Winter

Sulphur Mountain Gondola Terminal (7000').  Bow Valley, Banff National Park Alberta.  Dec. 2012

Greetings and welcome!  It has been a fantastic winter here in British Columbia!  I've been lucky enough to get out on the hills a lot so far this year, and I've been pushing it hard for the PMC!  I write to you fresh off of a trip to the Canadian Cascade range for some beginner ski mountaineering, it was very awesome and very painful.  It turns out the average person learns to ski when they are much younger and perhaps more ductile.  But more about that one later, for now let me catch you up on what has been a busy 2013.  On top of school and staying fit while in the city, I've been out enjoying the incredible recreation areas that surround Vancouver in every direction and on both sides of the border.

Bailey and I finished off our 2012 with a fantastic little road trip to Banff National Park in the Alberta Rockies, about 500 miles northeast of Vancouver.  On a short notice decision with a few days left in my christmas break, I planned a few hikes and we hit the road.  After 12 hours and a dark and terrifying ordeal through heavy storms and endless mountain passes, we arrived in heaven.

Looking northeast from Sanson's peak (7,400') over Banff National Park.  Banff village in lower left.   

The Canadian Rockies are some of the most dramatic mountains in North America, and Banff village is right in the middle of them.  We had dozens of options for hikes, and there are hundreds more we didn't have the time or equipment for.  Route after route on mountain after mountain, the adventures are limitless in a place like this.  During midwinter it's so cold that the snow and air are bone dry, and compared to many ranges the weather is relatively stable and sunny.  All this makes it a winter camping and mountaineering paradise.  Especially so compared to British Columbia's Coast Mountains, which are constantly buried under an ocean's worth of warm wet snow.

Cascade Mountain (9,800') from Banff village.  

Despite the good conditions mentioned above, at this latitude, elevation and time of year, a trip in to the backcountry is a serious commitment.  With such little time the giants surrounding us would be off limits, so we scoped out a couple of trips closer to town.  For the first day a nice snowshoe loop on the Bow River near town,  not too much elevation gain but a great time, and 7 miles.

Bailey snowshoeing along the Bow river near Banff village.  

Sulphur mountain gondola.

I wanted to spend our second day busting my ass up a hill, because well, that's what I enjoy doing.  We found a great hike on Sulphur mountain not too far from the village. A gondola runs up to a summit station on top,  and a steep switchbacked trail follows beneath it.  With little gear and little knowledge of area navigation or current avalanche forecasts, I figured this would be a safe but ass-busting choice.  It definitely turned out to be  the latter and I thought it seemed safe, but was promptly informed by a sign at the top that under no circumstances should I come up that trail because of avalanche danger in the gondola track.  That made a lot of sense, the sign placement not so much.  Thankfully, the dry air leads to low snowfall and generally low avalanche concern... is what I told Bailey.  

We spent the afternoon on the summit of Sulphur and nearby Sanson's Peak soaking up the incredible views and some much needed sunshine.  These mountains are east of the rain shadow of the Cascades, and most of the moisture from westerly ocean winds is wrung out and dumped on the coast ranges.  While those of us close to the ocean are under clouds for the majority of the winter, sunshine can usually be found a few hours to the east at any time of the year.  Free return gondola rides are offered to hikers in the winter, and we gladly  accepted.  We had done about 5 miles and 3,000' of elevation, and it was time to hit the town for some burgers and fries and christmas lights (which were just delightful).  And that it was is it for Banff, for now.  I bought some books and maps, and I will be back.

After the beginning of school things got busier and the trips became more local, but living here in Vancouver that's not exactly a bummer.  First up were a couple of classes on Mt. Seymour, one of the closest mountains in the North Shore mountains right outside of town.  These peaks can be accessed from neighboring North Vancouver, and offer a true alpine experience just minutes from the city.  Hosting both a provincial park and a small ski resort, Seymour has options for everybody including hiking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, downhill skiing, camping and climbing.

The North Shore Mountains and downtown Vancouver from Kitsilano Beach.  Oct. 2012.  

In January I took an avalanche awareness course on Mt. Seymour with the Canada West Mountain School. With all the snow and the wide variety of weather conditions that we have here on the coast, the North Shore Mountains are a great natural laboratory for avalanche education.  I had taught myself on the subject to the best of my ability, but formal education on mountain safety is always best if you plan on spending any amount of time in the backcountry during winter.  We spent a day in the classroom learning the theories of avalanche forecasting and victim rescue, and the next day hiked up to treeline to put it all into practice.

Talking snow stability on the mellow summit slopes of Mt. Seymour (4,700').

Snow test pits for avalanche hazard assessment.

There are two broad categories to avalanche safety awareness.  The first is to know what parts of a slope that you plan to travel on are likely to slide.  This is first done by careful study of weather patterns in the area, as weather creates the snowpack.  The next step is digging into the snow to analyze the many layers deposited by each successive storm event.  In doing this we are searching for poor cohesion between horizontal layers, as this is where storm layers, or 'slabs', are likely to slide off of the layer below and start an avalanche.  Once you have an idea of the likelihood of a slide in certain areas, you can plan your travel to avoid these areas. These assessments are not perfect of course, and in the event of a slide and the loss of a party member swift rescue by the remaining party members is a must as victims usually survive only 10 or 15 minutes once buried.  Technology and rescue protocols have improved over the last decade or so, and thankfully avalanche fatality figures have remained flat despite the huge jump in backcountry use in the same time period.  Avalanche education like this is becoming standard procedure for everybody, and most of us would not travel with someone who was not avalanche aware.  We had great weather and a good instructor, and I hiked about 8 miles and 1,500' of elevation with a loaded winter daypack.

A class with the University of British Columbia outdoor club brought me back to Mt. Seymour the next weekend.  This time we were ice climbing, and as one of the more experienced folks on this trip I would help instruct.  I drove up and met some other instructors the night before our class, and we hiked up to the summit area in mixed light of the moon and the ski area floodlights.  It was a very pleasant trip up on the snowshoes, though laden with winter overnight gear and climbing gear to boot.  The weight adds up fast on a trip like this and it was a great workout to be sure.  Every step under a brutal pack like that has me imagining those last few miles of the PMC.  I know it's coming and I know that it will be tough, but every one of those steps makes me that much more ready.  Hard as it was, we were rewarded at the top with clearing weather and a stunning view of greater Vancouver lit up beneath us.  It was relatively warm and calm and clear, and we set up camp right in front of that view.  The next morning brought more great views and great weather and some pretty decent climbing (the coast mountains aren't known for great ice, but we do what we can).  All told I probably did about 6 miles and 2,000' of elevation under an overnight winter climbing pack.

Sunrise over Mt. Baker, WA, USA (10,800') from Mt. Seymour.  

Downtown Vancouver under fog from Mt. Seymour.  

Between trips I've been staying fit in the city as much as my school schedule allows. I have my choice of the gym in my neighborhood or the one at school for weight training and cardio training, and I make good use of Vancouver's beautiful bike paths for biking, walking and running.  I usually manage something like this at least 3-4 times a week so things are definitely picking up, and it's great to start to feel progress in any training program.  That's about it for now, thanks for visiting!  Please tell your friends about the Pan Mass Challenge, and please DONATE if you can!

Stay tuned for our next installment, where I'll be getting beat up on the backcountry ski slopes of southern British Columbia, and sunburned in the central Oregon desert with Simon and Bailey!

Bailey on the bike path, Fairview district, Vancouver.  

Boats, the Burrard bridge and the North Shore Mountains from the bike path, downtown Vancouver.