A Backcountry Ski Basecamp
We just wrapped up a backcountry ski basecamp deep in the Northern Monashees. Unsettled weather provided some new snow, a mix of sun and cloud and good stability for exploring big, glaciated terrain.
We flew from Revelstoke with Glacier Helicopters to our camp location. A sprawling valley with massive glaciated terrain and a sheltered campsite was our destination for five days. The campsite was perched at 1830m and granted access to excellent north aspect terrain out the backdoor or a forested sneak into the main drainage to the north.
After setting up camp on the first day we did an avalanche safety briefing and headed north to ski a solar aspect and get a view of the glaciated terrain to the west. Dropping down past a waterfall and climbing up through a polished bedrock canyon gave notion of the scale of the terrain; it was big and complex.
The immense landscape was spectacular and incredibly featured; it was a pleasure to weave a skin track through the gullies, moraines and benches.
The following day we headed southwest of our basecamp and up a steep head wall that guarded a glacial lake.
Due to the February 2 PWL, I exercised caution and spaces my group out significantly on the climb as there was evidence of snow depth variability and relatively recent avalanche activity on that layer. However we made it up the slope just fine and crossed the lake to the toe of the glacier.
The weather was uncooperative and yielded spring convective flurries throughout the day, but we managed some fun turns nonetheless.
Spring backcountry ski basecamp trips cash in on long days and reasonable temperatures. But having a good camp setup is crucial to enjoying the experience. We use two larger communal tents coupled with individual sleeping tents. The two communal tents are heated with wood stoves.
Day three yielded more promising weather, so we set out for a fun ski mountaineering objective. We recycled our previous days up track and headed southwest from camp. A bootpack and a lower got us into our line and set us up for a 900m descent and loop tour back to camp.
Day four started out sunny and quickly deteriorated into milky skies and light snow. By the time we reached the glacier the light was flat and we were headed for serious whiteout navigation conditions. As I approached the toe of the glacier, I noticed a cave on one side and a hole on the other. Incredibly enough, the tunnel was passable and we toured right through it to our early lunch spot.
While we at some food and ruminated on the deterioration conditions, we decided to modify our plans and do a tour that would yield more opportunities for better skiing if the visibility was poor. However I wanted to keep our options open to ski our main objective if the conditions improved. So with amended plans we headed in a different direction and boot packed our way around an icefall.
By the time we gained the glacier above the icefall, the skies cleared and we headed for our original objective, the big glaciated run in the background. The scale of the terrain in this area was impressive and confounding at the same time. It was easy to under estimate it’s size from afar and then be wowed by it once you were in the feature.
The last day we broke down after breakfast and headed up into one of the bowls south of camp. The towering rock wall lined glaciated cirque was a great way to cap off a fantastic trip.
