I have had this down jacket for a little bit more than a year now and would like to share my experience with this great piece of gear.
First of all the warmth: I go winter camping almost every two week-ends from November to March and as long as I bring this jacket, I am never cold on the mountain.
The loft is exceptional and the amount of the down in hood just makes this jacket extremely warm. It is extremely puffy and it heats up as soon as you put your arms in the sleeves. I have never tried or even seen something as warm. Canada Goose parkas are nowhere as warm ans this puffy jacket (besides specialized Artic models).
Not even 1 kg, this piece is light, not super light, but the weight to warmth ratio is unbeatable. You could probably take a lighter sleeping bag and compensate the warmth with the Sirius.
It is very compactible, however the provided the stuff sack is not great and I recommend to go with a waterproof OR bag, 10 L should be fine.
Resistance: This product is very resistant. It has reinforcements in many part, would not hesitate to climb with it one second. This is not a jacket that will rip easily or have threading/seams issues. I hope to keep this piece in my pack for a long time.
The style is great, it comes in 3 colors (Red, Yellow,Blue). I opted for the red and feel it is the safest colour on the mountain.
The weather was supposed to be nice...it ended up like crap until we actually got back to the car. Did not make it to the summit since it was snowing so much. Spent most of the week-end sleeping in my 4 season tent and enjoying the noise of the rain.
Probably could of made this less verbose but ah well. Last Wednesday, with the forecast for the weekend looking amazing, AdrienBC sent an email around to myself, Springbow and bcroadtrip proposing we overnight near Zoa Peak, bag Zoa Peak then bag Thar the next morning via the couloir on its north face.
Apart from the long drive for myself and Spring from Squamish it all sounded excellent. We could also go in our little Hyundai 2WD to save on gas.
Zoa ridge was actually myself and Springs first foray into winter camping last year with AT and Spunkys New Year Party. We’d stopped short of the main summit that time due to avy conditions. So revisiting that peak and getting some mountaineering experience in as well seemed like a great way to spend the weekend.
Anyway, Saturday morning at 4:30am myself and Spring where up and getting ready (it’s great when you get your “lie in” Monday to Friday rather than on the weekends). We left shortly after 5:30am and picked Adrien up around 7am. We all had doubts at this point if we could pack 4 people, 4 overnight packs, 2 Ice Axes, 6 Ice tools, 4 pairs of snow shoes, 4 pairs of hiking poles, all our mountaineering racks... etc into our little Hyundai. We headed to Deans and tetris’d everything into the trunk and between our feet and somehow it just about all fit.
Off we went. We pulled into Chilliwack to gas up and ran into Scott (CT’r: smac) at the pump... small world. He was heading to Thar also... smaller world. Anyway from there we made good time to the TH for Falls lake and geared up and headed out. The initial plan was to camp at Falls lake but shortly into the hike before the summer parking lot Adrien and Dean decided to cut into the trees and serendipitously found an excellent camping spot with enough room for both of us to pitch our tents.
We pitched our tents, dumped any unneeded gear and headed for Zoa Peak. The plan was to bag Zoa Peak but in doing so also get some valuable beta on the conditions on the North Face of Thar, specifically the couloir we’d be climbing to the summit. It was actually pretty cloudy on the coq so we were unsure if we get any views at all, let alone of our objective for the following day. But sure enough, shortly before gaining the ridge we got above the clouds and the views opened up.
The hike to Zoas summit is pretty straight forward. Although I can understand why most stay at the subsummit, the main summit is treed and really has inferior views of the surrounding mountains. Once we were at the subsummit we investigated the north couloir and planned our ascent route. We also noticed the lake was entirely frozen and would probably be stable enough to cross (it probably hasn’t seen sunlight in over a month as it is shielded by the North Face of Thar) We headed to the true summit with a throng of skiers, had lunch then descended leisurely back to camp, filling up on water at a stream shortly before our camp.
We dug out a kitchen, boiled some water, had dinner, chatted for a bit then turned in pretty early as it was getting cold. We woke up at the lazy time of ~6:40am and got moving shortly after breakfast. We broke a trail to the lake and arrived at it in about 10 minutes from the summer parking lot. We cut across the lake and then angled up as we came around to the base of the wide gully that leads up the north side of Thar.
We kept our snowshoes on as long as possible then we all transitioned into our crampons. I made the schoolboy error of keeping my snowshoes on until I needed to be in crampons. I had to cut a bench with my adz and awkwardly swap into my crampons in the middle of the slope. The going up the couloir was good, getting progressively steeper. The snow quality varied from punching through up to our knees near the start, to a firm névé with the consistency of styrofoam (awesome stuff, I wish every slope had this snow) to a sheet of ice/hard snow under a small skiff of snow.
We elected to not rope up for the ice section. I don’t personally see the point of roping up anyway without protection. All that is holding you to the face is the front two points on your crampons and the picks on your ice tools. If someone fell on that 50’+ slope they are pulling everyone else off with them like hairs on a bandaid.
We continued up, every few steps my calves would burn really bad from balancing on the front of my boots. Thankfully, a few swift kicks into the snow/ice would make a larger foothold to rest on. I can’t imagine climbing free solo on solid ice, I guess, as Adrien mentioned to me, you’d just have to put your weight on your tools to rest your legs.
Anyway, we eventually reached the crux, a section of mixed rock/ice that needed to be ascended. Dean led and placed a fixed rope with pro as he went. Kudos to him for that. Next myself and Spring prussik’d up the fixed rope then Dean belayed Adrien up.
After the crux it was a short climb on less steep snow to a spot a few meters below the summit. This short climb though has a pretty bad runout so even a short slip and slide could prove hazardous.
Once up and over the top we basked in the sun for the first time that day. It had been painful shivering on that slope as the rope was fixed and seeing the sun warming the South side of Zoa across from Falls Lake. We hung out on the summit until we got too cold then descended via the East Ridge (the normal ascent hike) It went quickly.
We broke camp when we got back, had some hot tea, then hiked back to the car. The crux then was to see if we could remember how we had fitted everything in the previous day. We eventually did and drove home with an amazing sunset ahead of us.
Overall a fine alpine route that we’d grade as probably AD. Recommended.
