Coast Range Outdoors

After the first week of November, conditions deteriorated and skiing all but stopped for a few weeks. Freezing levels hovered around the 1800-2000m mark, with heavy rain below and heavy snow in the high alpine. Fast forward to the last week of November, the high alpine in the Sea to Sky had anywhere from 1.5 – 3 metres plus of snow on the ground, but tree line areas were thin, and below treeline terrain essentially had no snow at all.

Fortunately, Blackcomb, followed by Whistler, were still able to spin the lifts. The resort skiing was just okay, and very limited, but the lifts provided easy access to high elevation terrain where the skiing was quite good.

On November 25th, AJ, Andrea and I went for a tour into the 7th Heaven area for Blackcomb Mountain. Our initial plan was to get to the top of the 7th Heaven Chair via the designated uphill track on Southside Green. We were then going to look down into the Horstman and Showcase area and decide if we wanted to drop into that area, or ski the runs towards Disease Ridge. After taking a look, we decided to head down towards Disease Ridge. We saw quite a few groups heading up the Stupid Traverse to ski lines into Blackcomb Glacier, but visibility was mediocre and we wanted to see where what we were skiing.

We skied down Upper Cloud 9 towards Lakeside Bowl, and found some great turns. Then, below Lakeside Bowl, we dropped into Sluiceway and found some fantastic turns. Although HS was only about 70cm’s as we got lower, about 30cm’s of fluff was sitting on a very supportive crust that bridged all the early season hazards lurking below. Our initial plan was to then transition and skin up Disease Ridge and do a lap off the ridge into Body Bag Bowl, but, after skiing a great lap down on our first run, we decided to just do that same run again. Go with what you know.

After a second lap, we toured our way back up to Southside Green and cruised back to the ski resort. A lovely day out. Expectations were indeed exceeded.

November 27th on Blackcomb with the BC Parks Crew.

Two days later, I was heading back up Blackcomb with my fellow BC Parkies. I was there with the crew to facilitate the annual companion rescue signoffs to get the team ready for the winter season. I’m always impressed with the skillset and professionalism demonstrated from my coworkers. They did a great job with the companion rescue scenarios, and we were able to then focus on other topics like effective first aid in cold environments, and strike team shovelling. It’s always a good idea to get those rescue skills dialled in at the start of the season, and to continue practicing throughout the winter. Great job, crew!

November 29th – Garibaldi Lake

Andrea and I took the chainsaw for a hike up to kilometre 5.5 on the Rubble Creek trail to buck up a fallen tree. We had a great chat on the way up, and before we knew it, we had the tree bucked up and the trail was clear. We ditched the chainsaw in the woods and continued our hike up. Of course, we ran into 3 more trees which then required the hand saw to come out. Classic!

Next, we went up to kilometer 6.5 to remove some seasonal signage, and then did the same thing at Parnasus Creek. By this point, we were 1km from Garibaldi Lake, and we decided we may as well press on. At the lake, the facilities were in great shape. After a quick cleanup of the Sphynx Shelter and the outhouse, we turned around and made our way back to the work truck. At Garibaldi Lake, there was only 20cm’s of snow. And to answer the timeless question of many a Neve Traverse’er, the lake was not frozen.

Close to the parking lot, we saw a blur of motion in front of us, looked up, and saw a healthy looking Mule Doe on the trail, eating some plants. I hardly ever see deer in the Sea to Sky, so this was a nice wildlife encounter to finish off a sunny day in the mountains. Bring on the snow! Hiking up to Garibaldi lake it hiking boots at the end of November felt weird. Ski touring up would have felt a bit more status quo.

November 30th, Oboe Drainage

Andrea, Keegan, Kirsten and I took the lifts up Whistler to head out towards Flute and Oboe. We skinned up the designated uphill track on Pika’s Traverse to the top of Harmony. I couldn’t believe how many people had the same idea that we did. We saw hundreds of ski tourers and boot packers. I guess with the lack of low elevation snow, there’s not a lot of easy options to get up high besides the WB lifts!

At the top of Harmony, we skied Burnt Stew and then traveresed over towards Flute bowl. We dropped in near the Staccato Glades and had an excellent powder run towards the bottom of Encore Ridge. From there, we skinned up Moose Meadows to get onto Encore Ridge, and then dropped down the East side of the ridge into Garibaldi Park, skiers left of Flute Central, and skied an excellent run down to Oboe Creek. After skinning back out, we were eventually on top of Lesser Flute, and skied a nice run back down to the Symphony Traverse back to Burnt Stew / Sidewinder. What a great day out. Even though it’s been a slow start to the season after things were looking so great in early November, it’s still possible to find some great turns up high.

Something to note, however. The past few weeks of cold and dry weather are facetting the upper snowpack. Our thin snowpack also has a large crust down 30-50cm’s pretty much everywhere in the treeline and alpine. Thin snowpack + cold temps + crusts = strong temperature gradients in the snowpack. Unfortunately, there are now facets above and below this crust, and this process will continue to occur as long as we are stuck in this current weather pattern. This will definitely be a layer to watch out for once the storms start rolling in. But until then, I’ll keep enjoying the low avalanche hazard and soft snow that can still be found. The biggest hazard at the moment continues to be rocks, stumps, creeks, and crevasses.