_modzzz_articles_page_title_browse_letter RSS2020-05-14T21:12:00+0000Saturday, May 9, 2020 A group of three of us road our bikes up to the Seymour valley trail, locking them up at around 9:45am at the trail entrance which is just a few minutes off the main road. This is the shorter route compared to the Norvan falls approach, which adds 2-4 hours on your round trip time.  Trail flagging for the first few kms through the forest had been ripped out deliberately at some point in the last several months.However the trail is pretty easy to follow, and obvious if you are paying attention.  Snow line started right below the Paton peak ridge area. After putting on spikes and gaiters, we encountered a few other hikers hanging around the lookout area. Crossed over the valley and started climbing up the snowy slope to Coliseum around noon. The snow was soft, but had enough composition to allow for steady climb up. It is quite steep through here, and everyone made good use of their trekking poles for stability and climbing purposes.  There is nothing too technical in here. We had a few slips and slides, but nothing serious. We reached the top at around 1:45PM, had lunch, and decided to head down after around an hour. We encountered a couple that was headed further west to camp for the night.  Going down was more difficult, although nothing particularly technical. It was just slow going in the steeper sections. We encountered a few large holes where we punched through. These holes are likely to get worse in the coming weeks. If you are looking for something close to town while the parks are still shut down, this is a great day hike. Give yourself lot's of time, as the short distance (11.5 km round trip) is deceiving. It was 4200 ft of vertical, so prepare to have fairly sore legs at the end of the day. Definitely bring microspikes and poles.  Despite the amount of snow and runoff, there were surprisingly few spots to filter water. We only spotted a small trickle on the way down. Bring lot's of water.      ... Read more

]]>2020-05-14T21:12:00+0000From event https://bcmc.ca/m/events/view/1551410988   Hi team. Thanks for coming out last Wednesday. I just wanted to follow up with two specific points on transceiver search and how they relate to the 4 scenarios we ran.    Our scenarios were quite ideal. Of our task force, we had two people on the transceiver strike team.  They were organized 15-20m apart and directly descended the slide path. This had good horizontal separation. Generally one searcher went for one victim respectively.    In our scenarios, if both searchers zeroed in (or believe they have zeroed in) on the same victim, what are we to do? We must mark the first signal, or otherwise make the transceiver "un-latch," then we must return to the coarse search path where we initially picked up the signal. We must ensure no part of the track or the deposit is skipped over. Put a single, obvious, piece of your own personal gear on the snow where you left your signal search. Do not use rescue equipment. Do not use something small. Do not abandon gear on the slope haphazardly; this can contaminate the scene in case avalanche dogs are required. Good items to use: helmet, ski pole, ice axe, picket. Bad items to use: ski, backpack, glove, tuque. These items are either required for travel, required for rescue, are too small, or contain a lot of scent. Perform your own discrete coarse search. Do not directly run over to the other strike team member; you may have found a unique signal. If you both have the same signal, ensure closer transceiver strike team member has a genuine signal and is competently zeroing-in on their victim. Once your transceiver is close enough to do so, flag; suppress; or mark the other strike team member's victim's transceiver. Perform micro strip or 3-circle method to ensure there is no close-proximity second burial. Return to the piece of gear you placed in step 1. Pick it up or put it back on. Resume signal search (or immediately start coarse search if you have the second signal).   In... Read more

