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Topic: April 22/23, 2011 - Spearhead Traverse, BC (Read 1670 times)
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BeckyB
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Posts: 62
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Pete and I took advantage of the high pressure and a day off from work on Friday/Saturday to ski the Spearhead Traverse (my first time, Pete’s second). We didn’t actually decide to pull the trigger on it until Thursday at 8:30pm so we were relegated to an EARLY start on Friday to get up there in time, but that just adds to the adventure…right? We pulled out of our driveway at 3:30am on Friday and rolled into Whistler village just before 8am. We were on the lifts by 9am and exiting the Blackcomb ski area by 10. There was a steady stream of folks out in front of us so we knew it would not be a solitary experience, but there was a delightful highway already laid out, so we certainly didn’t mind.
The snow on all of the north facing glaciers (Decker, Trorey, Tremor) all had very nice, yo-yo-able powder, but we had an objective for the day so we sadly passed them all by. Next time, we’d love to take an extra day to leave some time for yo-yo-ing all the great lines back there. With the warm, sunny weather, our main concern was crossing the steep, south-facing terrain you traverse above the Iago and Diavolo Glaciers in the afternoon. The slope above the Iago glacier had lots of tracks on it and actually hadn’t softened nearly as much as we thought it would so we forged on and set up camp at the top of the steep slope above the Diavolo Glacier.
This morning, our steep slope had turned into a very firm, bone-jarring mess of old ski tracks and frozen chunks so we decided to make use of the boot crampons we’d hauled in and walked down the steepest, iciest portion. Put the skis back on down on the glacier and plugged along. We were looking forward to the runs from the pass behind Fissile down to the area above the Russett Hut and from Singing Pass down to the base of Oboe but unfortunately those slopes had cooked in the previous day’s afternoon sunshine and were now rather unpleasant breakable crust. Aah well. You can’t win ‘em all. We entered the Whistler ski area around 2pm and enjoyed really nice spring conditions all the way back to the base where we feasted on hot dogs and poutine at Zogs. The teeming mass of humanity that had assembled in the Village for the Telus Festival sent us running for the car and we hit the road back to Seattle around 4pm.
The route is in terrific shape – the glaciers are nicely filled in and the snow is (mostly) great, so the next time a couple days of sunny weather come rolling through, go get it! Pictures coming soon!
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Kirsten
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Posts: 26
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Nice work guys! Can't wait to see pictures! 
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Zap
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Posts: 1615
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WOW, that was a quick trip. You had beautiful weather and the photos are great. When I did the traverse, we had an extra day which allowed time to ski more. It's great that you were able to ski to the base with the fat snowpack. I remember having to hike down from the lower gondola station. 
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Pete A
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Posts: 714
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lots of terrain back there that makes it a good idea to go at a slower pace... next time I do the trip, it'll either just be a one-day jaunt so we can skip the camping gear or take the extra day or two to allow some yo-yos. We just didn't trust the weather was going to hold Sunday, so we did the two day itinerary.
FYI- for those who are thinking about doing the trip soon, we heard the Singing Pass Pass trail still has plenty of snow the whole way, so its not necessary to climb the musical bumps and exit via Whistler if you want to cut off that part of the trip.
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Nate R
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Posts: 60
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Nice job guys! Beautiful pics.
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rocubr
5Member
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Posts: 28
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Wow, we were going to write up a TR for the exact same dates but got beaten to it?!?! I'm surprised we didn't see you because we got back at about the same time too. Or did we? As a family party we were pretty conspicuous.
We camped on the saddle between the Macbeth and Iago glaciers. This spared us most of the ice, except for one death-defying traverse.
It seemed like we were skinning up the fluff and mostly skiing corn and crust, hmmm... However, we did find a bit of powder and some fabulous corn in places.
Skiing with a pack is hard on the way down! I completely agree with Pete that the Spearhead should be done as either a day or three days, there are tons of great side trips to be done out there.
Plenty of classic alpine scenery and fun for all! There's nothing like perfect weather and perfect avy conditions for the traverse!
And finally my wild little mountaineer and skier brother made an excellent pacer, except he has the same pace on the hills and on the flats.
I hope you guys don't mind the little appended TR!
Oh, and yes the Singing Pass trail has plenty of snow for people who are thinking of doing it in the next two weeks or so.
