Garibaldi Névé - 2nd Attempt - Kaiboshed

Plans were for the Garibaldi Neve traverse this weekend. 3 days across what is apparently one of the best traverses in North America. Look how gorgeous it looks, even in the summer:

Last year we started up the trail, and it was raining so hard we couldn't see the cabin from 40 feet away. We stayed in the cabin overnight, and then went back the same way we had come.  I think it was not raining for about 10 minutes the entire weekend.

This year we looked at the weather forecast before we left.  They are calling for 50cm of snow in 3 days. Which sounds fun, but means you can't see the beautiful neve that is the entire point of the trip. Also means avalanche danger is extremely high.

So we will be reading books this weekend.  And planning our winter vacation. Which brings me to my question: which trip should we do?

1) An Epic Ski Traverse
         - Pemberton Icefield
         - Misty Icefield
2) A Remote Ski Adventure
         - Bella Coola by Ferry
         - Alaska Road + Ski Trip
3) A Nice and Relaxed Ski Vacation
         - Eldorado Cabin
         - Athelney Pass
4) Forget It. Let's Go Somewhere Warm.
         - Hawaii Bike Trip

All of these options sound good, but none are good enough compared to the others that make us excited to get planning them.  We've been thinking about this for a month now. If we're not careful, we're going to run out of winter. Sample pictures (not ours) are below, to give a feel for the type of vacation.

1)

2)

3)

4)

Thoughts?

Zoa Peak - Trip Report

FIRST WINTER SKI SUMMIT.  FIRST (GOOD LOOKING) TELEMARK TURNS IN KNEE DEEP POWDER.  BOOYEAH.

So all in all, an excellent trip.  Not quite the bluebird day we had been hoping for, but good temperatures and good snow.

Zoa Peak - Trip Plan

Back to the Coquihalla tomorrow, for an attempt at Zoa Peak. (click for details)

Recap for Feb

We missed a few weeks, so here's a quick rundown:

Two weeks ago was Sarah's bachelorette party, so Caroline was up at Whistler. I went to mount Baker with the ACC for my first actual, successful, ski touring trip of the year. It was awesome.

Last week was our first actual, successful, ski touring trip together. We went with Dan to the Coquihalla, and went up the Needle Peak route. Very fun. And very windy.

Callaghan Valley

Heading to the Callaghan valley (XC ski, ski jump, etc during the Olympics).  Supposedly some good access to nice tours.  We are planning on one of Sproat, Rainbow or Gin peaks, and camping somewhere along the way.

 - Map of drive to parking area - the three of them are immediately to the East of the parking area.

Report: Access was ridiculous. Ended up being faster to bootpack and posthole most of the way through the forest than ski it.  But well worth it once we got out on top.  And nice to be camping again. Also discovered the Whistler Olympic Park is spectacular and very well done. Makes you want to take up cross country skiing.

[ridiculous access]

 [well worth it]

Action, finally

It's been a rough two weeks of work, but it looks like we'll finally be able to get out to the backcountry this weekend.  Sort of.  Caroline's work "Christmas Party" is tonight, so it would be a late start on Saturday morning. And all of this new snow means an uncooperative avalanche forecast.

So. Running laps at Elfin Lakes / Red Heather Meadows it is.  Should be good - it will be the first time in the backcountry this entire winter season, and I can keep working on those tele-turns.

Click here for the map - after the parking lot, you can see a very visible trail heading out into the woods. We'll be somewhere along there.

In other news, we've discovered that we can go for a quick skin-up ski-down run at Cypress in the morning and still make it to work by 9am. This is our latest attempt: