Author Archives: Elliott Skierszkan

First Impressions of Adventures in Saskatchewan

January-April 2021, Saskatchewan Now four months into our new life in Saskatchewan, I am taking a moment to reflect on life in the Prairies. Until recently I had never pictured myself living here, but this is where life has taken … Continue reading

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Four mountain chickens on the Truax Traverse

My first foray into the Bendor Range was a trip to Whitecap Mountain in 2015 (https://www.ubc-voc.com/2015/08/05/whitecap-mountain-and-the-bendor-range-alpine-bliss) that revealed stunning alpine meadows and broad valleys with a different flavor than that of the Coast Mountains closer to home. This year, while … Continue reading

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Baby hiking the Juan de Fuca

Juan de Fuca Trail, June 21-25, 2020 by Elliott Skierszkan with edits from Emily Skierszkan With our baby boy, born on March 7th 2020, our life has taken quite a shift this spring. Although the work-from-home regime imposed by covid … Continue reading

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The long way to the top: Mount Baldy circumbike-n-hike [Cycling the Kettle Valley Rail Trail]

Cycling the Kettle-Valley Railroad or The long way to the top: Mount Baldy circumbike-n-hike Participants: Lucy Buchanan-Parker, Alberto Contreras-Sanz, Elliott Skierszkan, Emily Skierszkan I can’t quite decide the best title for this trip report, so I’ve listed a couple of … Continue reading

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VOC 2019 Trail Series 1: Pacific Spirit Half-Marathon

March 23, 2019 For whatever reason it seems as if trail running is the new thing in the VOC crowd. Maybe we’re all too scared of dangerous things like climbing cliffs and paddling raging whitewater? In any case, it is … Continue reading

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The 2018 Saga of Self-Propelled Chronicles: Cascade Volcanoes Bike-n-Ski Epic

Feat. Joe O’Brien, Martin Cermak, Mirko Moeller, Elliott Skierszkan May 2018 Executive Summary: A ~10-day trip by bicycle to climb and ski some of the Cascade Volcanoes. We ended up getting well-acquainted with Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood, and a … Continue reading

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Prussiks and Pulleys: Hauling VOCass at the Anniversary Glacier [Glacier School 2]

By: Elliott Skierszkan and Alberto Contreras-Sanz Sept 9-10, 2017 The Participants: Julien Renard (Leader), Caitlin Schneider (Leader), Matthew Van Ootsdam, Alberto Contreras-Sanz, Andrew Cavers, Elliott Skierszkan Looking for help to pull someone out from a 15-m deep crevasse? We’ve got … Continue reading

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Skis and Bikes: Self-propelled Surrey to Baker

Martin Cermak, Elliott Skierszkan, Mirko Moeller, May 20-22 2017 About a month before this trip happened, conversations started up around doing a Victoria Day long weekend ski traverse. However, in the few days coming up to the weekend, despite a … Continue reading

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A Moonlight Memorial Walk at Seymour

January 11, 2017 marked two years since we lost Neil Mackenzie and Steffi Grothe, two wonderful and inspiring club members in a tragic climbing accident on Joffre Peak that also claimed the life of Elena Cernicka. Many of our newer … Continue reading

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Black Tusk Trail Race: The Sunny Rendition

Sept 21, 2016 Short Summary and Beta: Geneviève Savard and I (Elliott Skierszkan) did a trail run up and down Black Tusk with fantastic weather. The roundtrip took 5 hours. Beta: there is lots of it online, but the jist … Continue reading

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