PaulB

Climb: Bridge River Canyon-Night N Gale Date of Climb: 2/21/2004 Trip Report: My friend Wes and I rolled into Lillooet Friday night around midnight, threw up a tent in the Cayoosh Creek campground (officially closed, but the owner doesn't mind tenters), and settled in for a short night's sleep. Up at 6AM, and after breakfast at the Reynold's we headed out to the Bridge River Canyon. Parked at the campsite below the dam, checked that the log jam across the river was there, packed our gear, and left the truck at 9 AM. The river crossing was simplified by wearing crampons to navigate the icy logs and rocks, and a set of tracks made for an easy to follow trail along the river and up through the bush. The approach gully had lots of recent avy debris, which we interpreted as meaning that the avy danger on the route would now be low. We soloed up to the first short ice step, which we pitched out, and which was in great shape. The simul-climbing slog up to the main ice flow varied from loose snow to nice styrofoam neve to short sections of low angle ice. Four hours got us to the base of the real ice, which was big, blue and very wet. Wes decided he'd give the first pitch a go, and launched up it, leading it in fine style. The soft ice turned out to be a good thing for me, because shortly after starting to second the pitch, I snapped a pick (about 1.5" off of a BD Cobra) and had to finish the pitch with a "stub". I was glad that Wes had decided to take the lead. Of course my spare pick was down in the truck, since in ten years of ice climbing I've never had a pick break, and I certainly didn't expect it to happen on soft, wet ice. I traded my busted tool for one of Wes', and led the last pitch, which was a bit of a rope stretcher with our slightly less than 60m rope. We topped out at 5:30 as daylight was starting to fade, and began the long descent. We made a wallowing traverse down and to the right through deep snow, until reaching the top of a cliff. With headlamps on, we made two long rappels to get into the next drainge, which deposited us just under the main ice flow. Much downclimbing and two rappels eventually got us to the base of the approach gully. Some more hiking down through the trees, along and across the river, and we were back to the road at 10:15. Throwing all our gear in the truck, we headed for Lillooet, assuming that our chances of finding any food were just about zero. As it turned out, the pizza shop was open until midnight (only food in town after 9 PM according to the staff) so we ordered ourselves a large Italian, and took it over to the Vic Pub to wash it down with some beer. Our stomach's full, we drove to the campground, set up the tent, and crashed for a well earned night's sleep. Sunday morning we got up around 8:30, had breakfast at the Reynold's and then headed to the Rambles for a relaxing day on some less committing terrain. All in all, a great weekend! Gear Notes: Ice gear (with spare pick!) 60m ropes Webbing/cord for rap anchors Approach Notes: Start early!

Actually, Agawa Canyon near Sault Ste. Marie is somewhat closer to Chicago, but you need to catch the "Snow Train" to get into it. I've never climbed at Orient Bay, but from talking to friends that have, I recall that some climbs are only steps from the road, while others have 30-40 minute uphill approaches.

Well worth the effort... and make no mistake, getting to Thunder Bay requires effort. Either lots of driving, or an expensive flight, or a combination of the two.

I got mine at the Intuition "factory" in Vancouver for CAN$120 (approx USD$72). Don't know if they do individual mail orders or not. Call 'em at 604-879-9231.

If you're in Toronto and want a road trip, take a weekend and go to Quebec City. You can climb at Montmorency Falls, and all women love old Quebec City.

Anyone out there familiar with Phalanx? Specifically, I'm wondering if there is a way to get back in bounds from the bench at 1800m on the north side of the mountain without traversing all the way around to the base of the Poop Shoots. Yesterday, we saw several tracks heading down into the trees from the west end of the mountain, but looking at the Baldwin map it wasn't obvious where they might end up. The run from the summit, down the Phalanx Glacier to the bench (2100 ft. elev loss) is fantastic. Just have to watch out for heli-skiers.

You can check ice conditions at: Rock & River and NE Ice It's been awhile since I looked at the guidebooks, but if I remember correctly, areas around Keene Valley offer the easiest access.

I've got both Ascension ClipFix and G3's. They both do the job, but I prefer the G3 system. With the ClipFix you need to have the length of the skin just right, or when it gets really cold, they shrink and you can't cam the clip over the tail of the ski. Conversely, when its warm, its easy for the clip to come undone as the skins stretch. If you plan to use one set of skins with two (or more) pairs of similar length skis, I'd go with the G3 (or the BD GlideLite) system. Easier to adjust for small changes in length without having to muck around with the fold over at the tip.

Here's the secret tool for getting into Phair Creek. This logging crew was very cool. Not only did they move these trees (which they had to do anyways so they could get home), but they also took their bulldozer further up the road to clear trees & rocks out of our way (which they definitely didn't have to do). Obviously there is active logging on the Enterprise Creek road, but they didn't say for how long. Here are the climbs. The ice looks thicker in the photos than it did in person. I think I've got the names right, but if not, let me know. A Phairly Phast Tick Just Walkin' The Dog Phair Game This may be It's Only Phair. It was a couple hundred meters past A Phairwell to Arms. Or this may be It's Only Phair, as it was at the 8km mark (as per Don's CAJ'00 descriptions), but it was a lot longer than 60m And finally, from Sunday here's Loose Lady. Hard to see, but there's a third person at the base of the mushrooms, on the left, setting up a rappel.

