Mount Hanover/ West Gully accident

In my continuous goal to ascend as many BC Mountains as possible, I realized that I had never attempted Mount Hanover which was so close to the GVRD.

In September, I had wedding to go to early in the evening and therefore I would not be able to have a decent climbing day unless I stayed local. This lead me to want to climb Mount Hanover.

On Saturday morning, Ben (Double E Alpinist) picked me up around 3:30 am so we could get an early 4 am start.

At the Lions Bay parking lot we were joined by Mark (MJ24), Paul and Thomas who were are well excited to scramble up this mountain.
We were traveling light and traveling fast, within a few hours we were already at hat pass. The traverse to the entrance of the gully was a lot of fun as it required to go over some snowfields, boulder hoping and scrambling up the creek (a shortcut compared to the normal route)

When we arrived at the bottom of the gulley, we all put our helmets and decided to stick closely together. Indeed, there were a lot of loose rocks and if one of us pushed one off, it would be best that it would not have enough time to gain momentum before hitting someone else. 
The ascent was a pure pleasure and we were already feeling the Autumn coming in (this was early September) 

At the top we took a few pictures and spoke about various possible routes up the north face of Brunswick. After a good hour of chilling, we decided to head back down. Even more on the decent, was it very important to stay close as releasing rocks was lot more probable. 
We went down just fine the first two thirds although there were some delicate steps that required very good hand holding.
At the last tricky move, we had all made it down but Paul. As Paul was going down back facing, he slipped with his five finger shoes on the wet grass, this lead him to slide for only 2 meters but enough to have him push a huge 100 kg rock that started falling towards Thomas and Ben (Mark and myself were on the side). Luckily, they were both out of the way and the block stopped before injuring anyone. 
We were very happy that nobody got hurt… Until we realized that in his slide, Paul has dislocated his shoulder.

He was in a lot of pain and we had a hard time to get him all the way down the gulley.

Once there, we attempted to relocate his shoulder, but that was impossible to us.
The only option that came to mind was to make it back as fast as possible to the cars and bring him to the hospital.
But the boulder hoping was just horrendous for someone who was in so much pain and could not use any of his arms. 
We all decided that SAR was the only option at this time because it was almost impossible to move Paul and that he could perhaps fall and get in a worst shape.

We didn`t have any network being behind Brunswick but I knew that we would get plenty one we were on hat pass.

Mark and Thomas stayed with Paul while myself and Ben rushed to the pass.
For those who are not familiar with the spot, we had to go all the way down to the Brunswick bowl and then run up back to the pass. This took almost an hour while Paul was struggling to stay awake (he also had had little sleep the night before).
Once at the pass, we contacted 911 who reached out to SAR. But we were given little information. We waited for a while hoping to see a helicopter come, but nothing was happening.

We sent a few text to the others hoping that they would get a bit of network and decided to rush down to the SAR/Fire Rescue center in Lions Bay. Myself in Ben were pumped up by the events and came down super fast back to the car. I don`t think I have done this trail so quickly.

Once at the car we headed to the SAR center where we met the team who was well aware of the situation. The problem was that all the volunteers were stuck in a traffic jam caused by 2 major accidents on the 99.

In the command center, I pointed out exactly where the group was and how the terrain looked. The mission was going to be a helicopter evacuation for all three of them.
About an hour later, the entire SAR team was present and they could go ahead with the evacuation.

We all gathered in the Lions Bay soccer field where the helicopter landed. From there it took off and in two return trips, it had picked up everybody. Paul had had his shoulder relocated by the SAR member who simply massaged it. There had been no need of jamming it, all it needed was a gentle hand that put the shoulder back in it s natural socket.

Paul still had to spend some time at the hospital, so after landing an ambulance picked him up and went straight to Lions Gate GH.

It was a hot day and myself and Ben went to the convenience store to get food and drinks for the SAR team who well deserved it. 

We thanked them for their amazing help and I had to rush to the wedding.

Fortunately, the wedding was in West Van but I had no time to shower. My wife brought me some clothes and I arrived right on time for the ceremony, sweaty and in jeans….
    