Author`s note: This is a fantastic trail in the summer that is already challenging in good conditions. The following trip report might make this hike look easy in fall/winter conditions but it is not, we knew what to expect and had brought additional gear for the unexpected. In the wrong conditions, you could easily slip and die, get buried in an avalanche while crossing the boulder field, get lost and freeze to death or get stuck in the mountain out of exhaustion. I do not recommend this trail when there is snow on the mountain.
Another Trip report regarding this hike would not be the most interesting story this year. However, the conditions and the time of the year makes it worth it to write a few lines regarding a long day pass the middle of November.
Spring, Leigh and myself drove to Mt Seymour early Saturday morning as the sun was rising in a cloudless sky. As any other trip, we had our 10 min gear preparation session and were on to our 20 km round trip adventure.
The great feature of this time of the year is the compact snow on the ski slopes and the fact that downhill skiers are not yet invited to enjoy the mountain. This allows a very fast access (35 min) to Brockton point.
At the top of the ski resort, we enjoyed gorgeous winter views (yes winter) of the city and north shores. We then had a very enjoyable easy hike all the way to the intersection between Mount Seymour and ElsayLake.
Unsurprisingly, plenty of tracks towards Seymour and a virgin snow towards the downhill leading to Elsaylake. At this point we had not used our snowshoes, actually, this was a snowshoe free day!
We descended towards the boulder fields, the snow was light and powdery but there was a crusty and slippery layer just under it. We had ice axes which added some security to our travel. Not necessary but well appreciated.
The decent of the first boulder field was quick because of the large amount of snow and the steepness. However, the second one was a real pain as there was less snow and involved a long traverse. Once back into the forest, it was a cold hike all the way down to the bottom of Elsay. This involved a first easy creek crossing. The trail was well marked and I had already done Mt Elsay so routefinding was easy.
I got a bit confused after the intersection of the Mt Elsay trail, but nothing that made us loose more than 2 minutes. When we made it to the 3 km marker, we got a bit nervous as it was already pass 11:00 AM. However, I kept telling Leigh and Spring it was going to be very easy from there….
Well, not that easy, there were another 2 boulder fields to go through which were not cool… And we kept losing altitude.. We finally made it to the north of Elsay and it got fun from there as the trail was really easy and there was only a small amount of snow.
The only tough part of this section is a creek crossing (Elsay creek?) which is fairly wide and can be deep (knee high). The trail crossing was really icy and seemed difficult. We decided to go upstream and found an easier section. The broken branches on the other side proved to us that we had not been the only ones with this itinerary.
Once on the other side, it was a highway to the hut. We rushed (probably because of the cold) to the hut and enjoyed the view of the frozen (very fragile Ice) of the lake and the fantastic North face of Elsay.
The hut is in a great shape and looks very inviting for the summer. However, being on the north of such a steep mountain, I doubt that the lake gets ever direct sun light and must remain cold all year.
It had taken us roughly 5 hours to get to the hut, we thought it would take us much more to come back. I warmed up my water and had some tealess tea. We retraced our steps about 45 min after our successful landing at the Elsaylakehut.
Although we were expecting a dreadful return back to the car (much higher than the hut), it turned out to be for all 3 of us a pleasant return. The trail was well tracked by our footsteps and we were in a hurry to get back to the car since it was so cold…
Even the boulder field and the steepness did not stop us or demotivate us. However we were very happy once we were back on the skiers track as we knew it would just be a hop back to the car.
We finally made it back in the dark to the car just before 6. It had taken us only 4 hours back from the hut, not bad with these semi-wintery conditions. Leigh and Spring kindly drove me back home although it was way out of their way… And I took my well deserved shower..I had hiked the ElsayLake trail on a 19th of November.
My Video http://adthevenet.zenfolio.com/p164959546/h94A25D3#h94a25d3
Mid last week AdrienBC proposed the idea of camping on the summit of Sigurd Peak. We said "Why not"
We got a bit of a late start, putting boot to trail just after 10am. 7hr's before dark with ~10km's of distance to cover, ~2100m's of cumulative elevation to gain with overnight packs on our backs and thigh deep powder snow everywhere.
We could do it.
We met Stoked and one other gentleman on the trail on the way up. They where clearing the trail of downfall. Much Kudos for that.
We soon hiked into the snowline at ~800m's elev. at my estimates. From there it just got deeper and deeper. AdrienBC and bcroadtrip did pretty much all the trail breaking as myself and Springbow found it hard keeping pace with them even in the broken trail. They're fast.
We topped out on the ridge and donned our snowshoes. The ridge was socked in for the majority and the snow was deep and unconsolidated. It made progress very slow along the ridge crest. But we pushed on. As we came up on the summit the winds really picked up and the temperature plummeted. It was after 4pm when all finally reached the summit.
The winds where howling and we where all starting to lost body heat fast.
Thoughts of hanging around to enjoy the summit quickly turned to thoughts of getting our tents pitched before dark (it already felt like dusk but it was hard to know as it had been dark and overcast all day) and getting warm. AdrienBC dropped off the other side of the summit and found a section of the ridge with softer, less wind encrusted snow that was sheltered a little by a tree island.
We took out our snow shovels, leveled out our tent pads and pitched our tents in a brief respite from the wind. We were cold enough at this point and the snow was powdery enough that we didn't bother digging down much to give us a snow wall around our tents. We pitched on top of the snow and hoped our tents would survive the night.
Once pitched we pretty much all got into our respective tents and didn't really leave them until the next morning. I hopped into my sleeping bag right away with all my clothes on and shivered uncontrollably for a good 20 minutes before getting my core temp back up. AdrienBC and bcroadtrip elected not to boil water and just had a cold dinner.
Myself and Springbow wanted the warmth of a hot meal so we took the time to get some water boiled, had dinner then turned in for the night at around the late hour of 7pm.
The night was far from calm. mountain-forecast.com said there would be gale force winds in the vicinity at that elevation and it really felt at times that our tent was going to be picked up with us in it and blown off the mountain. At times the tent was pushed so far down by the wind that I'd wake up feeling pinned down by the sides of the tent. Add to this that we where using a 3 season tent so we where getting loads of spin drift blown under the fly and into our tent. It was a restless night for all of us, but in the relative calms between gusts we'd catch a few zzz's.
The next morning we dusted off the layer of snow that was covering all our gear inside our tent and awoke to a calm weather window for breakfast.
