Snowspider-August 2012

Snowspider-August 2012


This is a hike that Dean had attempted before but unfortunately had not made it to the top due to very poor conditions.
We started an early Saturday morning in August where we had guaranteed great weather. The car approach was actually not too difficult all the way to the parking lot and we thought that most 2wd could make it all the way there. 
However, the start gets you in the mood right way as you need to cross a freezing creek that is knee high.      


From there we continued down a logging road for several km until we reached an even larger creek. This crossing was a bit more comfortable to cross as the ground was more even, but the water flow was actually much stronger and somewhat deeper.    

Another few km of logging road followed until we finally had to get into the forest. The trail was easy to follow especially when it opened up to the alpine section. We were trying to make a lot of noise since we could see bear droppings on the trail, we didn`t want to encounter any grizzlies that day.
    

After 3 hours of hiking, we made it to a beautiful small cabin next to a pond.
   
We dropped off our stuff and ran into the water to cool off from the hot day. Because the of the small size of the pond, the water was very warm and perfect to relax from the hiking.


We then made it back to the cabin, where myself and Dean went to hunt for some fresh water. We went to the open slopes where we had seen some creeks earlier. As we were gathering water, hoards of mosquitos were attacking us. This was an extremely unpleasant task and required us to hurry up.
Fortunately, the hut was well sealed and offered some good protection. Bear feet on the ground, I managed to get myself a huge splinter in my foot. Bonn-Tien as a nurse was able to remove it without me screaming too loud.
We went to bed early as we were planning a dusk departure. However, we got woken up at night by some thunder which worried me a bit as I don`t like being stuck on top of a mountain during a lightning storm. 
We were up by sunrise and enjoyed our breakfast in our small cabin in the middle of nowhere. We packed our gear which included crampons and ice axes as we were planning to cross some snowfields. 

Although we had studied the scrambles book before heading to the climb, it was actually fairly difficult to find the trail. From the cabin, we bushwacked quite a bit through the slopes. As soon as the sun came out, an army of mosquitoes came out after us making the travel more difficult than ever.
By the time we made it to the alpine we were all bitten everywhere and had a cartoonesque cloud of mosquitoes following us. 
Luckily, we made it to the ridge where a small breeze blew them away. The ridge involved ups and down but was fairly pleasant to travel on.

After a km, we made it to a boulder field at the bottom of the ice/snow field. The traverse was a bit tricky as we had to be careful not to roll any ankles. 
 

Once we arrived at the snowfield, the quality of the snow made me feel comfortable enough that the ice axe would suffice and I could leave the crampons in the bag.    

At the top of the snowfield, we arrived at a col under a steep face which would be our last step to the top.  

From there, it involves a fun but delicate scramble. There were a few class 4 moves that were not too exposed but presented more challenges when going down. The most important part was to take our time since there were many loose rocks that could have hit the climber below. 
After the face, we arrived at the main summit ridge where we did some additional steps right to the top.   Fantastic viewpoint on the Joffre group and on the Lizzie Lake peaks.

  
A summit that was well worth the effort.

Iago & Great Bear Adventure (February 2013)

Iago & Great Bear Adventure

I had originally planned to innovate with a new traverse that would have allowed us doing 2 peaks that are apparently interesting, a Mount Henning to Mount Thymme route. I had planned everything and had gotten everyone on board.

Unfortunately once we got there, the snowmobile club told us that the route we were planning was heavily used and could be dangerous since snowmobilers were rushing up and down the old logging road.

Luckily Ben knew the area very well and recommended to do Iago and Great Bear which were only a few km away. The hikes were much shorter which a good thing was since we were about 2 hours behind schedule (Dean had forgotten his skins and we had lost time while picking up the team).

As new skiers, this was also less intimidating as we are still taking time to get use to our shoes.

The trail was extremely well broken and provided an amazing glide for our skis. Mostly old logging road at first, then it quickly became a forest trail involving sharp turns and ups and down.

The weather had been fairly poor all day long as we were in the clouds. But as we were approaching the ridge to the top, we could start seeing some blue sky through the fog.

About 3 hours after the beginning of our hike, we made it to the top of Iago which was completely covered.

Because we wanted to set camp, we started digging our snow pit which we would use to sleep in. As we were on our task, the pressure level dropped and we were above a sea of clouds. It was an amazing feeling.  We had full visibility on all the Coquihalla peaks!

This definitely turned the week end around.

In the afternoon, we did a few ski runs on the Iago ridge and even descended the North face for a while. We were really starting to enjoy backcountry skiing.

At the end of our day, we made it back to our summit camp and enjoyed an amazing sunset over the coast mountains. The clouds were still below us and we felt like Gods high from our clear views.

But the weather dropped fast and I was definitely not equipped well enough to deal with the temperatures.