Sketchy times on Golden Ears

With a previous failed ascent a year ago, I was determined to finally summit the notorious, popular and nearby Golden Ears. How can anybody not want to climb this mountain that screams for ascents when you are in the skytrain on your way to the office?
The context was a beautiful May Sunday with little clouds insight. Bonn-Tien finally had some time available to go climbing and it was a great opportunity just for me and her to get together before our big day coming a few weeks later.
Trail was in great conditions and we only hit snow around 1000 m high (May 27th 2012). Regretfully we did not take any crampons but we did take our ice axe which turned out to be essential that day.
The climb was very pleasant and the snow offered little potholing and very fast travel.
We could see some slides coming off the top but felt that the terrain we were going through was simple and unexposed at this time of the year.       
We arrived at the emergency hut that looked more like an underground bunker.    
Our pace was good and we were planning to make it to the top very fast….We would learn that the mountain decides when you arrive to the top.
In the summit bowl, myself and Bonn-Tien slowed down by the effort of the ascent and regrouped right under the hill that leads to the notch which itself leads to the summit ridge. 
The snow was still good at this time of the day but started to become very soft, allowing a deep and safe footing. 
After climbing the steep section to the notch we left out packs to get ready for the even steeper section that leads to the ridge.
At this time of the year, this is literally a wall of snow that you have to climb and hope for the best. Hope for the best because it is very clear that there is some kind of bergshrund between the snowfield and the rock. 
The task was relatively easy thanks to our ice axe and a quick move from the snow to the rock relieved us from the over-excitement of mountaineering. 
But the summit ridge was not what I was expecting….
In front of us laid itself a steep, icy 150m ridge. Where had my soft snow gone!! We were equipped for some spring snow but not this kind of conditions.
The ice axes somehow worked but our footings were just terrible. I believed that the reason for this ice was continuous melting freezing with windshields allowing the minus 0 temperatures.
It was out of the question that we were going straight on the ridge. But another option seemed doable. 
We decided to use the bushes as a ladder to the top. Their thick bases provided sure footing and combined with an ice axe, we had a relatively safe climbing method.
Easier said than done, the ridge was still super sketchy as those branches were not always perfectly placed. A few sections required crossing with no holds, just on the snow trying to break the ice with our axes stabbing as hard as possible. 
Those last 150 m probably took us an hour, 20% of our time for 1% of our route. The top was however well worth it and was glad that we had finally climbed Golden Ears. Won`t feel so bad when I see it from the skytrain.      
The descent required the same level of attention + the extra concentration because of the downhill factor.
Once back to the notch, I thought the day was over and we were now safe. However, it had seriously warmed up and instead of icy snow being our nightmare; it was uberwet slides starting with a simple footstep.
We only needed to go down the notch for about 40 m, but the conditions were horrendous. As soon we were going down, a nasty wet slide would start with serious potential of burial. We literally felt stuck at this point.
What do we do? Do we wait for the night for cooler conditions?
I opted for the traditional Chamoniard option which is avalanche control. 
With Bonn-Tien, we carefully tried to launch a slide from the top (we could clearly see we were the only ones around). As were pushing the snow, a large snow monster started to form itself rolling down the hill carrying large amounts of snow. 
This mini avalanche cleaned us a route down these steep 40 meters. There was nothing left to slide if we stayed in the tracks of the avalanche we had just created.
We quickly made it down the dangerous section and were back in the safer bowl of Golden Ears (safe at this time of the year).
We were still very happy with our day and enjoyed great glissading back to the forest with a long walk back to our car. 
If you truly want to make it to the top of Golden Ears before the snow melts (mid July) make sure you are well equipped and are prepared for technical conditions.

October 2011/Slalok North Face

A great classic alpine climb in the Joffre range that I can never recommend enough. Myself and Dean had tried about a year before this ascent and had failed by taking the wrong route which was extremely deep in snow and had very poor conditions.

This time we did our homework and made sure we were on the right route with the right conditions.  

We left Vancouver very early as this was just going to be a day trip. It was one of those perfect fall days, very dry and very sunny.

It had already snowed quite a bit in the Joffre range but only at about the level of the second lake, which meant no snowy lower boulder field!!

We were climbing fast and light that day and I was testing out my brand new super light Scarpa Triolet that I had just gotten at “Au Vieux Campeur” in Paris.

Over excited by the weather and the perspective of some great alpine climbing, we rushed through Joffre lakes and made it in about 90 min to the bottom of Slalok.

At this point there was a bit of powder on the rocks, not really enough to slow you down but great to sprang your ankle.

The section from the lake to the bottom gulley is very deceiving. It always looks like it will be a hop away but turns out in this long tiring slog.

Once in the gulley we had two types of snow, some hard polystyrene type snow, which I like to call mountain highway. And then we would get pure knee deep snow, which I call mountain slow motion. 

Once at the exit of the gulley, we found some bare ice which would have made the ascent a bit faster and funner but the lack of ice screws maintained us in the deep snow.
On the open face of Slalok, it was a tough fight against the elements. Every step was so heavy and energy consuming.

My tactic was to go as West as possible near the ridge, hoping that the wind would have either pushed off the powder or frozen most of the snow.    
Once on the ridge, I only found real comfort by walking on the rocks but sinking deep each time that I had to cross from one island of rocks to another.

About 100 m under the summit, it gets very fun (I was having some kind of fun until then). The slope becomes very steep, probably 50 degrees. There was no need for protection since there was nowhere to place them. With our ice tools, we ascended this section directly, the thrill just killed any fear from the exposure.

The final summit notch required to be careful 
as it was full of hidden snow holes. The top was beautiful and the great weather allowed perfect shots. 
The descent was extremely pleasant in this kind of snow as it is almost impossible to lose control of your speed in this kind of snow.

We took a little rest at the upper lake and then had an uneventful return to the car.
Overall, a fantastic climb that requires to be a little fit but would be a perfect intro for alpine climbing. 