We could see dark ominous clouds in the valleys around us, but over Sigurd Peak there was blue skies and sunshine. We went back up to the summit to take it in as we didn't really have the opportunity the day before.
After a short time on the summit we returned to camp, took some photos, had our breakfasts, exchanged stories of the night before then packed up and headed out. Shortly after leaving camp the winds and clouds returned for our egress. I was extremely thankful that we had a calm weather window to dismantle our tents. Doing so in those winds would not of been enjoyable.
Our descent was quick and uneventful. We made it back to the cars in about 3hrs30 by my estimates.
All in all another excellent day and night in the mountains.
Link to Clubtread Trip Report http://www.clubtread.com/sforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=41875
Not really a fascinating hike but worth sharing for those who are still interested to go out during the wettest month of the year.
Dean, BT, Len and myself met Spring and Leigh at the Squamish climber`s parking lot around 9 Am last Sunday morning for this hike in a very remote area.
The drive to the trailhead from Squamish is dreadful...1.5 hours to cover 18 km... However it is somehow 2WD friendly for 90 %. This was the 3rd time I was going there and I am not excited to go back there anytime soon.
At the start of the 4wd road, Leigh and Spring hopped in the jeep and we slowly started our ascent towards the trailhead. Unfortunately without chains, we got stopped at 850m.
From there, a long 4 km slog all the way to the real 4 wd trailhead. However the snow was not too deep and no snowshoes were necessary on the logging road. We also enjoyed some nice views during this sunny day, especially of Mislilloet and it`s impressive North Face.
We finally made it to the run down bridge which required a tricky but easy crossing.
The cut block showed obvious trail markers that I obviously did not follow...Instead we followed the logging road and ended in a dead end, so we cut through the clear cut all the way to the old growth. Back in the forest, the snow level was still pleasant but the ground a bit slippery. With our GPS, we were tyring to make it back tot he trail, which we eventually did half an hour later.
Once on the trail, we were in a foresty alpy environment where the snow was getting much higher. Although we enjoyed more sun and better views, the difficulty of trail breaking had increased.
Once we made it to the highest point of the trail, we started descending towards Mamquam Pass. The original goal was to go to the pass and then climb towards Pollen Peak...no way..way too long.
Besides myself and Dean, the group turned around shortly after the high point and headed back towards the car as it was already getting late. Dean and I hurried to make it to the pass. We quickly got off the trail and cut through the forest. There were several creeks (4 in total to cross), they slowed us down but were far from impassable.
The area is extremely boggy and wet...even with 50 cm of snow. Dean used his snowshoes but turned out to be more a liability than anything else.
Made it to the pass, took a few souvenir shots , admired a north face down the valley wondering if it had ever been climbed and how much time it would take to do...
Although a bit tired, we rushed back to the team, however the ascent back to the high point was exhausting in those conditions. We took 90 minutes return from where we had left the group, so we knew we would not meet them before the car.
However, we stuck to the original trail this time to go back to the bridge. The real trail is a lot less in the trees so there is a lot more snow but this is better to go down.
The clear cut section going down was slippery and bushy. Back on the road, slog again...
We made it back in the dark and met the group at the car. From there we drove to the Watershed to go celebrate birthday boy, the big 3!
Fissile Peak, NW Couloir, AD-, October 30th 2011
Regardless of what people think, October is a great month to go hiking and mountaineering. You just need the right clothes.
Dean picked me up early Saturday morning in Burnaby as we wanted to make it before dark to the the Himmelsback hut on Russet Lake.
We then, picked up Leigh in Squamish and were on our way to Whistler.
There seems to be lots of changes in terms of free and overnight parking in Whistler Village, this is not a winter option, but we were able to leave the car in lot 4 next to the “berm”(as per their website) at no cost.
Once we arrived, we started arranging our gear. We wanted to go fast and light... No rope, harness or protection. Just an ice axe (ice tools for Dean) and crampons. Cooking and sleeping gear....and lots of Gore-Tex. Indeed, we were expecting the worst weather for this week-end, but the call for the wild was just too loud to stay home.
Thanks to the Whistler HD webcam, I knew that snowshoes were not yet necessary although maybe useful, the weight did not justify the option.
The hike to Singing Pass (trail to the hut), did not start well (10:30 AM). We took the bridge (too excited to be focused) and ended up in the Whistler HQ area...back to square one...
Having lost a good 30 min, we finally made it on the right trail, a very long straight line towards singing pass.
As we were accumulating the km under our feet, the weather was clearing up. Through the trees we could see glimpses of Blackcomb mountain and Decker mountain.
About 3 hours after leaving the car, we made it to Singing Pass, were we met the fast Ubishop from Clubtread.
It took us another 90 min, to make it to the hut as the hill between the pass and the lake was a real obstacle since the snow was fairly deep.
The advantage of the area is that it is so windy, there are many spots where the snow has been either blown away or frozen hard.
By the time we made it to Russet lake, the weather had turned surprisingly pleasant, giving us a great view of our objective for the next day.
We arrived at 4:30 PM to the hut, roughly 6 hours after our start from the car.
We met two skiers in the hut which allowed us to entertain good conversations all evening.
Tired from the week and the hike up, I went to bed at 6:30 since I usually shut down as soon as it gets dark.
The night was warm but the hauling winds occasionally pulled us out of our mountaineering dreams.
When I woke up at 6:30 the next day (yes, a nice 12 h sleep), the weather was very disappointing. Very foggy and raining, not snowing, raining. The wind was also strong, which kept the rest of my team in their sleeping bag.
I manage to annoy them enough to get out of bed and ready, the motivation was growing fast.
As soon as we got a glimpse of light, we were off to our climb.
It had not dumped that much during the night, but we were in certain spots, knee high snow.
We started traversing under Fissile Peak to approach the NW couloir and looking at other future potential new routes.
The traverse to he couloir involved crossing several starting ice waterfalls and still active creeks. The snow managed to keep all of this safe (especially with the crampons).
Once we arrived on the couloir, although in an almost white out, we got a good understanding of what was going to be the program.
The actual couloir seemed to be fairly avi prone and had some debris that were very fresh.
We decided to stick next to the rock as much as possible as no snow had accumulated above. Everything was also frozen which kept the crumbly peak well together.