We got to 4.5km on the Enterprise Creek Road (chains for one short icy section), where the road to Phair Creek branches off. From there we skied/snowshoed/hiked the rest of the way. Someone with a lot of faith in their 4x4 skills (and chains on all wheels) could probably have driven all the way to the gate (which was unlocked).

Lots of reduced prices on MEC website these days. Two that caught my eye: Mixed Master GTX Gloves - CDN$58 Omega Pacific 22cm Ice Screw - CDN$29 These can both be shipped to the US.

Went into Phair Creek on Saturday to check things out. It's Only Phair was the fattest of the bunch, and A Phair Well To Arms looked pretty good from the road. Phair Game was pretty thin, but probably climbable by the bold. Everything else was marginal or almost non-existent. Didn't actually climb anything, but it was a good exploratory trip. On Sunday we ended up doing the approach pitches to Loose Lady, which are in great shape. Loose Lady itself has huge mushrooms for the first pitch, and then about 50' of vertical column to finish.... very impressive. Two guys from Seattle had just finished climbing it when we got into the upper bowl. Full TR and some pics coming shortly. The story of our Friday night in Lillooet and our journey into Phair Creek is worth telling.

Suprisingly, when I went to Intuition in Vancouver to get custom liners made, this was suggested as an option. In the end they molded them without any liner or orthotic at all. After wearing them a few times I decided that they didn't give enough arch support. I'd go with some kind of insole inside the thermoform liner next time.

This is what I now use in my climbing and ski boots. If I was a guide, and wearing my boots 10 or more hours a day 5 or 6 days a week, I'd make the effort to get the orthotics to work, but for day use the Superfeet work great.

I tried wearing orthotics in my mountaineering boots, and experienced a similar problem with one foot. After some investigation, I determined that the position of the orthotic in my boot was not always the same. If it was too far forward or back, the arch support would end up in the wrong spot, and be very uncomfortable. Since my orthotics were sized to fit my street shoes (slightly shorter than my boots), there wasn't much I could do to fix it. My conclusion was that in some footwear, orthotics need to be exactly the right length, and probably won't be changeable into other boots/shoes.

As a relative newcomer to the West Coast (this is my 5th winter) I'm also curious to know how these conditions compare to the "norm".

Did anyone check out the road into Phair Creek this weekend?

Entropy (pic attached) at the Soo Bluffs north of Whistler is in, but pretty thin. Nearly every screw was tied off, including those in the belay anchor . Take your stubbies and your old picks! None of the other lines on the bluffs were in.

I believe that when BD changed their manufacturing process, they sold their old factory to Smiley (now owned by Omega Pacific). Smiley screws were identical to the older BD screws, but were much cheaper, making them excellent value. I'm not sure if they're still using the same production line now though. Omega also sells a "coffee grinder" type attachment that you can retro-fit onto most screws. They don't fold down, but I haven't found that to be a big issue since I only put them on a few screws for "urgent" placements.

After much consideration and consultation, I've ordered a pair of 173cm Havocs (88mm waist). Most everyone I've asked have said "go fat and short". Should have them in a week or so!

How was the river crossing?

I'm keeping the Stinx (yes, they are sweet ).... I just want more toys!

How much should you dial back the length of a ski as the waist width increases? I'm currently on 188cm Super Stinx (70mm), and am considering Crossbows (82mm). Should I be looking at the 179 or the 187cm? I'm planning to use them in the backcountry, and probably some off-piste at the lifts. What are the consequences of choosing too short or too long? I'm 6', 175lbs.

Most people's goggles fog up because they park them on their head until they want to use them. The water vapour coming off their head gets trapped in the goggles, and when they take them off their warm head, and put them on their cold face, the vapour condenses.

There's another map (I don't know who publishes it) which is made from aerial summer photos overlaid with route info and waypoints (actual GPS waypoints for the Spearhead Traverse are provided). It looks a bit fancier than the Baldwin map, but I prefer Baldwin's. As for recommended places to ski, it depends on what kind of terrain you like, and what the snow conditions are. For a relatively easy touring day with access to some short, moderate slopes, the Singing Pass area is good. This is accessed from Whistler, and is usually a safer option when avi conditions aren't great elsewhere. It also doesn't have any glaciers to worry about. For longer runs, head beyond Singing Pass onto the Overlord Glacier, or, if you're feeling good, drop some steep lines down Fissile Peak. On the other other side of the valley, behind Blackcomb, the Spearhead glacier is another great spot for some moderate runs. Get the Baldwin map, it's got all the goods marked on it.