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VOC's Annual Garibaldi-Neve Traverse (ski tour) - AST 1 REQUIRED · Sat. Feb. 10th, 2018 - Mon. Feb. 12th, 2018

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Organized by: Robert Lachance.

Start: Saturday, Feb. 10th, 6:00 am
End: Monday, Feb. 12th, 5:00 pm
Pre-trip meeting: Wednesday, Feb. 7th, 6:00 pm
Pre-trip meeting location: Outside club room

Description:

THIS IS AN UNGUIDED TRIP TRAVERSING DANGEROUS TERRAIN. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY WHILE IN THE BACKCOUNTRY ON THIS TRIP. This trip is weather dependent

Requirements: AST1 or international equivalent. Intermediate to advanced ski touring ability with full pack

Because this trip is going to be on the more expensive side, A deposit will be due from "going" people a few weeks ahead of time so we can reserve the hut and car(s) as a group. We'll keep alternates in case we have dropouts and this way we'll be able to give back your deposit if you can't make it. However, if we don't have anyone to replace you, the deposit is forfeited. Please don't sign up for this trip if this is not agreeable.

Day 1
Meet in Blenheim and Broadway McDonald's at 0500. Also possibly another location TBD. Unless someone has a 4x4 with chains, we'll be renting something narley. We will head up the road to the trailhead for Elfin Lakes (Diamond Head) and into Garibaldi Park. We'll  get to Elfin Lakes, approximately 12 kilometres. Optional skiing on the nearby slopes in the afternoon.

Day 2
We are up and out before 8am to head out onto the glaciers of the Neve. We'll descend into Ring Creek and underneath the Gargoyles. From there, we'll slowly gain the high point of the traverse, underneath the north face of Mt Garibaldi, and down to the 2nd camp at the Glacier Pikes. Plan on getting to camp by 3 pm.

Day 3
A short traverse to get to the top of the Sentinel Glacier then ski down. If conditions and timing allow, we will drop our packs at the bottom and skin back up for a 2nd lap. After this, we cross Garibaldi Lake and begin down the trail to Rubble Creek. We'll catch my car back to the 4x4. Or if the trip is full, maybe we'll rent two 4x4s.

This itinerary is conservative, so it's possible we could end up at burton hut for night 2. In any case, we'll be carrying tents and GPS/spot(s).

Max people on this trip depends on the 4x4 capacity that someone has or that we can rent. I've put this trip at 10, but it's possible we'll only be able to fit 8 or 9 which I think is a pretty large group for a trip like this anyway.

A description of the Garibaldi-Neve Traverse can be found here.

Edit 1: Trip dates changed in order to be able to guarantee spots at elfin lakes. May change dates again depending on snow forecast.

Edit 2: By popular demand this changed to the weekend so plan on camping!. Still weather dependent though! Also considering opening this trip up to multiple, independent groups. I don't want group size to be too large for logistic reasons, but there seem to be a lot of cars on this list, so we could probs make it work. If you are interested in leading/ planning with one of these groups, let me know!

Edit 3:

I didn't make it up to Garibaldi this weekend to check on the lake and Haven't heard anything from anyone on the status of the lake (frozen or not) since I last heard it was still open. Since this is a significantly more difficult and longer trip without the lake being frozen, I'm forced to postpone until a reliable source can confirm it is possible to traverse Garibaldi lake. I'll try a day trip up there this weekend and see if I can get some info if I don't hear anything from anyone in the club
 
As a result, the pretrip today is CANCELED
 
Hopefully you all can get out this coming weekend and do something fun on skis
 
Edit 4:
Hi everyone!
 
A big shout out to Maureen who connected me with some decently reliable info that Garibaldi is frozen with a few feet of snow on it and as a result the trip is back on! Weather looks to be great as well, if perhaps a bit warm Sunday. The pretrip meeting will be Wednesday night at 6pm at the club room and I'll edit the VOC trip to reflect this.
 
Priority spots on this trip will be given to people who attend the pretrip meeting. If you cannot attend the meeting, please let me know via email. I appologize for the bobble here, but I'm sure we'll get this trip back on track!

Posted: 2017-12-18 00:50:26
Last modified: 2018-02-05 22:59:51