April 2012, Whirlwind, Overlord and Benvolio

Snowshoeing is fun but not meant for long traverses. However, with the Easter long week-end ahead, I was planning to do something challenging and something that I personally had never heard of, do the Spearhead traverse on snowshoes. I had already done the previous year, the Garibaldi Neve which had been a real success, especially by the fact that I had gone with a large group of skiers and they never had needed to wait for me.
My friend Matt had contacted me earlier that week stating that he was also very interested to go climbing for a few days and that the Spearhead traverse seemed a good option.
However, with snowshoes, you cannot take advantage of the backcountry pass therfore we would be required to go counter clockwise by starting on the Whistler mountain side.

When we arrived Saturday morning in Whistler, we realized that overnight parking was going to be impossible. At first, we were going to pay a $25 a night fee to keep the car at the Hilton but Matt remembered that his cousin lived in town and that we could leave the car at her place. This turned out perfect as she lived almost at the bottom of the Whistler Mountain slopes.

We left the car, went across the forest and ended on the slopes our snowshoes. This section was tricky as I knew that the ski patrol would not be happy to us on their turf with snowshoes. Luckily the section was short and fast to traverse. In no time we arrived at the trailhead of Russet lake.

We had started right after lunch as were planning only to go to the hut that day…only the hut. It`s still a very long way up there at this time of the year.. We crossed many friendly and unfriendly skiers on our way up and met some MEC employees right at the singing pass. The funny thing is that one of the girl was the one I had called about for a whole bunch of questions about gear rental.    


We finally made it to the hut where another skier greeted us. As usual, the mountain spirit got everyone together, and dinner of noodles and cookies got us all quickly to the bed. The night was however very windy and snow kept coming through the slightly opened window which lead me to wake up covered in white powder.
The next morning we woke up early as I wanted to make it as far as possible on the traverse, ideally all the way between the Ripsaw and Tremor. Of course the goal was also to bag as many peaks as possible.
When we got out of the tent, instantly we knew it was going to be a good day. No wind, no clouds, bluebird sky and warm orange halo covering the mountain.
We packed all our gear as we were not supposed to come back and continue our traverse. The packs were a bit heavy but nothing crazy. However, because of the cold, I had no idea how much of my gas canister was left, which kept me a bit concerned on our ability to melt snow that night.

Our first goal was Whirlwind, fairly close to the hut. The trail was slightly broken into and it did feel a bit like a slog to make it up there. But the views on Garibaldi park and Rainbow mountain kept up motivated and full of energy. The way up to the col was tough but we were rewarded by a fun section right below the summit.      The top was beautiful and gave us amazing views on our future route.


I was originally thinking of doing the ridge directly to Overlord but it felt too tricky at this time of the year. We would go on the glacier and then around north before making it to the top. We had a fun run down to the bottom glacier and decided not rope up as the snow conditions at this time of the year are probably their best.

Once we had to start going back up towards Overlord, the powdery snow made it fairly difficult. The ascent was slow and harsh. About at the foot of the peak, Matt got too tired to go on and asked me if we could cancel this snowshoe attempt of the Spearhead. I was really surprised as it was still early in the day, we had made a great deal of distance and the conditions were perfect. However, if he felt uncomfortable going any further, there was no point of going deeper in the backcountry. He stayed at his location while I was going to attempt a few more peaks.     

At first I tried to climb Overlord on the eastern face, but the steepness and poor snow quickly deterred me. Therefore, I decided to go the scrambles route which is the full south face. The wind swept slope made it easy as the snow was very hard. At the top, I could see Matt lower below making himself a snowwall to protect himself from the wind that had picked up.  

A few shots, and I decided to head back to Benvolio which was less than a km away. On the way up to this summit, Iwas required to jump a few minor crevasses which was scary since I was alone at this point.

I quickly made it to the top of Benvolio which I considered to be the gates of the deep Spearhead traverse backcountry. Happy with my amazing views but melancholic that the traverse would not be for this week-end. I took a few pictures and looked at the route that I was supposed to do. It`s ok, this will be for next time.    

I went back to join Matt, where he had setup himself a comfortable winter camp. We decided to go back to the hut, where at least we would have a warm night and I knew we would be ok with the warter melting situation.

We went back the direct way by going north of Fissile peak wich involved going down some mellow but none less impressive ice falls with deep crevasses.  


Back, at the hut, large group of backcountry skiers had joined . From there, we enjoyed another friendly evening where we allowed ourselves to go late to bed since we knew that we would only have to return back to the car the next day.

The last day, instead of going back the way we came up, we decided to the musical bumps. This turned out very challenging as we constantly go up and down, up and down, up and down. It got fairly tricky once we made it to the ski area.

To avoid getting hit by a skier or get a ski patrol agent scream at us, we stayed at the top of the hills, right at the border of the resort. The only tricky past was the traverse all the way back to the main gondola back to the village. To manage, we stayed between the slopes but had to run fast when we had to cross them. We actually met some ski patrol/first aid guys, who seemed to be totally careless that we were on snowshoes.

Back at the gondola, we went down without showing a pass or being asked any questions. After 3 days in the beautiful backcountry, we were back in the village gong show, enjoying with everyone nachos and beer, I was happy but already missing the backcountry.