a half later, we were at the 12km snow road that led to the highway. We faced a long ski. However, as luck would have it, our replacements in the hut just happened to be snowmobiled into the trailhead about 5 minutes later. Saved! We got a speedy tow out (50km/h), which included a spectacular wipe out by Phil, which he blames on Mike for trying to snowplow. There was also an unspectacular low speed wipeout by Phil and Mike while going around a corner. Though it was low speed, Phil was a bit worried, as one of his skis was heading right towards Mike's crotch! However, somehow no one got hurt. Overall, Mike and Phil were terrified of this dangerous ride, while Michelle seemed to really enjoy it. I guess glades and snowmobile rides are two very different things. We reached the highway shortly after noon. We all drove to Jasper, where Mike and Phil found a cool B&B without the breakfast part. Amos gave us a Nepal slideshow, and him and his crew sadly left!
Matt and the West Ridge cabin, which housed 11 people!
Some of the great skiing near the hut. We never ventured onto these slopes because of the avalanche danger. Two fracture lines are visible near the bottom of the picture. These were triggered by our group from near where the picture was taken. Can you say Whooomp!?
The next morning, Mike and Phil met up with Tom in Jasper to go ice climbing. Tom and Christine are recent Jasperites. Christine is Jasper's speech pathologist. She works in a small building next to that other small building. Tom is a bum, at the moment.
Mike topping out on the first pitch of Edge Of The World. Anchor class: what do you think about this backup anchor? (the main anchor, around a boulder, was bomber, so it doesn't really matter). Doesn't it look like all the force would be on one screw if the main anchor failed?
It is four degrees and raining in Jasper. This is not normal for the northern Canadian Rockies. Nonetheless, the weather during the next two days is good, and the ice is soft, but very fat. The first day, after a late start, Mike, Phil and Tom head to Edge Of The World (II, WI2), near the Marmot ski hill. They walk a path to the top, then rap down two short pitches, and climb. They take a long time setting up anchors, and they we end up staying until nightfall, overall a good day.
Melt Out.
That evening, they went to see the movie Vertical Limit at Jasper's movie theatre, which has two screens, but only one show time (8pm). It was Phil's third time watching that movie! 'nuff said.
The next day, they head up the icefields parkway to Melt Out (III, WI3). In the morning, Phil is worried about not having enough screws, so he buys another one at the store in Jasper where Tom is renting his tools. He chooses the 44$ Smiley over the 85$ Grivel. After an hours drive, they hike up to Melt Out - it is already 12:30. Another pair of climbers is just rapping down. After they give beta that it's pretty mellow, Phil is relieved, as he is leading the first two pitches, but doesn't really know what he is doing. It goes smoothly, except for a scary 40ft horizontal traverse a ways below the top of the second pitch, with only two good screws left, one of which is needed for the belay. Tom leads the third pitch with a single screw, an aesthetic romp up a steepening ramp in a narrow canyon. Not willing to rap off in the waning light, they follow old climbers tracks and find a 3rd class walk off to the left. A great day.
Clockwise from top left: Tom on a variation on the top pitch of Edge Of The World; Tom tries to murder Phil, but Mike gets it on camera; Mike arriving at the sunny belay atop the first pitch of Melt Out; Phil on the first pitch of Melt Out; View from the sunny belay on Melt Out.
That evening, Mike and Phil leave Jasper. It is cloudy, and Mount Robson can not be seen as they drive over to Valemount. Oh well. The driving past Valemount is in an intense snow storm, with visibility about 50ft. It is unsafe to drive over 30MPH. Unless you are a large logging truck with xray vision, in which case you can go 60MPH. The driving becomes too slow, so we pull over and camp next to a large tourist sign.
By morning, a foot of snow has accumlated, but it is no longer snowing, and they continue. At some point on the icy road, Wiley (Phil's truck), decides he wants to play in a snowbank. A passing logging truck sets Wiley straight, and they continue on their way unharmed. In Kamloops, a call is made to Igoddam90motor*$#&*%sports, and as a result of this call, Phil and Mike decide to head through NE Washington, passing by Sherman Pass, where, according to Seabury Blair Jr's backcountry skiing book, there are excellent slopes on "7000ft cloud gougers". You may read Phil's review of Mr. Blair's book here, including, as it turns out, a response to Phil's comments from the author (who gives his own book 5 stars), and two other reviewers (who also give his book five stars - perhaps Phil is just a nasty, harsh dude, eh? Oh well, I know at least one other person who doesn't like Mr. Blair's book. He is from France, and Ishall paraphrase him: "I could have flown into Seattle, bought a map at the airport, looked it over briefly, and written a better ski book". Nonetheless, Phil is feeling bad for hurting the author's feelings... but does not budge on his position that the book SUCKS!). [Note: it turns out that at least one of the other reviewers of the book (Marlene Kocur) is a friend of Seabury Blair's! (I bet the other one is too - their review came only 7 days after Blair's self review). What a scam, and a disservice to potential buyers on amazon.com!]
In the town of Republic, Wiley's brakes are grinding badly. The next morning, he is taken in for repairs, and the day is shot, as they need to get a part (a rotor) from the next town, an hour away. Mike and Phil watch Bill Gates at CES on TV, until it is time to checkout. Then they hike the Perry Wilderness Trail, which starts behind the town hall, until they get bored out of their minds. Then it's back to the waiting room at Les Schwab, reading auto magazines, until 2:45 when Phil's truck Wiley is ready to go.
Then it's up to Sherman Pass, where, suprise suprise, there is about 1 foot of crusty snow. And a lot of dense trees. To Mr. Blair's credit, there was some open terrain, which would be good with another 3 feet of snow, and I'm sure the snow is usually better. This has been an unusual year.
Mike and Phil high tail it out of there, and head across the Washington desert, past the Banks Lake area in the moonlight (where two frozen waterfalls are spotted), to the town of Ephrata, where they choose the cheapest motel to stay in. The rooms have vibrating beds. Listen to what Mike thinks of the vibrating beds
The "ice" at Vantage
The next morning, they check out Vantage - at this point in time, it is good for rock climbing, but not ice! They buy some Lego at a gas station, eat strawberry waffles in Ellensburg, then head through Snoqualmie Pass for a day of skiing.
Mike laying tracks down the icy crust in Snoqualmie Pass
Suprise! The skiing sucks in the pass. Icy, crusty, no snowshoes or skis needed. The valley is filled with dogs and Mountaineers students (identifiable by their REI packs and shiny new ice axes with tip protectors) and doing their avalanche courses (we are careful to turn off our beacons while skiing through their practise areas, so as not to confuse them).
Mike and Phil climb to a shoulder of Snoqualmie Mtn, where the wind is too strong for them to continue because they are wusses, and then they go back down. Mike is left with yet another superlative opinion of backcountry skiing in the Cascades.