March 20, 2011, Joffre-Matier-Slalok-Heartstrings

After a rough week it felt nice to get a little lucky. Ziff, Jake, Mark, and I met in Pemberton at 3:30 on Sunday morning. Soon after we were heading up Cerise Creek beneath the Super Moon to enjoy a beautiful sunrise in the alpine.









Every trip has variables. I told Ziff last week that I had some variables in my life right now that were making it difficult to commit to big(ger) trips. Like frostbitten toes. On New Years Eve I got third degree frostbite on 3 of my toes during a trip to the Russet hut up near Whistler. (It would have been 8 had Monika not warmed them on her belly) I've never had frostbite before and so have been wondering how they'll respond to cold temperatures. At the col it was COLD. Not Fahrenheit teen cold, but mid twenty wind ripping cold.  My toes began to hurt. I told the others to start up the Aussie while I put some hand warmers in my boots. Wow. I'm glad I practice yoga on occasion. I laughed to myself as I finished the ordeal that in taking care of my toes I'd sacrificed my fingers. The couloir held knee deep or more. It had been skied the day before but the boot track had vanished. Very stable. Lots of wallowing down low, but firm in places up top. I pulled my axe for the final windblown 50 feet.

Mark, doing what I'm doing:



The little speck in the upper middle of the photo is a tent:



Ziff enjoying the the first 500' of nearly 11000' of descent:



Next up was Matier. The 15 cars we'd seen at the trailhead seemed to be emptying onto Matier. We'd already seen a few folks ski it's north face while we were on Joffre, and now as we approached we saw a group of 6 or so half way up the ridge. Our route followed the skyline on the left:



By this time the wind was RIPPING. I usually stay pretty warm but I was climbing in 4 layers of clothing, a hat, and mittens.







It's always a pleasure to see from whence you came. The Australian Couloir, dead center:



Summit and group shot. Left to right- Jake, Mark, Ziff:



The group ahead of us had skied down while we were climbing up. Except for two, who had down climbed to the NW face. Perfect, we thought. We followed. We later learned that the party of two included Ward Robinson. Had I known that I might have paused.

The NW face could not have been better. Perfect shin deep powder with not the slightest trace of instability. I made a few turns to set up for a video of Mark skiing. He represented our talent. He didn't disappoint (click the image).



Ziff didn't disappoint either:



At the bottom we melted snow and enjoyed the sun. I put in new toe warmers. Then it was off to Slalok. A large group had already put in a track so we had easy going. And plenty of time to enjoy the views. Here's a shot from high up on Slalok, looking back at the NW face of Matier:



With a track in place, powder and mountains everywhere, blue skies and fatigue steadily building, my mind began to wonder to some of the other variables in my life. I once wrote about the difference between loneliness and solitude by saying that I was only ever able to get past loneliness by embracing solitude.  As I neared the summit and saw a lone Chouca flying high above I realized that there€™s an analogous distinction to be made between grief and loss.

Ziff expressing on the summit of Slalok:



Off the summit of Slalok (click the image). Again, Mark:



Here's a shot of Slalok's north face. 1000+ meters of goodness. We skied looker's right of the face.



Since it was still relatively early we decided to head out via a route Baldwin calls "Heartstrings". A track was in place which we followed up through the trees to gain a ridge with a nice view of Joffre (on the left), Matier (in the middle) and the west flank of Slalok (right)



The entrance to Heartstrings involves a fun ridge walk with yet more great views. It was a pleasant last climb of the day. One last photo, showing the section which Baldwin describes in fine detail in his book:



Heartstrings itself was pretty skied out, but still soft and fun. Made it to the trailhead with daylight to spare. Truly one of the better days I have ever spent in the mountains. Thanks Ziff, Jake, and Mark. We should hang out again some time...