June 30, 2005, Birthday Tour, Blackcomb Glacier
6/30/05
Canada BC
3280
0
I know I'll catch hell for this, as it is "supposed" to be posted in "Lift-Access", but it's summer, dammit, and I did tour a glacier!
I had eyed Wedge Mountain a few days prior, and inquired with the local guides as to heli access to the summit. "No go, unless they want to lose their permit. No mechanical drops in the Provincial Park." Knowing that the trip would take 2 full days on foot, and being on a family vacation, I opted for the lift serve instead. (However, I'm seeing a late spring ascent in the future.) After the requisite 45-minute chair/bus/t-bar ride up to the gates leading out toward the Blackcomb Glacier, I spent the next half-hour traversing to, and skinning up, the Decker Col. As the weather all around me was variably yo-yoing clouds and fog, I was able to remain in the sucker hole for most of that time. At the Col, I looked down the delicious 1500 vert. of cream corn I was about to devour, and saw clear across the valley to Rainbow Peak! (on the west side of the valley, across from Blackcomb) The snow was absolutely wonderful, juxtaposed with the salted shite on the Horstman Glacier (not to mention escaping the sessioners at the camps on the other side of Spanky's Ladder!!) I savored the 10 minutes of the descent, then broke for lunch, in the sun, and eyeing more lines in couloirs not eassily seen from anywhere else. Alas, though, the clock was my master, as the last t-bar out to avoid a 4-mile leg-powered (reading that "hiking in full battle gear!") descent was in less than 90 minutes! So, I enjoyed the pure loneliness of the acsent, and popped back over to the Horstman with 5 minutes to spare before lift shutdown. What a way to turn 44!
I did manage to get my July turns in on July 1, in the rain, slush, and urban density of the Horstman. They counted for month 93, but not NEARLY the satisfaction of the day before! Besides, in July, ANY turns are good ones!!
I had eyed Wedge Mountain a few days prior, and inquired with the local guides as to heli access to the summit. "No go, unless they want to lose their permit. No mechanical drops in the Provincial Park." Knowing that the trip would take 2 full days on foot, and being on a family vacation, I opted for the lift serve instead. (However, I'm seeing a late spring ascent in the future.) After the requisite 45-minute chair/bus/t-bar ride up to the gates leading out toward the Blackcomb Glacier, I spent the next half-hour traversing to, and skinning up, the Decker Col. As the weather all around me was variably yo-yoing clouds and fog, I was able to remain in the sucker hole for most of that time. At the Col, I looked down the delicious 1500 vert. of cream corn I was about to devour, and saw clear across the valley to Rainbow Peak! (on the west side of the valley, across from Blackcomb) The snow was absolutely wonderful, juxtaposed with the salted shite on the Horstman Glacier (not to mention escaping the sessioners at the camps on the other side of Spanky's Ladder!!) I savored the 10 minutes of the descent, then broke for lunch, in the sun, and eyeing more lines in couloirs not eassily seen from anywhere else. Alas, though, the clock was my master, as the last t-bar out to avoid a 4-mile leg-powered (reading that "hiking in full battle gear!") descent was in less than 90 minutes! So, I enjoyed the pure loneliness of the acsent, and popped back over to the Horstman with 5 minutes to spare before lift shutdown. What a way to turn 44!
I did manage to get my July turns in on July 1, in the rain, slush, and urban density of the Horstman. They counted for month 93, but not NEARLY the satisfaction of the day before! Besides, in July, ANY turns are good ones!!
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