[TR] Stanley Mitchell Hut - The President, Mt. Kerr - 3/31/2013

[harrai]

Trip: Stanley Mitchell Hut - The President, Mt. Kerr -

 

Date: 3/31/2013

 

Trip Report:

Did 6 days at the Stanley Mitchell Hut in B.C. from 3/31-4/5. We had amazing weather the first few days, and the stability was good. Even though it hadn't snowed in at least a week, we found great snow on north aspects--definitely what I would call powder after begin raised on Hood. The place was packed the first night, but then we had the whole valley to ourselves starting on Tuesday.

 

The approach is a slog at 14+ miles. I hear some people split it into two days, we did it in about 8 hours one day, which isn't too bad, time wise, but it was a lot of ground to cover. One guy brought along a home made pulk sled, which was definitely more trouble than it was worth. I would recommend just packing everything on your back. We had a group of 5, so we split the cost of portering in about 100lbs of food, which meant eating great and having plenty of energy for big tours every day. The hut itself isn't very expensive, so it was nice to be able to do.

 

The trip was mostly about skiing/riding, but we did a little bit of peak bagging as well: the President and Mt. Kerr. We took a ton of photos. I'll post some of the alpine shots here, and if you want to see more of the touring, you can find that at: http://splitboardingoregon.blogspot.com/2013/04/stanley-mitchell-hut-33113-4513.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also, I went up into the crater on Wednesday. My partner was having some issues and weren't making very good time, so just below the hogsback is as far as I went. Traveling up, the snow on top was great, but there was a lot of ice and texture below, making for a less than perfect descent. It didn't look like anyone had summited by any of the standard routes, but there were two folks who were coming off down off of a route on the east side of the crater around 11:30, if you know them, I've got these low-quality phone shots for them.

 

 

 

On another side note, how's that photo contest coming?

 

Gear Notes:

Touring gear, glacier travel, positive mental attitude, no pulk sled.

 

Approach Notes:

Go for a long enough trip that you'll forget about the approach day.

[sepultura]

Looks like a great trip! It is a really nice hut and stunning terrain.

Years ago when I was living in Canmore for the winter I helped a buddy porter a load into that hut after some people bailed on him. Its a long ways with 80 lbs in the pack. Bummer was we went in, spent the night an had to haul some stuff back out the next day. Your photos have inspired me to go back and enjoy the place.

Thanks!

 

[harrai]

Thanks, sepultura. The terrain truly is stunning. As it was my first time to the area, I don't know how common those bluebird days that we were getting are. From talking to some of the others there, it sounds like they might be a bit few and far between. Definitely try and get back there, there is a lifetime's worth of options to explore. While we worked through all of the major guidebook-type of tours, there were thousands more variations and lines that could be explored, and then on the last day, when we headed north behind the hut, there was a whole 'nother zone with lines that could have entertained me for weeks. I guess the only trick is that you have to roll the dice when booking, because it fills up early and you never know what you are going to get. One thing that we found out, is that a lot of the reservations are done by guides before they have their trips filled, and then cancelled when they don't fill up. So sometimes there are last minute openings. Take photos when you go!