The climb was very wet and very windy. The snow was high but we didn`t struggle too much to climb. However, the crampons were accumulating large amounts of snow that had to be constantly knocked off.
At one point, an avi exposed traverse had to be done to start going towards the exit of the couloir. It was mostly exposed to wind and a highly improbable avalanche.
Dean started the traverse but got completely stuck by the extreme winds and spindrifts, he was completely blinded by the power of the mountain.
It took him a good amount of time to get out of this situation where he was able to finish his traverse to make it to a safe spot, in the middle of the face, under a large rock formation.
Leigh and Myself quckly followed. Hoerver as Leigh was making his attempt, a large spindrift came rushing down the slope. Not really an avalanche, more like a very cold shower for Leigh.
Once we all made it to the oasis of safety, it was a fairly vertical climb to the ridge involving snow and easy rock scrambling.
The ice axe was extremely useful and Dean`s ice tools were powerful weapons. Roughly 3 hours after leaving the comfort of our hut,we made it on the stormy ridge.
I had thought, that this would have been the easy part, but the winds were so intense that each step was a fight against nature.
We slowly made it our way up the ridge with the constant deceptions of it`s many false summits.
However as we were climbing our way up, the mountain felt pity for us, and decided to open it`s views and spare the wind.
About 10 min before the summit of our climb, the blue skies appeared. The last section before the summit gets slightly trcky, very little snow and a small maze around the rocks to find the perfect route.
I traversed on the SW side to find an easy gully to the summit whereas Dean and Leigh went straight to a rocky arete.
Once we were all three on the summit, the whole Garibaldi Park opened to us.
The views were stunning, especially looking south.
We had a quick lunch and tried not to loose too much heat.
We walked back taking the standard ridge which is an easy class 3 scramble. It was interesting to see that the Norht Face already starting to accumulate some big cornices.
We headed down a gentle snow, all the way to the Fissile bowl.
The snow was fairly deep but everything looked very stable.
We finally got off the mountain and crossed the plateau of Russett lake.
Although we had left at 8 am, it was now roughly 12:30. We gave ourselves 30 min to get ready before we left back to the car.
The return to Whistler was very pleasant and very fast. We managed to cover the 15.5km in three hours including a few breaks. The trail was in perfect conditions, plowed snow, soft on the knees and feet.
Although, noon had great weather, when we made it back to the car around 4, the weather was now horrendous. But we could not care less... we had done the NW couloir of Fissile and had a beautiful summit.
A very cold week-end near Pemberton. Bonn-Tien experienced Ice climbing and frost bites for the first time... Dean got to do his first lead climb on ice, he did awesome, I was very impressed. We had an extremely cold night camping out and a thin layer of ice was covering our sleeping bags when we woke up.
Altogether, we got to do about 3 climbs each, not much for such a long ride. But I always consider Ice Climbing as a delicacy...
Since Dean climbed the North Ramp last week but his pictures were just lame , I convinced him (very easily) do try to climb it again but in much “better” conditions.
We arrived at the trailhead at about 8 am, Where we were greeted by several parties also planning to climb Harvey but via the normal route.
At the 3 rd switchback, we had our first views of Harvey`s North Ramp, rather impressive from this point of view. From there, this is also where the snow started.
We put on the snowshoes at the Harvey north face logging road intersection, from there the snow was rather deep and difficult to travel.
It took us roughly 2 hours to make it to the bottom of the ramp from the car.
The snow was much deeper than the previous week, I was already burnt out and soaked from sweating so much. Also, there was a thick layer of hail on the ground and that really confused me for my AVI assessment.
The ramp did not frighten for its steepness (deep snow and max vertical 55 degrees) but because it s a nasty terrain trap for avalanches. As I was climbing up, I ,naively, stayed on the side, able to jump out of the couloir in case of something falling from above.
The climb was strenuous, in several parts, each step up was extremely difficult as the snow would collapse under my feet. However, I did enjoy some nice icy blocks, accelerating my ascent. I think the worst part was near the top of the ramp where the snow got very deep and the slope reached its max inclined. Every meter was a battle to win, by the time we arrived at the top of the ramp it was already 2 Pm, we had been on the ramp for more than 4 hours! Exhausting conditions!
The two traverse came up but the snow was much better as it was facing a different face. We ran some belays and confidently traversed the two slopes. I was really pissed off that Dean had traversed this solo a week before with a much harder snow, a slip could have been fatal.
About a 200 meters below Magnesia Meadows, facing West, I noticed some bluffs with at least 2 fat ice routes, has anybody ever climbed them? I thought at the logistics to do them, it still seemed worth it…
We finally made it to the summit at 4 PM, time when Dean was suppose to arrive at work…poor Dean.
The weather had been a bit cloudy during the day but we got a beautiful sunset as we were going back to the car.
It took us more than 10 hours to do the whole climb! I was completely exhausted but the thrill and adrenalin had made the adventure well worth it.
I had the chance to spend a week in Montreal for a business trip so I took the occasion to go enjoy one of the best place to ice climb on the Canadian East Coast: Les Chutes de Montmenrency.
Being a beginner ice climber and having no partners to climb with in Quebec, I opted to go with Adventurex, a local guiding company.
One of the fantastic things about the area is that the access requires a 10 min walk to the falls, we are guaranteed ice and the walls are at least 80 m.
The area is fantastic and the main falls are simply amazing, an ice sugar loaf forms itself just a few hundred meters beyond the falls.
When we arrived, there was already six top ropes installed by a guide that had been their since early in the morning. We lost lots of time helping first time climbers to understand how to belay and to put on gear, but a necessary lost of time.
Then it was time to climb... Fantastic ice very different from one I have experienced before in BC. I only got to do one climb in the morning but a big portion of the group left by 13:30, afterwards we were only 4 and I managed to climb another 6 times. Although this was an initiation course, the guide gave me many new techniques to improve my skills and also some good safety skills.
At about 16:30, it was time to wrap up. However, I stayed a bit longer to enjoy the falls and get some pictures.
On November 20th, Adrien, Bonn Tien and I made an attempt via East approach. We didn't quite made to the hut or to the lake. We ran out of time and stopped just below the bluff, which forced us to slept tentless in -15 temperature.
