Monday, January 6, 2014

High pressure on the Warren Glacier....



There are few places that continue to amaze me no matter how many times I go back. One of those places is under 10km from my front door and with the right weather conditions can't be beat. Mt. Garibaldi is like a beacon to me and it's interesting how almost every adventure involves views of it in the Sea to Sky region. There's nothing better however than getting up close and personal with it and gazing deep into Garibaldi Parks more remote corners from it's shoulder.


                     
With this years ultra low snow pack and a recently closed access point there is an above average "shitshow" driving, parking and sledding to the goods up there. The key is to be the first one up at the crack of dawn to get first tracks on the ice highway and optimize your unloading spot. We took a break at 8:00am to watch the sunrise over Squamish.


A unique view of Tantalus's LovelyWater.


Tantalus....


And Alpha....



We found a good parking spot where we could keep an eye on the house and set off towards the Warren Glacier.


Good views of Castle Towers....


And the impressive Table....  




Garibaldi's rotten Volcanic NF....


After putting in our up-track we dropped in for our first 350m line....  


It was creamy....




So scenic!  


The Black Tusk, Lesser Garibaldi Lake and the Table....  


More juicy lines....




No one else in site...

 


I never get tired of staring at the impressive Atwell Peak....


The sunset was just as spectacular as the sunrise....




We said good-bye to the Sky Pilot and headed down....

A Bridge River New Years....


On Jan 26 our New Years plans were still up in the air with no snow on the ground or in the forecast. It's tradition that we find winter and shred some pow and it didn't look like this would be possible anywhere in the Sea to Sky area. On the 28th we packed up and fled to the much colder Bridge River Valley.                        



On route I test drove my new Christmas gift.... the HandPresso.  


After 4.5 hours we cracked a fresh one to start the trip.  



Our accommodations on Gun Creek road were plush....  



The next day we set off up Pearson Creek and gained the alpine on a crisp day.


Killer views across Carpenter Lake of Mt. Truax. We were here in September....  


And South West to Sloan.



We found pow! 


A good day out with 3 laps....  



Back at the palace we warmed up by Michael's fire place masterpiece....    



The next day we set off to traverse Ridge-a-Rama from camel pass. We were traversed this beautiful part of the South Chilcotins only a few months ago in September.      


 Same spot.... 


 Same spot....



At noon it started blowing!



It got thin in places....


Looking towards Gun Lake....


From this vantage you get a killer view of Carpenter lake!



We got down just in time for an evening hockey game on Pearson Pond....  


The ice was in great shape!







The next day we woke to a stellar blue bird day....  



We decided to do something I'd wanted to try for years.... Head up to Truax from the North. I knew this would be brutal trail breaking with the sled and a two people but this was the day.      


After 20 kms of pretty much all uphill the grade eased off and we were in the shadow of Truax!  



We bottomed out at the head of the valley 36kms later and set off by skins.




The Truax mine in the face of the Goat's Throne was our destination. This place is eery!  




Danielle shredded the Goat's Throat!  




A perfect day out on New Years Eve day!


We went back to our chalet for a few New Years eve pops and headed to Bralorne to celebrate the Mine Shaft way.    





Danielle and Jordan discovered PJ's Fat Bike was a good way to warm up on the cool streets of Bralorne....




After some New Years Eve ridiculousness we woke with head aches and started 2014 with some good memories....