[TR] N. Joffre Ck. - Fromage Suisse 3/22/2008

[Don_Serl]

Trip: N. Joffre Ck. - Fromage Suisse

 

Date: 3/22/2008

 

Trip Report:

Bruce Kay (many thanks!) had posted a couple encouraging reports on westcoastice.com of good ice remaining at the high altitudes in N Joffre Ck, and the weather remained cool and not very sunny, so Graham and I decided to have a look. We got out of town around 5:15, grabbed a bite at the Pony Espresso in Pemberton, and skied off up the nearly flat, bush-free road at about 9. We were at the end of the road in less than an hour-and-a-half, where I spent a while patching my abused heels, a souvenier from the previous weekend's ski approach.

 

The ice on the nearby Swiss Wall was copious, and looked to be in superb shape.

 

 

 

Another 30 or 40 minuts of skiing brought us to beneath the Schniedelwurz - Fromage Suisse gully, which caught the least sun and looked (perhaps) to be the most attractive ice on the wall. The flog up to the base of the routes was deep, soft, and slow, but was mellowed by the pleasant ambience of the whole valley, high, isolated, and peaceful.

 

 

 

I won the draw and chose the right-hand pillar. We soloed to the base and found a sheltered belay at a little shrub behind a nose of rock on the right. The ice at the base of the column was quite poor, but it then improved, with many single swing sticks interspersed with 'platey' sections. The column was far more strenuous and unrelenting than it appeared from below, and I was happy when the angle eased at about 30m.

 

 

 

I belayed just above the 'lip' where the angle drops to 'Grade 2', about 50m out. We rapped from there, as there didn't seem to be much point in climbing the final 20m of low-angled ice.

 

There was a possibility of climbing Schniedelwurz too, but since it had now turned 3 and we weren't anxious to turn this into a super-long day, we headed down. We were back at the road just after 5, and home by 8:30. North Joffre makes a long day-trip, but it's nice to be able to still climb local ice at Easter. Actually, I'd reckon there's several weeks more to go, provided we don't get a really warm wet rainy spell - there is a HUGE amount of ice, and it's in superb condition. The avvy threat to the Swiss Wall doesn't seem very hazardous, but big slides were thundering down the sunny opposite valley-side gullies continuously from noon till 4pm. Typical springtime in the mountains - choose your places and times!

 

Cheers,

Edited March 23, 2008 by Don_Serl

[powderhound]

Sick....looks like great ice.

[dbb]

nice Don, that looks great. What elevation are those at?

[Don_Serl]

guide says 1300m-1500m.

 

basemap shows junction off Duffey Lake rd at 1026m, end of spur at 1142m (~3750ft), swiss wall bluffs at abt 1300m-1500m (plus or minus 4500ft). 3.5km on road, 1km further up valley. bluff faces NE, so loses sun around mid-day. certainly still winter at those altitudes and aspects.

 

very similar to last weekend on Yaksmen: leave hwy at 1200m, lake at 1289m, route at about 1400m. 3.5km approach.

 

i can't believe how stupid i've been in ignoring these higher places in the past (esp NJC), but in my defense i'll plead two previous long approaches in poor snow conditions with bad alder on the road (abt 4hrs to swiss wall), with crap ice as the reward (too much sun, and/or too warm). and you DO need stable avvy conditions... just couldn't 'face it again' for a while.

 

however, i won't make this mistake again - NJC is definitely 'on the list' for mid-feb on out, once the snowpack has deepened, settled, and stabilized, and as the days lengthen. i'm VERY impressed by the quantity and quality of the ice - and by the ambience. this is NOT marble canyon!

 

cheers,

[gertlush]

From the guide I got the impression the approach was far more heinous (and from your comments I guess it can be!) but that is definitely a place to think about. Looks like a lot to do in there.

[PaulB]

From the guide I got the impression the approach was far more heinous (and from your comments I guess it can be!)

From what I can gather, until a year or so ago, the road was in pretty bad shape and overgrown with alder. Having been reactivated, it is now as user friendly as an unplowed logging road can be.

 

Note that Coast Range Heliskiing has a staging/refueling area near the start of the road, and they get bent out of shape () if access to their heli-pad is blocked by parked cars. On the other hand, there is no signage to indicate that they use it as such.

[jmace]

Note that Coast Range Heliskiing has a staging/refueling area near the start of the road

 

Can you blame them

 

the run is called Jaw Drop

 

 

[gertlush]

I haven't picked up my ice tools since I got on skis

and pictures like that aren't gonna help!

[Don_Serl]

choices, choices...

[Don_Serl]

From the guide I got the impression the approach was far more heinous (and from your comments I guess it can be!) but that is definitely a place to think about. Looks like a lot to do in there.

 

 

yah, i flogged in with BK maybe a decade ago, and spent quite a bit of time and energy fighting alder - then the ice was wet and pukey. went back in the late winter before publishing the guide with some other friends, but the alder was bad enuf we had to ski around the road in a cpl places, plus there was quite a bit of new soft snow - then the ice was rotted by the sun. so it's a bit of a risk. just happens right now the road is totally clear (new cutblocks a bit further up-valley), the base snowpack is settled, and the ice is copious - plus it has NOT been sunny, so everything has come together this spring.

 

i'll be back...

 

p.s. the REAL message here is that there IS a shitload of potential climbing up this valley - it's just gonna take getting out and checking 'when the time is right' each season. and then sharing the info - again, many tks to bruce for passing along the beta.

 

cheers,