Author Archives: Jeff Mottershead

Zopkios follies

I’ve been getting complaints that my trip reports peaked a while ago. I can’t really argue with that. Even a few years ago, I was managing to end up skiing off something inadvisable by mistake and ending up in the dark, … Continue reading

Posted in Ski | 1 Comment

Red Heather day trip

The VOC gets a mix of trip reports ranging from quite impressive to people managing to somehow epic pretty hard on a day trip to Red Heather through a combination of poor planning, taking too much junk, and being softer … Continue reading

Posted in Hike, Huts, Special Reports, Trip Reports, Workhike | 7 Comments

Cambria Icefield

The Thirteen Pass Route follows the iconic Skyline Trail from its start near Jasper to near its end, but before the Skyline’s final descent to Maligne Lake, the Thirteen Pass Route breaks off and connects to the Eight Pass Route, … Continue reading

Posted in Ski, Trip Reports | Tagged | 4 Comments

Wasps (censored version)

The VOC has its share of glorious epics. Ideally these end up as a trip report or a journal article, and if they don’t, word-of-mouth only keeps them alive for so long. It’s always best if a real participant writes … Continue reading

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Rufus the Destroyer goes to Langley

Sometimes I worry that people are complaining that I’m putting up useless garbage that doesn’t meet the standards of a VOC trip report. But sometimes I get mail telling me that I’m not being sufficiently ridiculous, so here we go. … Continue reading

Posted in Other, Trip Reports | 3 Comments

Groundhog Day and Garibaldi Lake

Participants: Nadine Bruneau, Oliver Capko, the legendary Christian Veenstra Back when we were replacing the roof on the Brian Waddington Hut, we had a bunch of VOC volunteers, who were there for the weekends, Jacob, who stayed the whole time, … Continue reading

Posted in Accidents, Ski, Special Reports, Trip Reports | Tagged , , , , , | 20 Comments

Fooling around near the Elkhart gas station a few days before Groundhog Day

I’d had my vehicle in the shop for most of January, and I had a groundhog to install, which meant my son, Devlin, and I hadn’t done any backcountry together going into the last weekend in January, and we had … Continue reading

Posted in Trip Reports | 7 Comments

Red Heather: Throwing Down the Gauntlet to Punxsutawney

Many years ago, I saw an airblown inflatable Santa riding on a sled with a snowman at Rona. I’d never seen a Christmas decoration so spectacular, so I bought it. I’m sure I wasn’t the first to have such a … Continue reading

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Under the glacier behind Century Sam Lake

Participants: Cathy Lin, Joanna Gower, Tom Curran, Cassandra Elphinstone, Kevin Lam, Shu Yu Fan, Rob Cieniawski, Elaine Zhou I remember when you could get a Seaburger Platter on the ferry for $6.50. That is because I am old and mouldy. … Continue reading

Posted in Trip Reports | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Pirate Glacier School: Most participants left in an ambulance

Participants: Desmond McCarthy, Cove Beavan, Axel Rodriguez, Grace Li, Lexi Berger, Emmet Vannier, Well, yes, it’s true, but maybe a bit misleading. Desmond drives an ambulance. He bought it from some guy on Craigslist. The lights and sirens work, if … Continue reading

Posted in Hike, Trip Reports | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments