JasonG

Sobering. I lost a good friend to a tree well at Baker a few years ago. Before his accident (he was an excellent skier who had skied from a young age), I thought that sort of thing just happened to folks who really didn't know what they were doing. Keep a close eye on your partners when tree skiing in the powder, it only takes a few minutes to die when you go all the way in like that.

I'm on my second pair of these in about 6 years and I like them a lot: http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/Snowsports/MensClothing/GlovesAndMitts/PRD~5024-099/mec-oracle-gloves-unisex.jsp Near as I can tell, they seem to be just as good as gloves that cost twice as much. Gotta love MEC brand stuff.

1) Clear it with the rangers if you don't want the cache removed from the mountain. 2) No. There aren't many (any?) roads in the PNW that go to 8K. Maybe somewhere in southern Oregon?? Still, not within a couple hours.

Sounds like it is a 50 Classic for a reason! Thanks for the reminder.

Nice work Caleb, we've missed your TRs around here! Good to see the photos from yet another stellar road trip too.....I need to head down to the Sierra and Tetons and stop chossdawging.

And before any angry e-mountaineers chime in, yes I know that the photo is of the Bugaboos, and yes, the Bugs aren't part of the Rockies. Most of the photos Steph will be presenting will be from the Rockies proper though, so please take a deep breath.

Two noted northwest mountain photographers, Steph Abegg and John Scurlock, will collaborate on a special presentation at the February 7th meeting of the Skagit Alpine Club. Steph will give a slideshow on their joint six-day aerial photography adventure in September, 2011, amongst the massive and rugged Canadian Rockies. Highlights include Mt. Robson, Kakwa Provincial Park, Jasper National Park, Columbia Icefield, Valhallas, Bugaboos, Mt. Assiniboine, and more. John will also discuss the making of his new book, "Snow & Spire: Flights to Winter in the North Cascade Range". Copies of the book will be available as well, with proceeds going to benefit the SAC. Please join us for what is sure to be an amazing show!!

Ah yes, you mean whoeverovsky.

WOW! That is an amazing collection of images, both for their quality and the hard lines that they were taken from. I don't think I have seen anything quite like it.

sounds like an adventure under the current conditions.

I think we left the car (@ Narada Falls) about 0900 and were back about 1500-1530. Good travel conditions will make or break the trip- we had very firm conditions, especially up high.

Good point.

I usually just use a #2 or 3 Camalot and my nut tool. I haven't run into a piece worth having that I couldn't remove with this combo. My nut tool has a plastic handle that doesn't appear to damage the cam.... But, I like your style!

What a difference a month makes, looks like it is in cruisey shape right now. Way to hang in there with one crampon!

I got some Leukotape and tried it out on the Wapta last week. Wow! That stuff sticks like no other, staying on for the duration of the trip. Thanks for the suggestion, I have found the right tape.

Thanks for posting John! We were admiring the beer climbs as we drove through Field on Thursday, great to hear about folks getting on them. Thanks also for posting a Rockies related trip, the cc.com database could use a lot more so keep 'em coming!

Trip: Mount Gordon- The Wapta in Winter - Date: 1/2/2012 Trip Report: Ever since a full traverse of the Wapta in 2006 (where I didn't climb anything), I've wanted to go back and stand on a few of the higher summits. The schedules of Trent and Sepultura meshed with mine this winter and a plan was hatched to go to the Bow and Peyto huts, and attempt to ski and climb some of the peaks along the Wapta Icefield. We left early on New Year's day, which worked out well, as the traffic on the Trans Can was minimal the whole way to Lake Louise. It took us about 10 hours or so of driving, and we stayed the night in the Mosquito Creek Hostel north of Lake Louise. No power, but heat and decent accommodations. The outhouse was COLD, however. Early the next morning we awoke to clear skies and met Lynn from Canmore for the ski in to Bow hut. The scenery is spectacular right off the bat, and it only took about 3 hours to get to the comfortable (wood heat!), well-situated, and empty hut. We dropped overnight gear and prepared to head up to Mt. Gordon for a peak bagging warm up (it is a ski up). While the temps were moderate for winter Wapta standards (-10C), the winds were "extra special for the Wapta" according to Lynn. I think it took us about 3 hours to get to the summit of Gordon, fighting an intense head wind the whole way. But the views and solitude made up for the discomfort, amazing!! We skied down to the hut in the fading light, and enjoyed some fine food, wine, and company by the fire. Huts are just so civilized. That evening it started to snow and blow, and that would be a theme for the remainder of our trip. Plans were scrapped for the Peyto hut, and we spent the next two days skiing around the hut in flat light, snow, and wind, before deciding to pull the plug and leave a day early (in an intensifying snow storm). On one of those days, we did summit the "Onion" above the hut, but Mt. Gordon was the only major summit we managed to get up on our trip. Such is life on the Wapta in winter, I suppose. We will be back, although probably in later winter or spring next time! Skiing across Bow lake en route to the hut: Mt. St. Nicholas: Skinning up onto the Wapta in that "extra special" wind: Trent below Mt. Rhonda: Trent and Sepultura, with Mt. Collie in the background: Baker and Rhonda on the right, not sure of the prominent peak in the back center: Mt. Olive: View north from the summit of Gordon (~10,500') Hector lake and Mt. Hector: The view west into the maelstorm from the top of Gordon: Skiing back to the hut with a strong tailwind: Hut life!: Ptarmigan that lived around the hut: Strong winds on the "Onion": Leaving the hut in the continuing storm: Skiing back across Bow Lake: Stuck in the avalanche control back-up on the west side of Rogers Pass: Gear Notes: Skis, standard glacier gear. Approach Notes: 4WD is nice for the long, icy drive. Especially if they close the Icefields Parkway and stop plowing it while you are up at the hut . This happened to us, and we would have been in trouble without 4WD HC. During a storm, the drifts can get very deep.

Great TR!!! Excellent stories and photos as usual Mark, thanks for the reminder to get back there.....

I get it! Moosejah is just getting ready to ask for forgiveness.

Keithish- Canon T1i, but pp via Lightroom is probably more of what you see.

http://www.king5.com/new-day-northwest/Author-John-Scurlock-136742298.html Cool to see John on TV talking about the new book!

I sure love lookouts, and really wish we had more of them. Unfortunately, there were quite a number of them burned down from the 1960's onward.

John, Drew was referring to Lowell's climb chronology.... no need to apologize. Thanks for the tidbit about DHS though, I hadn't even considered that aspect to shooting the book.

I will be advertising it officially in a couple weeks, but I wanted to give folks a heads up that John and Steph Abegg will be doing a tag team presentation at the Skagit Alpine Club on Feb 7th (Burlington Public Library, 7pm). He will be mixing it up a bit from his standard book talk, and will be presenting on how the book came about. Steph will round out the program with a presentation on her and John's week doing aerial photography in the Canadian Rockies. Of course, Snow and Spire will be for sale (and signing), with the proceeds going to benefit SAC. Thanks much John and Steph!!

Maybe in France. In America, special interests run this country, and that's the way we like it. Seriously though, thanks for framing the issue. I may need to send an email also.