Category: Mountaineering
The long way around: Spearhead Traverse
The Spearhead Traverse is a challenging ski mountaineering route that takes you from Blackcomb to Whistler, the long way around. It is a 35km traverse with approximately 1700m elevation gain. It connects 11 glaciers and 17 peaks. You see a lot of stories of people doing the Spearhead in one day. Those people are outstanding…
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Traverse Take Two: Flower Ridge Towards Harmston And Tzela Lake
Last summer, Erica and I tried to walk across Strathcona Park on Vancouver Island and many things went very wrong. We even got interviewed by the Sharp End podcast about our helicopter rescue. It’s a year later. We’re still in the pandemic. And we felt like we have some serious unfinished business in the park.…
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A long traverse in Strathcona Park where many things go wrong
We set out to travel 80km from Mt. Washington to Flower Ridge over eight days. Our goal was to climb eight of Stratchona Park’s tallest and most remote mountains. This included Harmston, one of Island Qualifiers. I wanted a trip that was physically demanding but less scary than my usual mountaineering trips. COVID stress left…
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VIDEO: Sky Pilot near Squamish, BC
We climbed Sky Pilot, our first South Coast summit at 2031 meters. Easy access You can skip the first few hours of arduous uphill hiking by taking the Sea to Sky gondola. This was quite a different experience than climbing on Vancouver Island, where just the driving on old logging roads can take hours. And…
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VIDEO: Nine Peaks and Big Interior
We climbed the Big Interior and Nine Peaks despite persistent whiteouts, navigation struggles and rain.
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Climbing Mt. Rainier Without A Guide
Then as we turned the corner, it came into view. A massive mountain of snow and ice filled the skyline. And that’s what we were going to attempt to climb without a guide.
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VIDEO: Golden Hinde, The Highest Peak on Vancouver Island
We made it to the highest peak on Vancouver Island, the Golden Hinde! You gain over 5,000 m in elevation over the 60 km you hike to get there. You are constantly going up or down.
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Mt. Shuksan via Fisher Chimneys
I learned to climb on Mt. Shuksan years ago. This course gave me a taste into a hyper-masculine culture where I did not belong. It was powerful to return to this same route on this mountain as a leader under my own terms.
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VIDEO: Victoria Peak via the South Face
We planned three days to climb Victoria Peak. At less than 20km of hiking and only 1200m of elevation gain, this is definitely a comfortable day trip for us. But driving that far north on the island takes forever. (Or six hours to be precise.) So this was going to take three days. And since…
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VIDEO: Arrowsmith via The Bumps and The Nose
This was the most enjoyable way I’ve ever gotten up Mt. Arrowsmith. And probably the most enjoyable scramble that I’ve done on Vancouver Island.
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VIDEO: Red Pillar
Red Pillar was not really on my to-do list. It’s in the middle of nowhere. It’s not an Island Qualifier. And the most reasonable access points are usually behind locked gates. But a little bit of rain inspired the logging company to open the gates for the Canada Day long weekend. So I found myself…
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VIDEO: Kings Peak North Spur
This Alpine Club of Canada adventure started out like all the rest — great people in a beautiful place. But it turns out our trip leaders had a bit of a surprise in store for us!
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