Northern BC 2013/2014 Stoke, Conditions

[alive]

Nice work on getting some turns! Sorry for your loss, though.

[swissiphic]

Lol. Was lookin' back in the thread for old pics and found this little jem from A.P.

Tacklebox asked about starting a new thread for the year.

Gary and xxx-er have the real seniority around these parts so it should probably be up to them. I kind of like the one stop beta bonanza that our thread provides. A recent arrival to Smithers was peppering me with questions about skiing around these parts and i sent him here. He was very pleased and very inspired with what he found. If you want to get a grasp on what is going on ski wise around our neck of the woods, then reading this thread from first to last page would really give you a good overview. Not to mention that the outdated nature of our thread tittle (2013-2014) is an apt reflection of our relative status as a backwater in the ski world. During last years snowpacolypse, we met up with some dudes from Utah in the parking lot. The chair was down so we invited them to do shuttles with is. We are in the truck joking around and these guys start peppering us with questions about the t-bar. Its like they were nervous or something. They are asking us how you use it, do you sit on it etc. We were thinking what a bunch of hicks were but it turns out these dudes skied some big Utah resorts and had never seen such antiquated ski lift technology in their lives. Turns out we were the hicks.

[swissiphic]

For the sake of interest in the meltocalypse of our local glaciers, I went through photo archives of our formerly 'go to' 100 percent sure thing, easy access summer ski zone up in East Bowl of Wesach Mountain to get some pictorial data. Looks like everything was going good with relative homeostasis till the first summer of the 'Blob' in 2013. That year marked the onset of consecutive summers of full melt down through the protective firn down to glacier and has henceforth nuked the ice. I'm gonna have to get back up there to do some firm measurements of ice depth loss. There's a pretty good 'gauge rock' feature up to the looker's left of the bowl where a guy could use a prominent rock nubbin' as a placemark of where the ice level was in better times, pre 2013. Judging by the pics from 2001 to now, kinda guessing more than 30 feet...maybe 50-60?

Then and now pics:

[LHutz Esq]

.. will likely yield positive results.


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Unfortunately - no,

Largely due to family time (and a great hike near Hazelton with the cousins) I got off to a late start.

Then I compounded the late start with poor navigation and when I ran into light snow covering just large enough rocks - my speed was brought low.

I ended up coming into the couloir too high and hitting the cliffs on the crater lake side. Not having time to backtrack - I went up the ridge and using binoculars scanned the other side - but did not find a ski.

If I had a little bit more time - I would stay low after coming out of the crater, then go up the gut.

It looks a bit melty up there this week so it might be better next weekend - i could be convinced to give it another shot.

the route

the approach

beauty of a day though


Ended up being 11 k and 3 hours round trip. I forgot to take a pic in Henderson - but there is a solid dusting of snow in there to say the least.

[Angle Parking]

Nice try Hutz, i was hoping i would see a pic of your smiling mug with a ski triumphantly held up in the air but alas, maybe next time.


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[powder_to_the_people]

Unfortunately - no,

Largely due to family time (and a great hike near Hazelton with the cousins) I got off to a late start.

Then I compounded the late start with poor navigation and when I ran into light snow covering just large enough rocks - my speed was brought low.

I ended up coming into the couloir too high and hitting the cliffs on the crater lake side. Not having time to backtrack - I went up the ridge and using binoculars scanned the other side - but did not find a ski.

If I had a little bit more time - I would stay low after coming out of the crater, then go up the gut.

It looks a bit melty up there this week so it might be better next weekend - i could be convinced to give it another shot.

the route

the approach

beauty of a day though


Ended up being 11 k and 3 hours round trip. I forgot to take a pic in Henderson - but there is a solid dusting of snow in there to say the least.

Hutz, first of all, thanks a lot for doing a 10+k hike for the stranger that I am, that's very kind of you. If you ever happen to lose a ski near Seattle, you know who to ask. Didn't expect there to be this much snow already, I guess winter is around the corner, especially this far up north .

If I understand you well you took a look (with binoculars) at the western face of the gully, correct? Thanks again for everything.

[powder_to_the_people]

Nice try Hutz, i was hoping i would see a pic of your smiling mug with a ski triumphantly held up in the air but alas, maybe next time.


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Haha, can't say I wasn't hoping for that too!

[swissiphic]

Stoke building time! Perfect weather forecast for loading our early season zone at Wesach! Glorious cold rain = great base building condish in the alpine.

[powder_to_the_people]

So Hutz (or AP?), what would it take convince one of you to go take one last look at the Henderson couloir this weekend? You'd obviously be getting my eternal gratitude, but what else would persuade you? I'm on the fence about buying a new setup, and having some closure on this matter will help me pull the trigger. Let me know how I can help!

[LHutz Esq]

I plan to try on Sunday if the snow line stays high and it doesn’t stay socked In. It’s been raining all week though and Henderson holds the snow- so no promises. But I like a nice hike, so if I can help I’ll give it a shot. Sunday forecast has been in flux all week - so if there is a sale on I’d go for it if you know what I mean.


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[Angle Parking]

I ran into Hutz this week and we were on agreement that this treasure hunt is awesome. I would love to find your ski powder but alas, i am cutting trail for the ski hill All weekend. Sorry dude


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[powder_to_the_people]

OK, well thank you both. I'm glad you're not thinking of it as a giant pain in the ass (which would be warranted). Lhutz, do let me know if you make it up there tomorrow!

