Bigtree

Does anyone know of any rechargeable AA lithium battery brands out there?

A gps is definitely not required although I hadn't been on the trail for > 15 years so it was helpful, particularly in the snow. Note that I added a topo map and gps track to my photo-set for you (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigtree/sets/72057594080374339/). Much of the route is a fairly skookum old logging road. Directions are as follows: Hwy 1 to Lions Bay. Oceanview Road then left onto Cross Creek Road. Right on Centre Road. Left on Bayview Road. Left on Mountain Drive. Left on Sunset Drive to gate.

Thanks kweb - I appreciate it. That was fantastic footage.

Jmace, you're quite right about Unnecessary and I'm sure my partner told me as much several times throughout the day. Some kind of Freudian thing going on no doubt. I'll try and change the pic posting.

Here's some pics of an attempt to tag the summit of the West Lion on March 3, 2006 (West Lion is one of the skyline bumps on the horizon when looking at North Vancouver from the South): http://www.flickr.com/photos/62906156@N00/sets/72057594080374339/ Started climb at ~ 7:30 am from end of Sunset Dr. in Lions Bay - elev. 787 ft. Got to the base of the West Lion at ~ 12:30 pm after a long slog through fresh snow - elev 5 083 ft. With a turnaround time of 2:00 pm and a ferry to catch back to the Island we waved goodbye to the summit but vowed to come back in a few weeks for an attempt via the gully from the North West. Back to car at ~ 3:30 pm. Gear notes: crampons, snowshoes, 8 mm rope, walking pole, tech ice tools, harnesses and very small rack, and big bag of gummy bears. Used it all although we went looking for the little ice climb and could have easily avoided it. Also, should have brought a shovel/avi probe and beacon as we wasted much time avoiding high risk/avi prone areas. I'll try and attach the gps track/waypoint info in txt format to this post. PM me if it doesn't work and I'll e-mail it to you separately.

On a more positive note, I bought myself one of the new Garmin GPSmap 60CSx units. Have used it on several winter outings so far this season and am quite pleased with features/performance. Its relatively compact in size; weight is 7 oz with 2 AA batteries as measured on our little kitchen scale; has an integral compass and barometric altimeter; big colour screen; and best of all, it has expandable memory that has enabled me (with a 512 Mb micro sd card upgrade) to load my Mapsource topos/waypoints/climbing routes from the bottom of the Alaskan panhandle in British Columbia South the Mexican border and East of the Rockies. Yea, battery life could be better but what's the big deal about carrying 2 spare AA's. I use alkaline rechargeables and haven't found the need to spend the dough for lithium's to-date although its a common refrain and likely the way to go for long multiday trips in cold weather. I've used earlier era gps's over the years for West coast forestry work and have found performance to be wanting, particularly with respect to that signal reception, small visual display, and lack of good topo mapping capabilities. Sure, some of the features are more entertaining than useful for mountaineering; however the topo mapping feature sure is nice (can be found on a number of different brands out there). In summary, my advice is stick with a handheld compass, thommen altimeter and a good topo if you are looking for a stripped down basic featured gps, or spend the money and get all the bells and whistles.

My interest is piqued however all I get is the message "Authorization Required". So sad. Any chance of reposting or providing some access advice?

Dru, you are quite correct in terms of location. The Flickr site mentioned a ~ 4 day trip so incorrectly presumed the picture poster had headed way up river. While I agree with your comments with respect to map reading, bushwacking etc., Nusatsum pass (and most local mountains adjacent the valley) is pretty easy to get to given the road constructed well up the west facing slope immediately below Mosquito Pass to access a large patch of blowdown timber sold and subsequently logged in the mid-90's. Cacoohtin Cr. on the other side of Mosquito Pass is also pretty well roaded and provides pretty easy access (relatively speaking given that some bushwacking is necessary) for a short 2-day up and over trip. No argument about Tweedsmuir/Rainbow Range being easy to get to. The Turner Lake chain is also a nice trip however it requires a costly flight in or a very long hike in from the Atnarko (usually filthy with bears throughout the summer months) not to mention the fact that much of the area has been burnt up in fires in the last few years. My recommendation is still a valley-based adventure.

Bernd, I checked out the pictures on the Flickr site - very nice. I don't recognize the specific locations but suspect they are around the headwaters of the Nusatsum, Noeick and Gyllenspetz Rivers (all around the Ape Lake area/Monarch Icefield MATTP refered to above). Mid-July through September is best - usually hot and sunny with strong outflow (evening/morning) and inflow (afternoon) winds. Lots of bugs as well June - July. Regarding Scott's first book, as he mentioned above, its now out of print. However, I've sent him an e-mail to see if he can spare 2 copies. I'd like a copy for myself so will keep one and will forward you the other. PM me your e-mail and mailing address and I'll advise you when I receive your copy and how much it will cost. I recently shipped a Thommen Altimeter to Switzerland for repair and it cost ~ $7-8 or so - would expect the same for the book.

Sorry - I'm in a Monday fog.

I don't know what Doug, Gary or any of the guys charge in the valley these days but suspect its pretty modest. Regardless, its a very long drive up from Vancouver (~ 14 hrs) and assuming the fellow only has a couple of days to spend in and around the valley, it makes sense not only from a safety perspective but to maximize his enjoyment.

