_modzzz_articles_page_title_browse_letter RSS2024-05-13T05:45:00+0000The adventure started with a hike for 6-7 km before the snow begins. Due to high temps the snow was very soft. The skin up gets quite challenging at times. Other than a few turns on the ridge the skiing wasn't fun. The highlight of this trips were the views from the ridge and good weather. Given the snow condition, snowshoes or skis are required to reach the top of the ridge. 

]]>2024-05-13T05:45:00+0000Here is the URL for my pictures of the crevasse rescue course. Copy and paste it into your browser. You can download any pictures that you like with the link on the bottom right.   https://lensoet.smugmug.com/2018/Crevasse-Rescue-Course/

]]>2018-01-15T11:59:00+0000This amazing area got my attention a year ago.  Looking over from Castle Towers last September, there was this absolutely stunning view of Phyllis Engine and the Sphinx Glacier under a clear blue sky.  I put that image on my screen saver on the first day back, and it was a daily reminder to eventually fulfill my goal of climbing Phyllis. This time promised to be another good one with just a few clouds above us and a good forecast for the remainder of the long weekend.  There were only a handful of vehicles in the Cheakamus parking lot on Saturday morning, and later on we encountered just one other group of three with the same objective as us.  Starting from the trailhead at 7:30 am, we made rapid progress trying out the newly constructed lower section of the Helm Creek trail.  We were wondering how much higher the trail will be re-built, and we thought that the remainder of the old trail seemed to be pretty good already.  Helm glacier was down to bare ice almost to the top, and crevasses were exposed and easy to avoid or jump over, so we decided not to rope up.  We probably could have gone without crampons as well because the ice was a bit crunchy, but we put them on anyway.  About halfway up Polemonium Ridge we decided to take advantage of a local patch of snow for water and camped at 3:30 pm. On Sunday we started out at 6:30 am.  The other group had camped at the top of Helm Glacier and were already an hour ahead of us that day, saying hi as they passed us on the way up.  But then we passed them when they missed the hidden scrambly section and tried to descend off the steep south side of Polemonium ridge.  We didn’t know at that point if there was another way down or not, so we didn’t say anything to them.  They seemed to be stalled on the ridge for a while, maybe they intended to rappel to the talus slope.  By the time we saw there was no easy way down for them on that side, we were too far away to advise them.  We watched them below us as we traversed up the sno... Read more

]]>2015-08-06T01:38:00+0000Participants: Paul Kubik, Roger Barany, Steve Pollack, dog Linus and Mark Tremblay. February 21, 2015 Some pictures from Pokosha posted by Simon Chesterton the previous week made the snowfields on Pelion look pretty smooth. It seemed a good opportunity to check out Pelion. I put a trip at short notice on the schedule and got a couple of members from a Duffey trip that was cancelled. I wasn't much concerned about the snow level. There hasn't been any at low elevations all winter. I warned people  in advance that it would be a long hike carrying skis. On Friday night Mark phoned to say he would join us and go partway. He had just lost his dog of 15 years so I thought he might need some 'Linus' time. We met Saturday morning and drove up to the trail. Mark parked his van on Ashlu Main and the Xterra took the rest of the party up the washed out A200 road to the trailhead. The hike up was pretty enjoyable. The benefit of having sunshine and no snow for weeks on end is that the trail was dry and mud free. That allowed us to make good time with the heavy packs. Despite that, it is still a lot faster to ski the trail. It felt more like an early July trip except it was a bit colder and there were no bugs and bears. We eventually arrived at the snowline at 1 PM, right where the trail bursts out of the trees onto the moraine. I did say it is faster on skis. Mark had turned around shortly after the footbridge crossing. Roger was feeling the exertion and urged Steve and I to make haste for the summit. He would follow us higher as his energy level permitted. After lunch, Steve and I started up continuous snow next to the moraine and then up the NW ridge of Pelion. Snow conditions were thin, hardly a meter in depth. The snow was hard frozen and streaked with water runnels. Near 1700 meters we were compelled to mount the ski crampons. The views were opening up and I could see that what had appeared to be smooth snow from afar was a misconception. The north face direct route was shee... Read more

]]>2015-02-28T14:28:00+0000What a great trip! Awesome group, teamwork, positive attitude, incredible scenery and good weather!!  Well, for the most part... except the white out... And that one REALLLY big gust of wind ;)

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