Bonn Tien was opposed to sleep outside, she would rather hike back to the car in the dark.I think we kinda traumatized her with our decision.
Last weekend, we were planning to climb Garibaldi and Atwel, but due to Adrien's work commitment, we ended up going back to Brew hut. This time, we tried to take Roe Creek Branch R200 approach. I managed to drive my 2WD up to 400m(not sure with the elevation), where the cat ski office was. It was fairly long approach to the hut. The weather was mixed of rain and snow on Saturday.
We had the hut by ourselves. The wind was pretty crazy that night. I woke up numerous times due to violent wind pounding the wall of the hut. On Sunday, we bagged Mt. Brew, Malt, Hops, and Keg on such an amazing weather. Although, it would have been perfect if it wasn't so windy and cold. We were hiking with our down jacket most of the time.
Approach to the lake/hut
Brew hut at night. We had a warm night compared on our previous trip. Adrien checking out weather forecast and replying to work emails
Brew Hut
Mt. Brew. It was extremely windy and cold on the summit
Malt Peak. We dropped down South east of Brew down to the valley. Adrien did not careless about the wind and cold on top, he was busy checking work email..lol
Hops Peak. We went back to the hut to have lunch, then off to Hops Peak. There was some serious cornice on the traverse to Keg. Guess what was Adrien doing on top of Hops?... checking emails.
Keg Peak, the highest of all four peaks. It was an easy ridge walk. We bypassed the cornice on the way back to the hut, dropped down few meters north of Hops to the bowl and traversed.
Pico de Orizaba, January 2011. My awesome 30th birthday present.
2010 had been an amazing year for me in terms of adventures. With 85 days of outdoor experience, several 3000 m + peaks and 2 famous 4000 m peaks (Mount Rainier and Mont Blanc), I was feeling strong and wanted to start 2011 with a strong accomplishment. When I m not climbing one of my other big passion is to search online for mountains, climbs with character, not the most difficult climbs but the original ones. I think it was last summer when I started to get interested in Pico de Orizaba. The highest peak in Mexico, highest volcano in North America, 3rd highest mountain of the continent and a peak above 5000m with an easy access.
I looked at the logistic; a rough budget for 9 days with airfare was around $1000, a relatively short flight to the starting point and plenty of acclimatization hikes in the area. There were only green lights to attempt the summit. We decided to go for the first week of January as it is the safest and driest period to climb this peak. Of course I wanted Bonn-Tien to be part of the adventure as I never feel fully summiting a mountain if she is not present. The adventure could have been just both of us but we had recently met Dean through Clubtread and we had done already many climbs together. Dean is an exceptional climber with high altitude experience, always positive and extremely easy going. Not only would he be a fun person to spend vacations with but also a great support for this “daring" climb. I don t remember when I offered him to come with us but I think it was little time after I met him and I remember him immediately accepting the invitation without hesitation.
I had several concerns about this climb:
-The altitude: at about 5655m, this is a very high mountain, especially when you live at sea level and planning to climb within a week. Acclimatization would be the determining part of our success.
-Technicalities: Considered a walking summit, the conditions vary year to year. We were going at the dry season but with usually a good snow base resulting in less chance to slip all the way down to the rocks. However, always expect the unexpected when climbing, especially on a big mountain. This meant buying some additional tools such as extra ice screws and quick draws. Be sure that we had the the necessary gear to make some V-thread rappels.
-The cold: Mexico does not have a reputation to be a very cold area. However, for safety purposes, we decided to heavily invest in cold protection: New down jacket, full fleece overalls, -20 degree sleeping bags, primaloft insulated climbing boots (Scrapa mountainnering boots), heavy wool socks. Our gear was perfect for climbing Denali and not Orizaba, but in the event one of us was not able to make it to the summit, I wanted to be sure that when they stopped somewhere, they would not freeze to death as temperatures can get as low as -25 with wind-chill. Add the lack of oxygen and hypothermia is a serious concern.
After spending lots $$$ for the gear, I had to organize all the logistics for the trip.
The departure date was going to be the last day of 2010. I wanted to leave in the afternoon leaving me time for the last preparations. We found the cheapest flight with US airways leaving at 14:50 and arriving in Mexico City just before midnight. This was perfect as it was the cheapest flight ($550) and would not use a full day. Since it was new years eve and I did not want to get caught in the craziness of the new years eve parties, we opted for a hotel next to the airport, not the cheapest but the most convenient. We then would go to Puebla and acclimatize in the town at about 2200m and climb La Malinche, a 4444m volcano, 50 km North from the town center. After Puebla we would head to the village of Tlachichuca, starting point for most climbers wanting to summit Pico de Orizaba. There we would stay about 24 h on the Servimont Ranch, an old soap factory converted into a climber’s hostel. The campground would provide us transportation to base camp, the Piedra Grande hut located at 4400m, a the starting point for the summit bid. Many climbers decide to spend two nights at the hut, however, knowing my team, I decided to just spend a night at the hut as I believed that spending two night could have the positive effect of increasing acclimatization but also have the risk to exhaust our bodies and cut the appetite, which meant too much time in a poor condition and risking to make us unable to summit.
We would summit, the next day and head back the same day to the ranch and spend a night there before going to our third volcano Iztaccihuatl at 5236 meters.
That was the plan to follow, but it was just a plan, there is no script on a mountain…it s all improv.
On the 31st of December we had a very smooth flight all the way to Mexico City. I was a bit worried about not getting all our gear when we arrived, but luckily we picked up our last bag at the 12th gong of midnight. It was 2011 and we were on our way to climb a 5000 m mountain! As soon as we got to out Mexican hotel, we all started a diet of over-hydration. We bought plenty of bottled water and the goal was to each drink at least 5 liters of water each day. I believe that hydration would help the acclimatization and keep our blood fluid as we were going to build a large amount of blood cells in the upcoming days. The morning of the first I went to pick up my rental car for the 8 days we needed it in Mexico, a fantastic deal for only $158 CAD, but they wanted to add insurance for another $300 CAD. I kindly declined it but had to have my credit card authorize $5000!! This kind of transaction made me feel uncomfortable, but working in the credit card business, I knew that I still had some good protection from my bank. On my way back to the hotel, I missed a turn and ended up turning around Mexico City for a good 40 min, but my navigational skills, and ability to speak Spanish, brought me back to base safely, after going through some scary neighborhoods... We over-packed the small Renault Clio, that had seen better days, and headed towards Puebla. I had put many GPS points for the route so Dean just had to tell me when to turn, left or right or go straight. Also, I had gotten the directions from Bing.com and I had looked at all the cross-sections in Streetview from Google. I felt like I had already done the trip. Puebla is about 150 km East of Mexico City, and is reached by a major highway, even without preparation, it is rather easy to reach. On the way we had our first view of Iztaccihuatl and neighbouring volcano Popocatepetl (5463m). Popocatepetl is currently unclimble because of it s strong volcanic activities. I love the red tape section in Summitpost “The big red tape issue is that you will probably die during an ascent right now.”, I feel that s a rather explicit advice!