[LHutz Esq]

Whelp - another attempt turned into a nice walk in the mountains. No skis though

Brought Heidi the bird dog to scare up that ski- she isn’t much help actually


Henderson is actually a fairly big feature



Storm coupled with ice coupled with the realization that the most likely catch spot for a ski was also the most buried by early season drifts - meant I turned around here




Sorry man - I really wanted to find it
For you - but just isn’t meant to be.

[XXX-er]

It ain't lost you just can't find it, somebody will find it, AP eventualy found that gear that was lost from the top of the BIG SIMPSON'S gulch

[swissiphic]

Sorry to hear about the lack of ski finding success.

But damn, that Henderson line looks like one hell of an awesome ski run. Can imagine it has all the right ingredients for amazing corn harvesting in spring?

[Angle Parking]

Good effort Hutz.

And Henderson is a really nice spring ski. It connects to the old Duthie Mine site. You can link up the couloir to the mining roads of said mine site and ski all the way down to the McDonnel lake FSR which makes for a cool adventure.

[LeeLau]

For the sake of interest in the meltocalypse of our local glaciers, I went through photo archives of our formerly 'go to' 100 percent sure thing, easy access summer ski zone up in East Bowl of Wesach Mountain to get some pictorial data. Looks like everything was going good with relative homeostasis till the first summer of the 'Blob' in 2013. That year marked the onset of consecutive summers of full melt down through the protective firn down to glacier and has henceforth nuked the ice. I'm gonna have to get back up there to do some firm measurements of ice depth loss. There's a pretty good 'gauge rock' feature up to the looker's left of the bowl where a guy could use a prominent rock nubbin' as a placemark of where the ice level was in better times, pre 2013. Judging by the pics from 2001 to now, kinda guessing more than 30 feet...maybe 50-60?

Then and now pics:

Effff me

[swissiphic]

Hey Smithers peeps: I'm lookin' for up to date intel on Sibolas. Heading off on a road trip sometime soon and was thinkin' of a little side trip for some turns.

I'll be driving a fairly weighed down toyota matrix so.....

1. Is that active miner guy still blocking the road?
2. If not, any guesses as to the condition of the road surface...i.e. can a low clearance matrix make it at least to the microwave tower thingy without getting totally trashed?
3. Any guesses as to how much snow might be gracing the upper part of main or the other glaciated bowl kinda skier's right?
4. Any guesses if The Goat is skiable?
5. I'd ask if anyone wuz up for joining, but at this point, I can't plan a day. It'll just be a play it by ear 'if the weather looks good when i get to houston, go for it' kind of decision making process. If anyone has that's flexibility and motivation, let me know.

[LHutz Esq]

It ain't lost you just can't find it, somebody will find it, AP eventualy found that gear that was lost from the top of the BIG SIMPSON'S gulch

Umm - is this “new English” - it’s lost because we can’t find it. Once someone finds it - that’s what we call found.

A goal for next year.


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[LHutz Esq]

Sorry to hear about the lack of ski finding success.

But damn, that Henderson line looks like one hell of an awesome ski run. Can imagine it has all the right ingredients for amazing corn harvesting in spring?

Henderson is nice - but more often than not wind hammered and slabby. But ya in the spring I’ve done it like ap mentioned - shuttled to Macdonald lake road.


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[powder_to_the_people]

Whelp - another attempt turned into a nice walk in the mountains. No skis though

Brought Heidi the bird dog to scare up that ski- she isn’t much help actually

Sorry man - I really wanted to find it
For you - but just isn’t meant to be.

Lhutz, thank you so much for going up again yesterday. I wish I had found out about TGR earlier, would have made those walks a lot less brutal for you (and probably given them a higher chance of success). If you're ever down in Seattle/Whistler, please give me a shout, I'd love to meet you in person. I'll see with the mods if I can get my account activated now so that I can actually access PMs, if you ever do shoot me a message announcing a trip down south! . Thanks again mate. PS cute pup, hope those paws weren't too cold by the end of the hike.

[XXX-er]

http://www.sandrah.biz/hudsonbaymoun...er/weather.php

Looking good for a strat to ski season but not finding your ski

[powpig]

I'm looking to be up in Terrace mid Jan and pondering a ski day at Shames. Worth it to just ski around in bounds? I'm not much of a BC guy, would I really be missing out if I don't go BC? Thanks

[LHutz Esq]

I'm looking to be up in Terrace mid Jan and pondering a ski day at Shames. Worth it to just ski around in bounds? I'm not much of a BC guy, would I really be missing out if I don't go BC? Thanks

Yes but also yes.




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[swissiphic]

I'm looking to be up in Terrace mid Jan and pondering a ski day at Shames. Worth it to just ski around in bounds? I'm not much of a BC guy, would I really be missing out if I don't go BC? Thanks

Totally worth it to ski the hill. If you hit it during a storm cycle and it's not packed with skier traffic, the inbounds and sidecountry is mini backcountry-esque. Lots of sneaker lines in trees between runs and a short boot back gets a guy to some pretty fun sidecountry/o.b. that seamlessly deposits skier back inbounds. If it's not a storm cycle, the hill and immediate sidecountry will likely be trashed but still a fun little hill to play around on. Mid fat to fat skis are recommended in any case. Locals generally aren't skiing on anything less than 110 underfoot, most ski 115-125 as everyday skis in midwinter.