Name: Ape Lake 2025 BCMC Summer Camp |
Starts: Fri Aug 15, 2025 08:00 |
Return: Sun Aug 24, 2025 22:00 |
Registration opens: Sun Mar 30, 2025 |
Event category: Mountaineering |
Difficulty grade: D5 [?] |
For members only: Yes |
Screening used: Yes |
Max participants: 16 |
Organizer: Ian Harris ![]() |
Profile info: |
1. Please provide a brief description of your mountaineering experience.
2. Have you taken formal crevasse rescue and wilderness first aid courses?
3. Can you drive? If so, from where and with how many passengers?
You must login in order to sign up online for one of the BCMC Trips. If you don't have a BCMC membership account then please obtain one. If you'd prefer to learn more before joining then please join as a 30-day Guest member. Some trips are BCMC members only.
The 2025 BCMC Summer Mountaineering Camp will be held at Ape Lake, in the Monarch group of mountains in the Coast Range of British Columbia. This remote area is home to glaciated, technical mountaineering objectives, as described in Whipple's The Northern Coastal Ranges of British Columbia, A Climber's Guide. The area will be accessed via helicopter, departing Bella Coola on Saturday August 16th, and returning on Sunday, August 24th. Participants will be expected to be in Bella Coola by the night of Friday August 15th, car pooling from Vancouver will be organized. The cost of the flights will be approximately $1100 per person return, and may be slightly higher or lower depending on the final number of climbers. Acceptance to the confirmed list will require a $200 deposit, that will be refunded only if the trip is cancelled outright.
Please note that this area is heavily glaciated, and the mountains may require significant route finding, technical roped climbing, and objective hazard. As such, significant mountaineering and glacier travel experience is a prerequisite for this camp. This is not a guided trip, and the organizer is there to plan the base camp and logistics, not to lead the participants in mountain travel. You must be prepared to climb independently in a remote range and plan accordingly.
Detailed discussion of camp location, shared gear, logistics etc. will take place in the planning forum and in an in-person planning meeting.