It felt quite amazing to see these big mountains as soon as we left one of the biggest cities in the world. As we were heading East, we started gaining altitude all the way to a col, same range as the two giant volcanoes. The pass was at about 3000 m where we stopped for some homemade tapas that were excellent, and also an excellent toilet break since we all had already drank 2 liters of water each. Bonn-Tien and Dean took the occasion to go for a hike around the area; they met a family having a pic-nic and were offered to join, while I was waiting for them in the car, alone... We reached Puebla at a decent time and settled in a good value hotel right down town. I was a bit concern, we could see our next day`s objective, but the weather was ugly, it seemed rainy on the summit. We went down town for dinner and enjoyed local festivities as the Mexicans were still celebrating new years.
On January the 2nd, we woke up, I mean I woke up the team around 6:30. The weather was fantastic, not a cloud in sight! Today was going to be a good day. We grabbed a quick breakfast in the hotel and headed towards the trailhead of La Malinche.
The route to La Malinche was also straightforward but involved going on bad condition roads, many invisible speed bumpers and potholes. But we were happy because we had a splendid view the whole way on our objective for the day.
Although the distance was only 50 km, it took us almost 2 hours to get there. When we arrived at the trailhead it was almost like a market was getting setup. La Malinche is actually an extremely popular hike for locals, who go to the summit with their kids and grand-parents. It is really not a big deal for the locals to go up to 4400 m but it was a big deal to us. We parked the car next to a small shop keeper who promised that he would look after our car. We started the hike at about 3100 m, only 1340 m to go to the summit. The trail starts really easy and is a straight line all the way up to the open area just below the summit. Although there are relatively steep sections (steep for beginning hikers), it is really easy all the way to the “alpine section”. However, altitude is already a factor, and we felt very heavy and had difficulties breathing, it was part of our acclimatization. When we arrived at the open area, we had a fantastic view on the summit, but we realized we were not there yet. We were already at 4000m, and started to get a “good” feeling of the altitude. Surprisingly, there was a lot of families in the area with very young kids. Only in Nepal had I seen 5 years old playing at such heights.
After a small break we started the tougher part because it gets fairly steep and it s a bunch of small grass patches that really make the terrain uneven. The altitude was hitting hard but we were all far from K.O. We had the option to go on a more sandy /dirt route, but this would have made it much harder, kind of like going up soft snow.
Once we reached the ridge, the painful part was over, and the view starting to be amazing. At the east, I had my first view of Pico de Orizaba, who seemed huge but small at the same time since it was at about a 100 km away. Towards the west we could see Popo and Izta. I had heard bangs all day long, and it turned out it was the volcano Popo that was doing this rawkus all day long. Very impressive. The route from the ridge is a class 2 scramble where many Mexican families head up. It was still a bit hard since we were at 4200 m, but after 30 min, Victory to our summit! We grabbed our flags and did a few summit shots. We felt relatively well although Bonn-Tien had a very mild headache. We stayed at the summit and enjoyed some lunch. The goal was to stay at least an hour to help us for our acclimatization. Getting a bit chili, we started to head down 50 min after, it was good enough for us. The way down was quick and easy, the effect of altitude did not do much on me but hit Dean right in the stomach. Poor Dean felt really bad, he who is always leading us was behind and felt miserable. We waited for him and he quickly caught up to us, Bonn-Tien was also feeling a bit sick, also stomach sick. I was feeling great and I was wondering if they had eaten something bad from that picnic they had the day before. However once we were all in the car at 3100 m, things got better for both of them. The way back home was somehow long as we came back in the dark where it s even much harder to see those crazy speed bumpers.
However we enjoyed a magical sunset on Popo.
The next morning, January the 3rd, we headed for Tlachichuca, starting point for Orizaba. The good weather was definitely with us now. The trip was uneventful and we started to get great views of our objective. Tlachichuca is really a small town and there is really the minimum basics. Servimont is a wonderful place to stay at and it really well set for climbers with a huge gear room to get all your stuff ready. There is a big dormitory with some very decent bunk beds. I would also recommend Servimont, because there food is amazing. I am really not a fan of Mexican food and had lost some appetite those last days but they prepared us the best meals ever. It was real homemade food and everything was so fresh. To this day I still believe that my success on the mountain is partly due by how well I ate the days before. Servimont is a good deal but not cheap for Mexican standards. We paid for 3 night, 5 meals and the round trip to the hut (4wd for 2 hours each way) about CAD $170 each. But again, it is well worth it, you know your stuff is safe while you are on the mountain. Our first day in Tlachichuca, we walked around in the very rural town; it was really nice to see a different Mexico. As you walk in the streets of this village, Pico de Orizaba can be seen from almost everywhere, it is quite amazing. We went to bed with full of summit dreams, more excitement than concerns.
On January 4th, we woke up fairly late, had a good breakfast and packed so we could head towards the hut at 4400 m. The jeep was fairly comfortable but the ride was really shaky. It was scary to see how fast we were ascending from 2600 m (Tlachichuca) to Piedra Grande hut 4400m. The driver was extremely kind to stop every 30 min as we had to pee since we were still drinking tons and had started the diamox (makes you pee more). We arrived at a rather busy hut, with people all over the place. Again, Mexican are really not concerned by altitude, there was plenty of people in jeans and work shoes visiting the area, like a local attraction! I was really impressed as they all seemed fine. I was surprised to see a long concrete trail going towards the summit. It is actually is an old path that leads to an abandoned aqueduct. You would think it is an easy way to start the climb but it is actually the contrary, the concrete is falling apart creating huge gaping holes because it is above a pipe. Something I kept in mind for the early morning start.