I had a quick dinner as I was extremely cold. Leigh dug a nice snow kitchen which I could not fully enjoy since I had to walk constantly to keep myself warm.

I quickly went to bed in my -10 sleeping bag and with just a small tarp over myself. It was probably -15 that night and I was definitely struggling with the cold.

At 7 am in the morning, we woke up with the first sun lights which finally brought me back warmth.

After a quick breakfast, we decided to go back down the North face of Iago. Since the weather was completely clear now, we could see that the slope offered an amazing ski run for a fairly long distance.

I really felt I was now fully enjoying amazing powder skiing with large turns. The most amazing part was that once we reached the bottom, a track was already made and the ascent back up was extremely fast.

Back at the summit of Iago, we picked up our gear and headed towards Great Bear. This involved the descent of the steep south face of Iago where myself and Dean took off our skis as we are not that good yet.

We quickly ascended the north face of Great Bear and ended right above the highway. We enjoyed a quick lunch and then headed right into the bowl north of the peak. The snow was really amazing there. Back in the forest, we struggled to find our original trail from the day before. But after an hour we were back on track and took off our skins to enjoy a super fast return back to the car.

Again, another adventure in BC that was simply mind blowing.

Goat Ridge (Near Sky Pilot) August 2012

I had attempted this hike a few years ago with my wife bud had failed since we had encountered some steep snowy forest slopes:

http://www.clubtread.com/sforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=34674

Many people don`t even notice this ridge but I always had a fascination for it especially that I had noticed it on my first hike ever with Bonn-Tien which was on the Chief (of course).

Because I had no will to go through the Petgill lake trail and wanted to try this as fast and light, I opted for an option that turned out successful. 

The plan was to use the logging road that goes up the Brittania valley until my 2wd couldn`t make it any more, from there leave the car and continue on a mountain bike as high as I can, almost to the same point where we had to turn around a few years earlier.



The bike uphill was not too steep and good enough so I did`nt have to walk off my bike too often. At the highest clear cut, I hid my bike (from no one since the place sees little souls) and walked through the falls.

Once I reached the forest, I immediately found a trail. Unfortunately it was not the trail I was looking for but it was extremely well maintained. This trail seems to be coming from Brittania Beach and goes south of Goat Ridge, has anyone ever heard about this trail?


I had some good GPS points so I knew that I needED to cross the forest until I met the Petgill-Goat ridge trail. After maybe 15 minutes through some modestly difficult terrain, I finally made it to the well maintained trail. 

Important detail, I was solo, carrying very little and fast walking/running the whole thing. Because of the many markers, following the trail was very easy and very quick.

I made it to the steep section where we had turned around and after that it was all adventure. 
After climbing a few steeper sections, I finally made it to the ridge which is really beautiful. Lots of MTB tracks but I didn’t see bikers any that day. Because of the alpine nature of the terrain, there were a lot less markers and only a few cairns. 

I ran through the 2.5 km of ridge. It was a bit windy but the weather was overall warm. Without a doubt, the views are fantastic and constant. 

The summit is at the end of the ridge and offers a different perspective of Sky Pilot. 

It took me on 3 hours from the car to make it this far so I was fairly happy with my timing.
A few pictures at the top, a Spot check and a sandwich and I was on my way back. 

The return went fast and through the same route. I was excited about my downhill return on the MTB. But not being such a good biker and with traditional breaks, I didn`t really get to rush down that logging road, it did however save me a lot of time compared to walking.

Overall the hike return took me a little bit more than 5 hours and was totally worth it. I really recommend my route for those who have already done Petgill Lake or want to combine this with a bike hike.

Febuary 2013: Mount Sproatt

One of our first ski touring adventures. An easy ascent to the top but a much more challenging moment when we had to go down. I was pleasantly surprised by the beauty of the alpine of the top of the mountain as I always thought that Mount Sproatt was mostly covered by trees.

This mountain was well worth the trip and I could see myself climb it again on poor weather days.

We met ClubTread member Steventy and ex VOCers Doris and Avery. Overall a great day with amazing weather.

January 2013-Fun in the Rambles

I spent 2 days with Dean at the Rambles. We started on Saturday with the Rambles Right where we focused on the first pitch to get back into shape.

The next day we went tot climb Rambles Left where I lead the first 2 pitches. Dean Lead the last and most difficult pitch all the way to the top.

Overall amazing ice climbing conditions on rather dry ice.

Kilimanjaro, Our honeymoon Summit!

I was the fortunate man who had the chance to marry Bonn-Tien this summer of 2012. Since we got married in France and in mid-July, we wanted to do an easy mountain expedition (more pleasant than your average climb) and more importantly relax: after the stress of organizing our wedding.