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« Last Edit: 04/24/11, 02:26 PM by rocubr »
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Scotsman
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Posts: 3174
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My son Stewart, PNWBrit and I did it 23 and 24th. Weather started coming in on Sunday morning.
Back to Whistler base at 4.00 Pm on Sunday to live music and cheesburgers at the base.
First time for me and the last time I every carry an overnight pack on it.
Absolutely right..... either a one day or >3 days as a two day pack toooo heavy.
Stunning traverse.
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Gregg_C
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Posts: 298
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Beautiful pictures Pete and Becky. I thought we would be on the surfboards by now but this has to be the best April for powder skiing I have experienced in the Cascades. I have yet to do the Spearhead and will be looking at doing it this spring sometime in corn conditions.
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VerticallyInclined
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Posts: 54
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Awesome! I'm glad someone was up high enjoying the fine weather!
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Mtraslin
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Posts: 168
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Good one....
Great weather, awesome snow, good stability....(On saturday) Looks like a lot of people were out enjoying the day....
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fresh
5Member
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Posts: 63
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Nice work, Becky and Pete! You nailed the weather window. We were a day behind you... Saturday was gorgeous, Sunday dawned nice but clouded up quickly. The snow stayed crusty all day but at least the weather held until we reached Flute summit in a whiteout at mid-afternoon. Awesome traverse, would love to do some more skiing along the way next time!
My son Stewart, PNWBrit and I did it 23 and 24th. Weather started coming in on Sunday morning.
Back to Whistler base at 4.00 Pm on Sunday to live music and cheesburgers at the base.
Hey Scotsman, you must have been the other crew at Naden-Macbeth col? Thanks for sharing, we were the crew in the circus tent. Did you do the straight shot down the Macbeth and then up to Overlord?
-Doug
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Scotsman
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Posts: 3174
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Nice work, Becky and Pete! You nailed the weather window. We were a day behind you... Saturday was gorgeous, Sunday dawned nice but clouded up quickly. The snow stayed crusty all day but at least the weather held until we reached Flute summit in a whiteout at mid-afternoon. Awesome traverse, would love to do some more skiing along the way next time!
Hey Scotsman, you must have been the other crew at Naden-Macbeth col? Thanks for sharing, we were the crew in the circus tent. Did you do the straight shot down the Macbeth and then up to Overlord?
-Doug
Yes.. nice to meet you. Great campsite. Yes..we went straight down the Macbeth. It was an icy death ski over frozen avy debris and coral reef skin tracks followed by an icy death skin track up the other side that I booted at several steep bits, then a survival ski on breakable crust down the Overlord Glacier with a traverse to the hut.... followed by some actual enjoyable luge skiing down the Singing pass trail. How was your route?
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Chief Etiquette Officer of TAY and TAY's #1 Poster
Poet Laureate of TAY.
Chairman and Founder of FOTAY( Friends of TAY)
Moderator of the moderators.
"Most Brilliant Move" of the 11/12 ski season
" Knows what he is talking about"
Expert Typist.
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fresh
5Member
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Posts: 63
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Yes.. nice to meet you. Great campsite. Yes..we went straight down the Macbeth. It was an icy death ski over frozen avy debris and coral reef skin tracks followed by an icy death skin track up the other side that I booted at several steep bits, then a survival ski on breakable crust down the Overlord Glacier with a traverse to the hut.... followed by some actual enjoyable luge skiing down the Singing pass trail. How was your route?
We enjoyed similar conditions on the Iago and the Diavolo Euphemistically the skiing was described as "fast" and "technical". Instead of the Singing Pass trail we slogged up Oboe and Flute before enjoying the best turns of the day down slushy groomers back to the village.
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Scotsman
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Posts: 3174
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We enjoyed similar conditions on the Iago and the Diavolo Euphemistically the skiing was described as "fast" and "technical". Instead of the Singing Pass trail we slogged up Oboe and Flute before enjoying the best turns of the day down slushy groomers back to the village.
Good work on your route...we saw you at one stage in the distance and admired your fortitude as we took the "direct route" back.
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Chief Etiquette Officer of TAY and TAY's #1 Poster
Poet Laureate of TAY.
Chairman and Founder of FOTAY( Friends of TAY)
Moderator of the moderators.
"Most Brilliant Move" of the 11/12 ski season
" Knows what he is talking about"
Expert Typist.
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