Coquihalla Take 2

On Dec 30, 2012 we headed back to the Coquihalla Hwy with the ACC for another epic day of backcountry skiing. We went with Stephen Hooper (Trip leader), Robert Stupka, and Daniel Hudson, the same group we went with last time.  This time we parked at a pullout South-West of the Falls Lake parking area and toured up Nak Peak.  We climbed to an area just below the summit block of Nak (~6000ft El.) and then traversed below the Nak summit to the Nak-Thar Col.  From there we found a wicked alpine bowl where we set up a "base camp" and spent the day skiing laps in the bowl on a bluebird day. A few areas were windswept, but if you chose your lines wisely there were sweet line with great powder to be had. The weather was great for most of the day, slightly below freezing in the sun, but the wind picked up and the temperature dropped in the late afternoon. By then we were all worn out from all the skiing so we traversed back over to Nak for one last awesome run all the way down to the pipe line and out to the car. We ended the trip with a compulsory stop for food at Home Restaurant in Hope. Thanks for organizing another sweet day skiing the Coqu. Stephen!

Photos By Stephen Hooper:

Photos By Robert Stupka:

First Backcountry Ski Day of the Season

On Dec.9, 2012 We went to Thar Peak off the Coquihalla Highway with the ACC for some backcountry skiing.

Trip Report:

Sun, Dec 9 2012 - Coquihalla - Ski Tour (View Original Event Details) Event Leader(s): Stephen H. Participants: Stephen H., Marcus Tomlinson, Amber McMinn, Michael McMinn, Daniel Hudson, Brian Page, Robert Stupka

Stephen Hooper's Write Up:
Headed out with a group of 7 to Thar in the Coquihalla for a day of touring. Heavy cloud cover       and winds picked up early in the morning. Made our way up to the 3 dead trees vista and decided
to see how far we could go. 2/3rds of the way up I spotted sunshine at the top and the winds were not too bad. We topped out above the clouds in full sunshine with the world racing around us. Skied down a great section, traversed to a protected area, and yo-yoed till our legs gave in and called it a day. The snow conditions were very stable but we missed the waist deep soft pow by 1 day.

A video of the day by Stephen Hooper:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9_w4DF-wyo

Some Pics By Robert Stupka:

Hello Winter!

Yay, the hills are finally snowy!  We went up to Cypress for the first ski day of the season about a week ago.  They still need some more coverage, but it was fun to get out on the skis again. Tomorrow we're headed to the Coquihalla Summit for the first backcountry outing of the season. Should be good times!

Some updates from the past few months:

On thanksgiving weekend in October, I did a sweet run up the Howe Sound Crest Trail. Amazing views.  I can't wait for next summer to attempt to run the whole trail.

Shortly after that I injured my IT band and had to take the rest of the fall off of running and climbing.  I just started climbing and some short runs again about two weeks ago and went for my first trail run in over two months this morning. It was fabulous!



While I was off of running we decided to get out of the rain for a bit an booked a last minute package to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico! It was a great week of sun and relaxation.

Since then I've helped out on a wet and muddy, but fun, trail building day and we attended my annual work Christmas Party!

Let the Christmas fun Begin!

September

We've lucked out with some great weather this last month which has let us extend summer and get out for some great adventures this past month.

We spent the labour day long weekend in the Anderson River Valley and climbed the North Ridge of Reh Peak. A great 4-pitch, 5.2 knife edge ridge.

The following weekend we celebrated the upcoming wedding of Ange and Kyle with a Stag and stagette

And got out for a fall hike of the Squamish Chief.

The following week Mike and I headed down to Snoqualmie Pass and climbed a 4-pitch 5.4 alpine rock route called "The Tooth:

On our way home from the US, we checked out the Woodland Park Zoo and fed the Giraffes and Elephants

Once we got back to Canada, we headed to Peace Arch Park to Celebrate Ange and Kyle's Marriage and enjoy a fabulous BBQ dinner at their wedding reception.

Since then I've been back to the running clinic and enjoying some Mountain Madness Trail Runs on Saturday mornings and taking full advantage of the warm weather with some local North Shore Hikes.