I have always been fascinated by Kilimanjaro but mostly had never had the chance to explore this part of the world. Bonn-Tien and I therefore decided that this mandatory guided/assisted climb would be ideal for us, light packs, no camp setting up, “gourmet” food and the opportunity to add 2 safaris to the trip.

Because of the large amounts of trip reports on Kilimanjaro, I will just focus on our summit day, which was the most interesting and surely the most intense.

I had opted for the Machame route because of its length (slightly longer and allows better acclimatization), the fact it was less popular and presented many different eco systems. I had asked to be with other climbers but the touring company was unable to find anyone else. I was a bit annoyed that just for only 2 of us, we had the following team:

1 Guide
1 Assistant Guide
1 Cook
6 Porters
Ourselves

That was a lot of people just for 2 climbers, and that was for 6 days.

It took us 5 days to get to the highest camp. 5 amazing days with great views on the mountain. What is surprising is that we could see routes with some ice climbing options, apparently if the mountain would get more rain; it would be much more glaciated than it currently is.

The high camp is highly cramped and is very noisy. For the acclimatization, we were actually doing very well. Bonn-Tien had failed Orizaba the previous year because of altitude sickness, but she was now feeling much stronger, probably by the fact that it had taken us 5 days to make this far and that we had eaten and drank plenty all the way.

The night before the summit, at 4600m high, we fell asleep under a clear sky, had our stomach full and started dreaming of our coming adventure. We could hear the porters feasting around us and singing local chants. We were completely immersed in our adventure.

At 1 AM, our guide shook our tent to let us know that breakfast was ready. Even if this is considered as an easy mountain, the stress was still there but maybe less than our excitement.

Breakfast was served at candle light and we enjoyed a warm porridge in these sub-zero temperatures. 
Bonn-Tien was a bit nervous but I kept re-assuring her that everything was fine and she would be ok at the summit.

About an hour after waking up, we left camp in a moonless night which made the stars brighter and gave us the strength to ascend.

Our guide was actually very confident in our capacities and had decided that we would leave last, that day there were roughly 100 people attempting the summit.

As we climbed, the guide was very slow to ensure that we would be ok on our way up. This was actually a total pain for myself as I felt very acclimatized and had extreme summit fever, this was the freekin roof of Africa, one of the 7 summits!! I could n `t wait to be on the top!

At first we were very lonely on the mountain, the trail is an easy ascent that zigzags up some rocky slope. It really is just a tricky trek with no exposure at all. 

We finally caught up to the bulk of the climbers. Being so many was not that terrible, it felt good to be among other passionate climbers and feel the general struggle. As we were climbing, I kept on seeing shooting stars, one after the other. I think I counted 14 shooting stars that night, more wishes than I good imagine.

In Tanzania, close to the equator, the light comes out around 7, so it was a rather long night. In the darkness, I could hear African guides singing songs to motivate their clients, who most of them had never been so high. 

Very soon, we could see people who were unable to make it any higher, older climbers, half frozen climbers and hipters….

The top of the slope is stellar point which is considered like a “summit”. It`s actually the rim of the volcano. This is a section where many climbers turned around as they feel that they actually made it to the top… not in my world :P 

When we were there, Bonn-Tien and I were still on fire to make it to the top. Bonn-Tien had climbed incredibly well so far and nothing was going to stop her. 

As soon as the sun came out, we got fogged up which was kind of disappointing since we would not have the best views from the summit.

The ridge walk was much longer than I had expected. At 5700m high, in an unroped environment, I wanted to test my physical capacities, so for fun myself and the assistant guide started running up and down to see the effects. They were quite strong…. Very fast, I felt short of breath but was still doing ok, in the meantime some clients were being pulled to the top by their guides.

About 6 hours after we had left camp, we finally made it to the top of Kilimanjaro. Bonn-Tien and I were overwhelmed with joy, what better way to spend your honeymoon than in a tent for 7 days with 9 other men!

Although fogged up, we could easily imagine the crater and the views afar.. Most people stay less than 5 minutes at the top but we decided to do a whole bunch of videos and pictures and just to enjoy this magic moment, so we were there for about an hour. Our guides got impatient, so we had to go back down.

As we came under the fog, appeared Mawenzi, a sister volcano that shares the same plateau as Kilimandjaro. I also got to see the most important thing on this trip, the Kilimanjaro glacier, that is now almost all gone. It was surreal to see these huge walls of ice in the middle of Africa, where he had been so hot a few days ago. Not sure that these will be there when our children climb this mountain.

The decent was done via a sandy slope which was perfect for our knees. At the arrival back to our tents we were greeted by our whole team who sang us a victory song…a must see on my attached video!

Overall, a fantastic adventure that I recommend to all. It is touristy, maybe not the cleanest mountain but a unique climb with amazing people. A true life experience. 

http://adthevenet.zenfolio.com/p297263883/h46f311c2#h46f311c2