The hut was surprisingly big and in good shape, I was worried it was going to be really rustic but I thought it was not much worse than some old huts in BC. I liked the huge bunk beds where we could easily put all our gear. Also I was extremely happy to have arrived almost before 13:00 as we had been told we would arrive by 2, this would leave some extra time to prepare ourselves.
After setting up our beds, we decided to go up the trail, to gain some altitude. Strangely, Senior Reyes, the owner of the ranch had recommended us not too, thinking it would be too much of an elevation in the day. We understood his thinking but believed that we could deal with an extra 200 m to 4650m.
The trail was rather easy, well traced with an easy incline. As we were going up, we crossed two New Jersey climbers going down from the glacier. They had left 8 hours before but had to turn around mid-way on the glacier at about 5200 m. The altitude had hit them hard and they had been vomiting going up. It was a wise but tough decision to give up. A half an hour later, their 3rd friend, was coming down, he had made it to the summit. Out of 3, only 1 summited, that was a slim success rate… Seeing these two fit men fail reminded us that there was no guarantee to the summit, however Senior Reyes had told us that east coast people are the most likely to get altitude sickness as it is really hard for them to get some altitude in on week-ends. We kept our morals high but kept in the back of our minds that we might not be able to make it.
At 4650 m, we took a break and stayed for a while admiring the glacier and the hut from above. The weather was fantastic and there was no forecast for this to change.
After staying half an hour enjoying the views we decided to go down. Although it took us about 90 min to go up, it only took us 30 min to get back to the hut. At the hut we prepared a huge plate of spaghetti that I ate with plenty of appetite. Bonn-Tien and Dean also ate plenty but took much more modest portions. I was extremely proud of myself to have eaten so much; I knew it would be a key point in my success for my summit attempt.
After chatting with some climbers from Colorado, France , and a Mexican guide, we decided to go to bed at about 18:30 with the alarm clock programmed at 01:00.
Since not everyone was summiting the next day, the hut was rather noisy, I had brought my ear plugs and Dean had taken a light sleeping pill. Within 30 min, we were both sleeping. However Bonn-Tien was too nervous and sensitive to the noise to close an eye. I gave her an ear plug so she could ignore “half of the noise”. I finally fell asleep probably around 20:30, that left me almost 5 h of sleep left, plenty!
The Climb:
Beep, Beep, Beep….. The GPS is ringing, why? Oh yeah, I m climbing Orizaba today… This is it !I m writing a page of my life story today. How am I feeling… my head is ok but my stomach feels like sh… Ok I got to get ready, what do I start with?...It s not that cold?..
My base layers, jacket, bib, hat, helmet, shoes, harness and gaiters… Turn on the GPS, put all the gear in the pack, gosh my pack is heavy….
How is Bonn-Tien?... She doesn`t look good… She looks tired.
Bonn-Tien had barely slept that night whereas me and Dean almost had full a night. Another Mexican group had waken up, they set the mood by putting some Hip Hop on their cell phones, not very respectable for the other sleeping climbers but I was to concerned about my climb than anything else. Besides, these guys might have to save my life in a couple hours, better stay friends. There was no way I could eat anything, but still felt good to climb. I was going to have to rely on the calories I absorbed several hours ago. However Bonn-Tien was having a tough time. It took us almost an hour and a half to get ready, but we were still faster than the large Mexican group.
We did a serious error that I learned on this trip, keep your gear with you… don t share it between bags, you want to carry your stuff, you are never guaranteed to stay with your climbers.
At 2:30, we left the hut and start heading on the concrete path. I was really feeling crappy, but Bonn-Tien was feeling even worse.
Bonn-Tien was much slower than usual and had to stop every 5 minutes to breath, and quickly, started vomiting, this was a bad sign… After the first puking session, she said she felt much better, this is actually a very typically feeling from a stomach flu. She had no headache so I was not too concerned yet. But I did offer to send her back to the hut, within 15 minute reach.
After another 20 minutes, Bonn-Tien threw up again, this was getting really bad. Now I insisted for her to go back this was too risky. But she had travelled too far to turn back, she wanted to make it, she wanted to beat her altitude record… I could not say no, turning around is a decision to be made by the climber but I insisted she was putting the group and herself at risk. I also let her know that there was a point of no return where I would not feel comfortable for her to be by herself beyond that point. That point was above a cliff, one wrong turn in her condition would have been a fatal drop.. About an hour after leaving the hut, we came to that point, which would only take half an hour in normal conditions. Bonn-Tien was weak and feeling terrible, she had vomited twice and her stomach was bad. We faced the facts, we still had a 1000 m to go… She had gotten a stomach flu from somewhere and was not going to make it today. She took by herself the difficult decision to turn around. It was an emotional moment where the group was breaking up. It was extremely hard but was the right decision. I felt ok for her to go back to the hut as the trail was fairly easy all the way back, no more than 20 min.
After the separation, me and Dean kept silent on the way up. But about 10 min later, I heard a whistle blow. At first I thought I was hearing sounds, but on the second blow made me realize that it was likely Bonn-Tien! I totally freaked out. I dropped my pack and start running down the hill like I was at sea level, the adrenalin was definitely replacing oxygen. As I was running, I was imagining Bonn-Tien with a broken leg on the bottom of a cliff. As I was screaming for her, I finally heard her voice and stopped running.
“Bonn-Tien !!!!” “Adrien!!!’ “Are you ok!!” “Yes, I m Ok” “Why are you blowing your whistle!!” “You forgot your food!”
I was so happy to know it was nothing, I could care less for my food as I didn’t t even feel like eating anything, especially after my 4700m high jogging session… I turned around and came back to Dean. I was really thinking how much of a joke this climb was, feeling unprepared for this kind of endeavor.
We continued in the cold, dark, night staying focused on the summit but thinking about Bonn-Tien making it back safely. We soon approached at the beginning of the labyrinth, probably the trickiest part of the climb. The labyrinth is the remains of the lower part of the glacier, a mix of hard snow, ice and boulders with some steep sections.