Bernd, here's the response from Scott regarding his 2 books on the valley and surrounding area: "The first book, on the Bella Coola area, is out of print, though I still have some and could send them. MEC (Vancouver)and many of the stores in Bella Coola and along the Chilcotin Plateau (and in Williams lake) have the other. If you know how many of either book or both that the guys might want, I can send them some, or they can look for the Tweedsmuir one at the above locations.". Let me know if you are interested and I'll see what can be done.

Here’s another interesting bittorrent I found (IMAX Everest - 1998) in AVI format: http://www.torrentspy.com/torrent/511326/Everest_IMAX_1998 I use BitComment as a client to download - has worked fine for me for last couple of years - there are others if you need: http://www.bitcomet.com/

Here's links to a couple of bittorrents with climbing/mountain themes (including K2 Ultimate High and Touching the Void in dvd and avi format). Can't vouch for quality as haven't downloaded yet. Couldn't find the recent Nova show on Denali but will post a link if I come across it. http://www.torrentspy.com/default.asp http://ts.searching.com/torrent/35090/PBS_NOVA_Everest_The_Death_Zone_XviD_AC3_www_mvgroup_org http://ts.searching.com/torrent/47851/Nova_Kilimanjaro_Africas_Highest_Mountain http://ts.searching.com/torrent/179020/K2_The_Ultimate_High_NORDiC_PAL_DVDR_BAH http://ts.searching.com/torrent/309245/Touching_The_Void_LIMITED_DVDRip_XViD_SCREAM

Hi Don. I know Scott from my valley days and did a couple of hikes with him. He's an ordained minister now back east. I'll try and contact him through a friend who knows his exact whereabout and see if I can provide some specific leads on how to get ahold of the guidebooks.

Bernd, I lived and owned a cabin in the Bella Coola Valley for a number of years in the '90s. Grizzlies can be problematic anywhere in the valley bottom (i.e., from tidewater up to the Antnarko River at the bottom of the "Big Hill") but in particular when the salmon are running (pretty much spring through the fall months). My favourite place by far for day and multi-day moutaineering adventures was the Noeick Meadows/Ape Lake Trail area which you access from the Nusatsum Forest Service Road (~ 20 km from tidewater then a ~ 15 km drive to the pass). Another spectacular place better for hiking than mountaineering is up on the plateau in Tweedmuir Park. If you haven't seen it already, check out the following web site: http://www.bellacoola.ca/index.html. There's a couple of basic maps and some good information to get you started. As for guides, there's so much to see and do and if time is limited I strongly urge you to spend some money and hook up with a local. I noticed on the web site referenced above that Doug Baker is now now guiding. I worked with Doug a few years back and recall him being a decent and talented fellow (Doug Baker, Box 313, Hagensborg, BC, V0T 1H0, Phone: 250-982-2537). Gary Shelton is also a fellow worth tracking down - he's a bit older than Doug but ran a hunting guide service so knows the mountains extremely well. 541075-BCoolaMap.pdf

Could one of you folks be so kind as to post the web link to the cam. I wasn't aware there was one - most helpful.

MEC is sort of a canuck's version of REI. Hard to vouch for the quality of MEC brand packs these days since I don't currently own one. I can say I've been buying gear/clothing/sleeping bags etc from them for years and have been consistently pleased with my purchases, particularly their warranty/customer service.

Treknclime, my wife and I were there a couple of winters ago for a combined week-long gambling and climbing vacation. We bought a very economical package deal (airfare/hotel) and rented a cheap car to drive out for climbs daily. Might not be what you are looking for but it sure was a nice treat to have a bed/warm shower each night. Sounds like other posters have covered possible routes well. We spent most our time in the Panty Wall area given our lack of exprience with multi-pitch climbing. Its a short hike from the 1st pullout with a good selection of single-pitch climbs ranging from 5.5 - 5.12+. Also, suggest you stop in at Desert Rock Sports on Charleston Blvd (en route to RR in approaching from downtown) to pick up a guidebook ("Red Rocks - Sport Climbing Guide" for $16 is what I picked up/was pleased with).

I've had a Serratus 7000+ pack that has performed admirably for years for winter/summer use. Just bought an Arc'teryx Bora from MEC and am extremely pleased with engineering and features. A bit on the pricy side but well worth it. Check out the following site and then link to "Packs": http://www.mec.ca/. Note that if you are on a budget or are not interested in the Arc'teryx line the MEC packs struck me as pretty good value for money when I was checking them out a few months back.

Thanks for the informative responses - much appreciated. Note that I was noodling around in another string and folks there seem to speak highly of the Shuksan's. Cheers.

I've decided to take the plunge and buy some new AT gear this season; however, before doing so I thought I would cast about for some advice to see if anyone has anything good or bad to say about the Dynafit Tourlite Tech AT binding coupled with a Scarpa Matrix AT boot (3-buckle). Based on my current appetite, I suspect that I'll be doing more touring/climbing that skiing so weight and mobility were primary considerations in selecting the setup. I'm not interested in spending a wad of dough on skis but would welcome views on what's been working as a decent all-rounder these days (I'm 6' 2" & ~ 205 lbs).