maurop

I'll second that.

pm'ed!

The b/c passes don't get advertised, my guess is so that people don't abuse them and potentially for liability? Anyways, they'll do a safety check (beacon/probe/shovel/skins) to make sure you have the gear to go into the backcountry. You can pick one up at guest services usually. Whatever you do, please don't abuse the privileges that come with the pass

JasonG has pointed out the issue. You'll spend most of the day slogging into the alpine in the whistler area. The backcountry pass is worth it. Try the Singing Pass Trail for access to the Musical Bumps are if you do want to go human powered. The backcountry pass enables you to get up to the top of the highest chairs, and then ski into the backcountry from there. Also check out Rainbow Mountain (Callaghan Valley) or drive an extra hour to the Duffey. You'll start at 1300m which makes getting a few laps in that much easier. Tends to be drier and colder than whistler, making for less but better snow. Have fun!

I figure if you're going to start later than 8am, you might as well wait for the gondola. It definitely makes the approach easy. Awesome you made the best of the conditions. PM me next time you're thinking about squamish. I climb there often, although I'm not the hardest climber around.

didn't get your pm?

I'm looking for someone to team up with this winter to do remote but easy/moderate winter climbing. I don't own a snowmobile, so access would be on skis. If you're willing to engage in cold sufferfests, slogs, etc, please pm me. It would be nice to team up for some cragging and late summer alpine to get to know each other. I don't promise anything but adventure.

Was up there on an attempt a week ago.The road is in decent shape if you have a 4x4 and decent skills. HC isn't necessary, but it's nice. There's been more rain recently, but the last water we found on the slabs below the bypass ramps. A small chunk of ice is slowly melting, giving just enough water to fill a bottle in some spots. You'll need other input for water on the descent.

What Rad said. The "bold" will fade into forgotten... It's all good. It wasn't a FA or anything, if it gets forgotten it's not the end of the world. Otto, I think you're looking at the South Nesakwatch Spire.

Sorry guys, I can't be bothered.... Here's a link to my photos on flickr for easier viewing https://flic.kr/s/aHskignPBm thanks for the suggestions though! It's a great trip, and can easily be done as a day trip with good route finding, an early start, and efficient movement.

hmmmm.... it appears I'm not being bold enough. Any tips? the FAQ post isn't helping.

With a free day this weekend and itching to do something bold, I sent out various emails/text messages to find anyone willing for adventure. The forecast was casting some doubt. Not really too sure what would happen, Don M, Jack, and I boldly set off out to Chilliwack for some fun alpine rambling. We set out from Burnaby in the dark at 4am with light rain. We stopped for a quick Timmy's visit in Chilliwack, and then continued up towards Chilliwack Lake. The clouds were thick, and a bit off-putting. We boldly continued driving up the Nesakwatch Creek FSR to the Mt Rexford trailhead, arriving at 6.30. I was a bit reluctant to commit to the hike, as it was socked in, and I felt it was threatening rain. Boldy, we headed up the trail. http://forums.clubtread.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=78041 Classic view of Slesse We reached the alpine basin in just over two and a half hours, where we scrambled to the base of the N ridge of the N Nesakwatch Spire. The morning was a bit chilly but the clouds we starting to lift. It was a nice change from the heat as of late, and at this point, we donned our layers. At this point, I could see the Nesakwatch Crack (???) with the massive chockstone. It was pretty cool to see it coming through the fog. First objective Getting ready We boldy set off up the ridge without being roped up. Within minutes, I was boldly looking for a rope. Don quickly threw one up to me, I tied in, then continued up the ridge. Jack was off in the distance, pulling through 5.2 moves. Within a short time, we found ourselves on the warm sunny summit of the North Nesakwatch Spire. 1 down, 2 to go. The climbing was easy (max low 5th, mostly 3rd and 4th) with some exposure thrown in for measure. We chilled for a bit, then boldly continued down the S Ridge towards the South Nesakwatch Spire. We continued up and began traversing the along climber's left, staying well left of the ridge, venturing onto the face. The exposure increased until we found a good bench, looking up at a 20m pitch of what looked like fun climbing. Jack had boldly ventured off on easier ground, but this pitch looked too fun to pass up. It was very similar to Diedre or the 2nd pitch of skywalker if you've climbed that, not too hard, but a lot of the same moves over and over. In approach shoes it felt like 5.8. Don boldly met up with me up top, where I was sure we were off route. I could see Jack on the summit above, having soloed the offwidth. A short wandering pitch found us on easy, but very exposed terrain. One more bold pitch and we were at the base of the summit block, staring at the 5.7 offwidth. Jack had soloed his way up there, but wasn't in the mood for bold downclimbing. I thought, 5.7 offwidth, no big deal. I'd even brought my largest piece of protection along. Sadly, I found midpitch it did not fit. In fact, I only had a slung chockstone for protection. While the pitch was short (5-7m), I'm no offwidth climber. Burling my way up, I managed a few offwidth moves. With a final grunt and holding on for dear life, I managed to reach to top. In the process I had stupidly dropped a cam (didn't take the climbing gear off), tore holes in my shirt, and donated some skin to the route. Don wisely declined the top rope. 2 down, 1 to go. Jack and I quickly rappelled down. A few minutes later, and we had rehydrated, eaten, and were off down the south ridge of the south spire. We found the rappel station, and made a 15 or so meter rappel into the notch below, between the S Nesakwatch Spire and Mt Rexford. We were all starting to feel a bit tired, the afternoon was wearing on, and hoping to avoid a late night, we boldly opted to descend a loose gully and head back to the truck. We were back at the truck at 6pm, where Don surpised us with some stashed Red Racer IPA. A scholar and gentleman. Not to mention organized. Mt Baker False summit of Rexford To summarize - despite everything working against us, we boldly ventured into the alpine, and boldly traversed the Nesakwatch Spires, where we boldly decided to retreat to the vehicle as we were starting to tire. I'd highly recommend this trip, even though we didn't do the full traverse. We made it car to car in just under 12 hours, and Rexford would likely have made it 14-15 hours. It's a fun outing, not too technically hard, and covers a lot of moderate alpine terrain. It also has options to bail after each spire. With good route finding, you can keep the grades to mid 5th I think (offwidth excepted). We didn't get up Rexford due to our concerns of a late night, but traffic on the way home had us second guessing ourselves. The only thing I would change is a bivy at the trailhead either prior to or just after this traverse to make it a bit easier on yourself. The only other note would be to watch for loose blocks on the descent of the south ridges on the spires. Credit to Jack for all the photos, he had my camera for the day.

http://bcwildfire.ca/hprScripts/WildfireNews/OneFire.asp?ID=567 Closed from O km, see pdf map below for more details. I think Chehalis FSR is still open to Chehalis Lake.

Thanks! Yep, left it right below the chockstone, it should have red tape on it. My partner plugged it a little too deep, and without a nut tool I couldn't get it out. Put it to good use! Did you guys get heat exhaustion? Sure was hot out. Did the fire on Harrison West FSR give you any issues?