A flat spot served a good spot to drink and put on our crampons. We headed back up after a short stop. The labyrinth was not as bad and steep as I was expecting. The many tracks do not make it easy to find the best route but Dean did a great job finding the best way up.
After an hour in this lunar landscape, a tent platform announced us the beginning of the glacier. A giant, 3.5 km, 40 degree, “crevasse free” snow slope was in front of us. The toughest part was just starting, we needed to go another 700 m higher, far from finish. Every 10 min, I was doing a check up on myself… -Head is hurting…shit is it altitude sickness, no the helmet is a bit tight, here..feels much better now.. - Stomach, feels tight but is holding well. Cold…not that bad, glad I got a full MEC polartec base layer.. Ok, I think there is a 50 % chance I summit…Is my body going to fail like it did for those 2 jersey boys…
Once we started the snow slope, me and Dean had full visual on each other. There was no obvious dangers so we had an unsaid agreement that we would go at our own pace.
Going, up, the first lights started appearing, it was about 6:00. At this point I was the first on the glacier and had the whole peak to myself…It was an incredible view.. I could see some wands going up the route. Although there is no real difficult way up, the wanded way seemed the most direct and easy. Half way up the route, the sky was now well lighted and I could see the pyramidal shadow, the most amazing view when you climb a volcano.
Each step was a struggle, I could do no more than 10 steps at a time, I had an objective of every 5-7 meters, about a the distance between two wands. It was hard, it was really hard, at 5500m, I felt the lack of the oxygen so bad.
I could see the summit ridge now, but it seemed a world away, it was maybe 40 meters below but I was nowhere close. I had to stop so many times on my way up. Dean was behind me and I felt completely alone on this mountain. It was challenge, a fight with my own body.
At about 8:00 I arrived at the summit ridge and collapsed. I took a good 10 min break enjoying the views. Dean was about 30 min behind me, I decided to continue, I would wait for him on the summit.
Although 100m to the summit (but only 30 m lower in altitude) I was still not sure to make it. I had read several reports where people had given up at this point.
After 5 min of resting, I stood up on feet and headed towards the final point. There was a fake summit, that I had to go around and there it was, the final 50 m…
I took out my camera, to witness this amazing moment. At this point I was thinking about Bonn-Tien who I wished could have been with me.
The weather was completely clear, the views were 360 degrees, I could see hundreds km afar, it was astonishing. I was overwhelmed by emotions as I was finishing the few meters to the summit, the last few steps of a journey that had started in Vancouver, at sea level, only 5 days ago.
Summit, victory, I made it!! I can`t believe it my body had brought me so high it these extreme conditions. It had been so hard to breath; I had to catch my breath every 3 meters, what an amazing adventure.
I was greeted by 2 Mexicans, that had passed me at the top of the glacier. Although complete strangers, we hugged and cheered of our personal victories… I sat and enjoyed the views, I wanted to wait for Dean. I was pleasantly surprised to see so much snow at there was on the summit. All the summit pictures I had seen had a bear ground. I was also happy to see the metal cross, a cross that I had seen on so many pictures, videos, now it was in front of me. I think the happiness is accentuated by the effort that it takes to get to this point.
About 15 min after, Dean appeared on the rim. I could see him struggling to do the last few meters, just like I did. He was going slow, but he was there. When he reached the summit, I congratulated him where he was also emotionally overwhelmed. I quickly put some of his sunscreen as I had left mine with Bonn-Tien and at this altitude, the sun hits really hard.
My 30th birthday being in a few days, Dean got me a cliff bar with a superman candle, I appreciated the gesture and the bar was my only meal for that morning. We took some summit shots, rested and enjoyed the amazing views. After an hour, feeling a nasty headache coming in, we decided to go down.
I wanted to get back to lower levels fast to get more oxygen. It was now about 10:00 and it was fairly hot with full sun on us. I tried going down as fast as possible on the glacier but the altitude still held me to a slower pace.
At the bottom of the glacier, I took a break with the Mexicans I had met on the summit and we had a chat. I was still higher than 5000m and still feeling very tired.
When I got back in the labyrinth, I kind of zoned out… And of course… tripped on my crampons by catching my gaiters.
Thank god it was a flat spot, but I slammed face first into the hard compact frozen snow. It was really painful. My thumb was badly hit and started bleeding bad. My knees had taken most of the shock but were not that bad because my alpha sv bib had padding for them.
My father always tells me that when you think it s the easiest that it can be the hardest, his words were ringing hard in my head..
The adrenalin from the small accident kept me awake as I was going down the labyrinth, which looked much more different now that it was at day light. Dean was taking more time to go down the glacier, but I still had a visual on him and he was moving.
At the end of the labyrinth, I took off my crampons and took a long rest, I had done much of the way back but it still seemed to be a very long walk down. There was a group of French climbers doing an acclimatization hike. I immediately asked them if they had seen Bonn-Tien at the hut and they responded yes but she was fairly sick.
Although, exhausted, I rushed back down to see how she was doing. About an hour after the end of the labyrinth, I finally made it back to the hut… I had left 11 hours ago, it was 13:00.
Bonn-Tien was reading her book on the front door but looked pale. I came up to her and embraced her. She quickly told me she had gotten a stomach bug and was really feeling bad. I told her not to worry and that we were going down in about an hour.
With extreme efforts, I packed mine and Bonn-Tien`s stuff in our duffle bags as I wanted to go quickly to lower elevations. The jeep arrived at about 13:30 and we packed our gear. Dean had still not arrived yet. I was not worried as there were plenty of people on the route and he is a very strong climber. At exactly 14:00, Dean arrived to the hut with a huge smile. Unfortunately I told him there was no time for celebration and we had to go back to Tlchichuca. Dean packed quickly and hopped onto the Jeep.
We made it back to the ranch 2 hours later and enjoyed a well deserved night. Bonn-Tien felt much better the next day. Because of our tiredness and not willing to put Bonn-Tien at higher elevations, we decided to cancel our last volcano. Instead we headed to Veracruz, a nice Mexican city on the Atlantic coast. It was a chill 2 days allowing us to enjoy the sea level of oxygen.
We went back to Mexico and spent one last night there. I went back to Vancouver while Bonn-Tien flew off to Columbia to work in a slum town.
This was my incredible 30th present… a beautiful summit, a wonderful girlfriend, a great friend and a week in Mexico!!!
