Cayoosh Pass, British Columbia    12/28/01 - 12/31/01


Give me more than two days off in a row and i want to go someplace exotic.  Usually that means British Columbia.  I love that country - big, open, expansive, and frequently unspoiled.  Brian and I kicked around some ideas; I told him about a tour to the Place Glacier Matt and I had tried to do exactly a year ago.  We didn't get very far because the low snow levels failed to cover the overgrown logging road.  I figured higher snow levels this would cover the slide alder and now would be a good time to go.  Bill signed on as well and Matt was eager to have another go at the Place.  

We left Seattle late morning on the 28th.  Driving up to the pass several hours later we noticed there was only about three feet of snow next to the highway.  We started thinking that wouldn't be enough to cover our bushwhack and started think of other options.  Scanning Baldwin's Coast Range guidebook and the topo (printed on Tyvek, cool)  we realized going one drainage north of our original destination might yield good results.  We camped that night in the parking lot and headed up early the next morning.  This logging road was well tracked out and an additional hike through open forests brought us to high camp in about three hours.  


Brian extricating himself from the hole he fell in (while simultaneously cursing me out for snapping the picture).



Our home for the next two nights.  


We had the tents pitched before noon and figured we'd get some turns in.  The gladed slope and open bowl above camp looked like a good place to start.  The lack of new snow made for some bomber avalanche conditions, so we could really hit some steep open slopes; unusual for the middle of winter.  



Extreme Bill gets the first tracks in.  



Joffre Peak looked impressive in the distance.  



Our view from camp as the sun loomed low.  While clouds hung in the valley it stayed clear higher up.  


That night the full moon and clear sky made a spectacular night time vista.  Bill went for a moonlight run while the rest of us surrendered to exhaustion.  Still I envied his howls of glee from the warmth of my sleeping bag.  The next day the fabulous weather continued.  



Matt hypothesizing that the legendary Place Glacier is one valley over.  It would have meant an epic descent and climb to reach it.  Plenty of skiing was to be had nearby so the discussion was mostly academic.  



Bill, Bill's $20 skis, Brian, and his skis.  



In the land of big pow.  



Extreme Bill after booting up to squeeze out a few extra turns.  


Tired but happy we marched back to camp.  We were rudely interrupted by some noisy snowmobiles, who rode up the opposite valley, but such is life.  This time Matt and I were takers when Bill mentioned the moonlight run.  It was fabulous, no headlight required.  The next morning there was nothing to do but skin up and head out for more.  We set out on a potential-maybe-check-it-out peak bag of Cayush Peak, but quickly changed our minds as wind and clouds rolled in and the route didn't look obvious.  Skiing some steeps in limited visibility kept things interesting.  



At our highest point just below a windy ridge.  We removed skins on precarious perches before diving down through the white haze.  


While skinning up to the ridge a stunning couloir had suddenly appeared off the side.  Now that we had skied back down to it, it seemed an obvious target.  



Brian booting up the couloir.  It was steep and icy, but all in all rather scenic.  



Matt showing us just how much you can do with leather boots and no-wax skis.  



Bill working those edges.  


A couple more runs and we were done for the day.  The original plan had been to stay one more night and leave in the morning, but since we wouldn't get anymore skiing out of it dinner in town sounded even better.  Amazingly we were packed and ready to go in half an hour.  Finding an open restaurant on New Year's Eve proved another matter and we had to settle for sub sandwiches.  Driving past Whistler we stopped at an alcohol check roadblock; only a line of five or six cars and no real delay.  I pity the poor souls heading north though; that line stretched over a mile!  Yikes!