March 25, 2006, Vantage Peak - BC
3/25/06
Canada BC
2370
0
Gary, Ruth, and I spent a long weekend at Keith's Hut north of Vancouver. We arrived right after a warm front passage, but temps quickly dropped and dumped 6" fresh overnight. Morning brought clear skies and sparkling snow, and we toured from the hut up the west ridge of Vantage Peak.
The upper half of the ridge consisted of incredibly variable conditions, with windswept hardpack, deposited powder, and spooky rime formations. We picked our way through the center of the maze, taking care to avoid the deeper deposit zones and cornices, and bootpacking the last 100 meters.
Vantage, true to its name, was a prime point to view the Joffre and Matier group across the valley, adorned by blue-ice glaciers, gaping crevasses, and fluted ridges. Near the summit we found a cornice-free ramp to descend the north ridge, which granted accesss to more moderate powder slopes leading into the northeast drainage. It was truly a vivid moment to loop over the peak to the incredible backdrop of the coast range!
Whiskey Jacks accomanied the last part of the journey back to the main trail, providing the usual antics of landing on our heads and stealing bites of our lunches. The hut was packed full on saturday night, and we joined in the revelry of the large crowd from the UBC and greater Vancouver area.
The morning brought some rosy vistas, and then it snowed for the rest of the day. We noted several areas of easy shear with the most recent layer, both natural and triggered, on windloaded north aspects and on older suncrusted south slopes.
More photos from Gary:
http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/gyngve/KeithHut/
- Kevin
The upper half of the ridge consisted of incredibly variable conditions, with windswept hardpack, deposited powder, and spooky rime formations. We picked our way through the center of the maze, taking care to avoid the deeper deposit zones and cornices, and bootpacking the last 100 meters.
Vantage, true to its name, was a prime point to view the Joffre and Matier group across the valley, adorned by blue-ice glaciers, gaping crevasses, and fluted ridges. Near the summit we found a cornice-free ramp to descend the north ridge, which granted accesss to more moderate powder slopes leading into the northeast drainage. It was truly a vivid moment to loop over the peak to the incredible backdrop of the coast range!
Whiskey Jacks accomanied the last part of the journey back to the main trail, providing the usual antics of landing on our heads and stealing bites of our lunches. The hut was packed full on saturday night, and we joined in the revelry of the large crowd from the UBC and greater Vancouver area.
The morning brought some rosy vistas, and then it snowed for the rest of the day. We noted several areas of easy shear with the most recent layer, both natural and triggered, on windloaded north aspects and on older suncrusted south slopes.
More photos from Gary:
http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/gyngve/KeithHut/
- Kevin
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