The Sun God

Over the past 10 years or so I've been obsessed with riding the North Face of Sun God. Every summer it would loom in the back-ground from our Tenquille lake mountain bike rides. From that vantage it's a dominating rock face with slivers of snow filling only the smallest crevasses. It tends to be a face that's usually shredded in the spring when you can drive to near the base. Corn would be okay but pow would make it epic! We tried to nail it back on March 19 this year but it didn't live up to it's namesake. That day it was more like Storm God. No vis , puking and wind. On Saturday morning the forecast called for The Sun God to show itself and freezing levels to remain manageable. After a short sled ride Danielle and I we're  the only ones in the valley and at the base of the God.  Slideshow

    

The standard way to the top is usually a direct boot-pack up the central couloir. I was not interested in being in the direct shooting gallery from what looked like a 20ft plus cornice on one of the first hot days of the year.  

We decided to find a way up to Cerulean Lake and then hunt for access to the ridge that separates Seven O Clock mountain and Sun God. It wouldn't be an easy task as the 1700m lake is surrounded by cliff bands. 

Let the boot-pack begin. 

And some skinnin. 

More boot packing but starting to get into 30cms of pow! 

On the way up we decided to look for an alternate descent line if for some reason we couldn't get over or around the cornice. 

The summit came into view! 

Prior Khyber and G3 prototype splitty skins. What else do you need?

4 hours from the sled we finally found an entrance to the ridge with a super steep boot pack. 

Once on the ridge the views south to Pemberton were stunning! 

        

Danielle took a moment to admire a line we ripped on Ronayne back in March. http://www.flickr.com/photos/patmulrooney/5530682967/in/set-72157626452399540/lightbox/

Time to bag a summit. 

More scenic ridge travel with the fabled knife ridge of Mt. Currie in the back-ground. 

      

Our friends Meager and Plinth. 

Tenquille Lake and Mountain and Goat. 

  

    

The Sun God welcomes us with no wind at 6:00pm. 

We decided to drop into a line 100m from the true summit that looked to hold deeper pow and was 100% north facing. It had no chunder or debris from the day's warming and looked juicier than the other line. It would be more complicated and wasn't a guaranteed exit. 

Danielle dropped in first as I lurked over the cornice. 

                     

The snow was nothing short of amazing for the last day of April 2011! 

After the 500m summit steeps we spilled out to the massive avy fan and got in some spring turns. 

Danielle and I agreed this was the best line of 2011! The Sun God finally let us in! Hope to see ya next year.       

                                       

A fat week in Slim Creek!

I've been meaning to start a blog for some time now so after an incredible four days deep in Slim Creek this seemed like a good first go at it. I'd been into this zone before but it was always really late in the season and involved bikes, huge packs, long walks, swamps, grizzly bears, and crevasses. I had hoped for a bigger crew than just Danielle and myself but this Easter long week-end we headed on the long journey by ourselves. We left the city Thursday night and sat down for a pizza and watched a brutal Canucks play-off game with some Lillooet locals. After another hour on the road we crawled into the back of the truck on Hwy 40 and the Yalokom River junction.

                   
Friday morning we got an early start and the sled was loaded to full capacity with Danielle in tow at 9:00am on the Slim Creek FSR right at Gun Lake! Conditions were pretty firm at -5degC but the pow looked preserved and juicy high above us.

               

We took a few breaks to rest Danielle's quads and take in the views. Yami recliner!

After 3.5 hours we arrived at our camp and spent a few hours digging it out.

The weather and conditions were way to good to not get after it right away so we headed out and arrived in the limitless paradise that is Slim Creek!

Ear to ear grins! April showers bring April Pow!

April 22 and winter is still alive in the alpine!

After a couple of hours on the Larry Glacier we were on Mt Scherle's West Ridge. The back-ground was dominated by Ursus Mountain.      

We dropped in at 6:00pm just at the light started firing. A late day 800m run awaited us from the summit of Scherle!      

And just as the sun slipped behind Tillworth I remembered the massive quantity of beer and wine that awaited us back at camp! This was close to being one of my best days this endless season! 

On day two the Dickson Range delivered another bluebird day and we headed out again deep into the alpine. The objective was Shishbanga and it's north facing glacier. 

On the way up the massive Hurley range showed itself across Downton Lake. Ethelweard and Athelney Pass dominated the back-drop. 

           

   

We finally gained the col between Ursus and Shishbanga and made our way up the spine to the summit. 

  

The forecast was for a higher freezing level but we were still way above it and farmed the fresh pow usually reserved for TLH's heli slackers! May is only a week away! 

  

On the lower slopes we got some views of the vast Slim Creek valley and some it's more remote peaks to the west. 

  

We got back to camp just in time to soak in some late day sun and take down some well deserved pops at the local pub!  

Day 3 we awoke to another stellar day and headed towards Tillworth. This was a vast glaciated area that needed to be shredded! 

    

   

Just as we left the sled the weather finally hit us and we were in a white-out in an area with no features to follow. Amazingly a couple of hours later just as we summited we got a break and the light turned back on. 

    

   

   

From the top we got incredible views deep into the Coast Range and the headwaters of Slim. The previous days ascent route in Shishbanga was impressive looking from the other side of the valley. 

   

It was now time to get some Easter Sunday pow on the North Coulour! It didn't disappoint!  

With plenty of time left in the day we climbed Scherle again to within 100m of the summit but the snow started flying and the weather was now upon us.  

Our beer supply was still healthy and we only had one last night to take down the solders. 

  

It was a perfect night to reflect on a great spring trip into a remote and rarely visited area! We'll be back Slim Creek! 

The next day we made our way out just as spring was really starting to show it's face. Was the creek this open on the way up? 

      

We also got to see some recent old growth clear-cutting created by an avy path from the Leckie Range. 

       

Cheers to a great week-end! 

Day 1 Photos  Day 2 Photos Day 3 Photos  Day 4 Photos