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Intermediate friendly Spearhead traverse · Sat. May. 18th, 2013 - Sun. May. 19th, 2013

Warning: This is an old trip - it already happened

Warning, this trip has been cancelled : The weather won't be great and it seems like everyone is stoked about climbing or Harrison hut/trail now..

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Start: Saturday, May. 18th, 6:00 am
End: Sunday, May. 19th, 11:00 pm

Description:

Note: I moved this trip since the first weekend of May will be super warm (freezing level of 4000m)

 

Before the winter ends I would like to do the Spearhead traverse, probably as a two day trip.

We would start from the top of Blackcomb ski area and come down via the groomed ski runs at the top of Whistler. According to Baldwin's "Exploring the Coast mountains on skis" it is 26 km from the top of Blackcomb to the top of Whistler resort.

More details from Baldwin:
Most of the route lies above 2100m and offers excellent skiing and great views. This traverse is often hailed as one of the 50 best backcountry ski trips in North America. [...] This stenuous traverse is for experienced skiers only. The entire route is alpine and is extremely difficult to follow in poor weather. The dangers of routefinding through avalanche terrain and heavily crevassed areas are compounded by bad weather."

Total distance: 34km
Elevation gain: 1900m
Difficulty: 3/Advanced on the Baldwin scale
Terrain: Complex
Price: about $50 for a Whistler backcountry access pass, if you don't already have a Whistler pass

If you want to join you should have been on several backcountry ski trips before, be in good shape and have received some sort of avalanche training.

Note: This trip is tentative as we have to keep an eye on the weather and avalanche forecast.
I also want to limit the trip size to one car load. If there is lots of interest and a good number of somewhat experienced people we could have two generally independent groups.

Likely, there won't be a pre trip meeting and we will organize everything via email.

Posted: 2013-04-01 09:57:56
Last modified: 2013-05-14 22:00:03