hjselde
GPS Track, North is up
GPS by Magnus. shows how close we came to Bute inlet at the other side of the Icefield. thats the Pacific ocean! I think a traverse would be reasonable starting with a float plane on the coast. just have to figure out the car drop, lol.
started up a ridge on the North side of 9 Mile Creek. avoided any creek crossings, big bonus. not so much snow on the South facing aspects. made a whopping 1.6km as the crow flies our first day. camped on the snow everyday which was nice.
up and down a bit as we traveled along glaciers and down steep cols. a few tricky boot packs down some gullys and rock bands made easier by 25cm of fresh snow on our 2nd day. covered up the icy bits and offered some padding in case we fell.
got to spend 2 nights on the Homathko Icefield, yeah :))
magical place, heightened by the difficulties in reaching it. pondered the NOLS trips who get to spend a month up here for mountaineering instructions, mmm. so much potential.
the peaks on the Icefield were somewhat technical, but there were enough walkups to keep anybody busy for a while. dont forget your zinc oxide. towards the end, the beef jerky seemed extra hot until we realized all of our tongues were a bit sunburned.
decided on the lower route out along Deschamps Creek. the alternative was a higher route along glaciers up and down a bit further South. there was an awesome view of the route at our last alpine camp spot. it was so tempting to strap the skins on again and keep above the treeline, but our timeline was getting short and the route was unproven.
heck of a ski out. started off a roller coaster ride along the snow covered creek. lots of wildlife tracks in the snow: cougar, wolf, snow rabbit, bear. fascinating watching the forest change as our elevation decreased and travel slowed. we'll never look at skiing the trees the same way again!
GPS Track, North is up
GPS by Magnus. shows how close we came to Bute inlet at the other side of the Icefield. thats the Pacific ocean! I think a traverse would be reasonable starting with a float plane on the coast. just have to figure out the car drop, lol.
started up a ridge on the North side of 9 Mile Creek. avoided any creek crossings, big bonus. not so much snow on the South facing aspects. made a whopping 1.6km as the crow flies our first day. camped on the snow everyday which was nice.
up and down a bit as we traveled along glaciers and down steep cols. a few tricky boot packs down some gullys and rock bands made easier by 25cm of fresh snow on our 2nd day. covered up the icy bits and offered some padding in case we fell.
got to spend 2 nights on the Homathko Icefield, yeah :))
magical place, heightened by the difficulties in reaching it. pondered the NOLS trips who get to spend a month up here for mountaineering instructions, mmm. so much potential.
the peaks on the Icefield were somewhat technical, but there were enough walkups to keep anybody busy for a while. dont forget your zinc oxide. towards the end, the beef jerky seemed extra hot until we realized all of our tongues were a bit sunburned.
decided on the lower route out along Deschamps Creek. the alternative was a higher route along glaciers up and down a bit further South. there was an awesome view of the route at our last alpine camp spot. it was so tempting to strap the skins on again and keep above the treeline, but our timeline was getting short and the route was unproven.
heck of a ski out. started off a roller coaster ride along the snow covered creek. lots of wildlife tracks in the snow: cougar, wolf, snow rabbit, bear. fascinating watching the forest change as our elevation decreased and travel slowed. we'll never look at skiing the trees the same way again!