]]>2019-03-22T18:17:00+0000The objective was to find the route to Crown Pass, over the snow-pack. Mountaineering crampons and two ice axes were indispensable. Due to the recent warmth, the snow-line is very high. Grouse Grind was clear, and the BCMC trail had only snow near its very top. The snow quickly turns soft/mushy by noon, or well before it. While I' d done this route (Grouse Grind to Crown Pass to Crown) a few times in summer, the winter route has never been clear. I'd examined the snow-pack in both early winter, and last Spring. I knew the route to Goat Mountain, and the location of the fork towards Crown. But the route down, which in summers goes via a chain section, has never been clear. This time, too, I did not find the trail. Going back and forth, examining various options, I finally decided to descend (what appeared to be) a drainage path. I'd seen it on a previous attempt. It was wide, flat (with all the snow) and clear, nearly all the way down to Crown Pass, ending not too far (perhaps 150 metres or so) from the location of the summer trail's entrance to Hanes Valley ie the bottom of Crown Pass. I had lots of time, perfect visibility, and the snow-pack had not turned into slush yet. Avalanche rating was Moderate, and the path's two ends did not suggest either a recent avalanche or a large potential at the top. The surface snow seemed fine, but of course I was taking a chance on the layers beneath! I cramponed my way to the bottom. But, passing a boulder, I heard water flowing beneath, which alarmed me greatly. It was half way down, and I decided to continue. The path was lined with trees on both sides, and very well shaded. Once at Crown Pass, I was surprised to see that a few trail markers, for the route to Crown, were still visible! But this quickly ended. I relied on my recollection, and experimentation, to find a route up. The summer trail goes up towards left, generally. This sufficed to get me past the steep, (south-eastern?) cliff-face which was my main concern wrt ro... Read more

]]>2018-05-16T02:50:00+0000It was another great day in the mountains!   Surprisingly for a weekday there were 3 cars at the trailhead before us.  They didn't go our way to Cayoosh Mtn, Lazy Boy maybe?  It snowed a bit, and the wind was light the whole time.  And we had uptracks to follow from the weekend (?).    Going up from the lower logging road (no alders thankfully) we got a bit high on the rock slide before crossing through the trees, but the going was good.  It got a bit steep, we were side hilling a bit but it worked out ok.  Keeping right we crossed moraine and kept to the left side of the glacier to try to avoid any crevasses that may be inadequately covered.    It was -6 C when we started out at 8 am and it was -6 C at our high point (2350 m) at 12:30 pm (cheap $5 MEC thermometer).   We couldn't complain about the 30 cm+ fresh snow.   Poor visibility prevented a summit attempt, but we didn't care.  Skiing down the untracked upper section was like a dream, seriously.  A party of 3 watched as we tore up the fresh snow.    The rutschblock test we did (fun!) at 2060 m suggested an unyielding snow.  Nothing was moving!  Our probes went down 2 m.  After that, Sebastian discovered a break at 30 cm depth, but you had to work hard to get it to move a tiny bit (CTM 20 or higher).     Looking at the GPS track on Google Earth we did actually cross some crevasses around 2300 m if the historical imagery still applies.  But we didn't notice any dips or changes in the surface snow to suggest there were any crevasse issues and everything was solid.   Taking the shortest route back down, we ended up at the cabin.  We stopped to look inside, then back up to the logging road, and we were at highway level at 2:30 pm, it was a fast day!   Home at 7 pm for dinner.... Read more

]]>2015-12-16T04:26:00+0000Chris Ludwig and a B.C. Mountaineering Club volunteer crew take on the Might Alder on the way to Mamquam Mountain. The mighty alder has defeated many a party coveting the prized ascent. We established a small bridgehead in early 2015 at the Skookum power plant. From the dam we follow old logging roads leading to an abandoned trail going to Darling Lake. The going is tough in 20 year old alder, while travel in the adjacent 30 year old second growth conifers is worse. In 2012, the power project blasted a new road 7 km up the east side of Skookum Creek on the southern boundary of Garibaldi Provincial Park and 10 km east of Squamish on the Mamquam Forest Service Road. On the west, the Ring Creek lava flow towers over 100 meters above, impossible terrain of lava boulders, hummocks and bush. Most of the forest land outside the park is lava flow or was logged over 30 years ago - the bridges gone and access roads reverted to bush. Access to the area is only by the dam road and a couple of routes cleared by club volunteers. The ambitious plan is to reestablish the once popular ski trail via Darling Lake to Mamquam Mountain and to establish a hiking trail.The Alder is mighty. It never sleeps. It's cunning is legendary. It will eclipse the works of Man. It can only be subdued by Shade."My name is the Mighty Alder, king of trees:Look on my stems, ye Climbers, and despair!"Nothing beside remains. Round the wreckOf the old growth forest, a mere twenty years sinceThe verdant and green alder stretch far away.- apology to Percy Bysshe Shelley

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