Short version is that Nick, Sam, and myself spent 4 days in the backcountry above Whistler, BC. The trip didn't have many goals apart from gaining perspective on life via strenuous outdoor activity, but we thought we might give Mt. James Turner a shot. No particular reason for that particular mountain, other than that it's remote, rarely climbed, and gave us an objective that was compatible with the weather forecast. We also wanted to summit Mt. Wedge, since it was on the way and happened to be the tallest mountain in Garibaldi Park.

We wanted to avoid the saturday Whistler traffic from Vancouver, so we set out from Seattle on Friday night and slept at the Wedgemount Lake trailhead. Our morning was spiced up by witnessing a guy get his beater of a pickup truck stuck in the snow. There is a reason why others decided to park where they did.... The book describes the trail to Wedgemount Lake as "steep and unfriendly for skiing" or something along those lines - indeed, unfriendly it was, especially after some snowshoers and hikers put large holes in the skintrack. Carrying skis on a full pack at the beginning of a 4-day tour is...... heavy. Getting up to Wedge Lake hut took a bit longer than planned, but we still had a lot of daylight left so we decided to do a couple yoyo runs below the hut.

Here's a shot of Sam on the first run.

Conditions were perfect - a few centimeters accumulated overnight and the temperatures stayed low - the result was incredible powder. The nightmarish postholing from a few hours earlier was promptly forgotten.

We decided to make the approach to "jimmy" on the second day, and attempt wedge on the way out. We climbed up to the col between Weart and Wedgemount glaciers at 8100 feet reveling in the grandeur of Mt. Wedge along the way.


Looking back down toward Wedgemount Lake - we skied down this marvelous glacier on the third day:

At the col:

Here is a shot of Sam with Mt. James Turner sticking up above the horizon:

Fun turns in great snow brought us to the flat traverse of the Weart glacier and onto Needles glacier.

Nick with Wedge behind him:

In the early afternoon we reached our objective - the col between Needles and Berna glaciers. We dug a spot for our tent, made a kitchen, and promptly succumbed to the hypnotic powers of the afternoon sun.


Rehydrated, rested and in high spirits, we gunned for one of the nameless lumps above our camp to be rewarded with spectacular sunset views of BC mountains and another set of fantastic turns.


This is the ridge that surrounds the Turner Glacier, with Mt. James Turner on the left-hand side. The next day we dropped into the glacier valley below in this photo, went around the ridge line on the right, and approached the summit pyramid. We descended the wide face in the middle of the photo.

Soon we were faced with the reality of escalating winds and freezing temperatures... cooking dinner was mildly unpleasant, and took a really long time, not to mention melting snow to have enough water for the next day. At about 9pm, I noticed a glow on the northern horizon, and subconsciously dismissed it as city lights.... but I quickly realized that this was BC, not the alps, and that city lights typically don't form vertical lines in the sky. The glow was in fact bonafide northern lights, which I saw for the first time in my life... pretty spectacular stuff, especially when you're perched above two glaciers...! The next morning, we would make a push for the summit... Nick snapped this photo at 6am:

We didn't make it out of camp until 8am. Not having a wind screen for our stove again meant that cooking took a lot longer than anticipated. Our camp in the morning, with the "lump" we ascended/descended the previous afternoon (can't really see our tracks because the contrast is all messed up...):
Nevertheless, we descended the Berna glacier and crossed to the Turner glacier, where we could finally see Jimmy in all his glory (before this, we only saw the actual peak once.... it's quite well-hidden). Approaching the Turner Glacier:

Finally, Jimmy unveiled:

Nick crossing the Turner Glacier:

Another day of perfect weather meant that the south-facing slope, which we planned to ascend, was cooking in the sun very early on.... when we arrived there at 11, the snow on the south side left a lot to be desired. Somehow despite everyone's instincts telling them otherwise, we started to ascent the south face - it was 50+ degree snow and despite its deteriorating quality we were making steady progress.
Nick leading up the face:

Sam coming up:

Nick close to our high point:

All was well until about 100 feet short of the summit, when someone's kickstepping released a chunk of snow. It triggered a little slide lower on the face, below some rockbands....... all three of us were immediately snapped from the summit-trance and quickly agreed to get the hell out of there. We all knew we shouldn't have been there in the first place. We also noted that in good snow conditions, the descent would be amazing, and could be done almost from the summit. The way back down to the Berna glacier was absolutely awesome - we skied/boarded down a steep norh-facing slope in perfect snow conditions. Hands down one of the coolest lines I had ever done (until later that day), in a really spectacular environment...
Nick laying down first tracks:




Sam:


Sam tele-styling, and the glacier valley below and our camp in the background.

Hmm... which way should I go....

Looking back at the slope we skied/boarded with our tracks barely visible... :

We were all pretty stoked, despite our earlier foolishness and failure. Back at camp, the decision was made to try to make it back to the hut that night, since it wasn't clear that we had enough fuel to cook and make water outside again. We were spurred on by looming nightfal and the related prospect of skiing down the Wedgemount glacier by headlamp. Ascending to the high point between Wedge and Weart glaciers, I was as close as I've ever been to overexhaustion - I felt like vomitting for the majority of that climb - the heavy pack took its toll on me. My steps were short, and the familiar annoying mind games occupied my head. Above the ridge I could see the sky set ablaze by the setting sun, and beyond every roll appeared the next, and the next........ I inhaled a cliff bar, but it took a while for the energy to percolate through to my limbs. Coming up to the col was spectacular - the thin clouds were bright orange, the mountains seemed endless. It was clear that we would have enough light left to navigate the glacier, which made me feel better immediately. What followed was possibly the most amazing mountain experience I have ever had.... In front of me lay almost 1000 vertical meters of perfect powder, illuminated by the setting sun and behind me the stars were starting to appear. My legs were suddenly as rested as ever, and my board floated effortlessly in the sweet snow.... absolutely incredible! All three were elated to have reached the hut in good time, and although it was clear that our bodies were starting to feel the toll of multi-day touring, we decided to give Wedge a shot via the NW colouir the next day. Unfortunately, the visibility in the morning was about 5 feet, and after waiting for a few hours for the fog to lift it was clear that we might as well just sleep in. The entire valley was still completely socked in at noon when we left the hut. The return to our car was relatively swift and full of usual tree-skiing shenanigans. Back in Whistler, we felt strangely out of place, although the beer and burgers hit all the spots. As annoyed as we were by the weather deteriorating overnight, resort skiers at whistler were stoked about the fluff falling from the sky. Resort mogul runs in flat light and low visibility, yay!!! Hmm... not for us, and although chillin with a few brewskies in the hot tub (Nick's roommate and buddies were renting out a place so we crashed with them) was cool, we weren't really interested in hanging out in a resort town for too long. Sam, however, had a season pass burning a hole in his pocket, so he decided to stick around for a few days, while Nick and I headed down to Vancouver for some urban experiences. A truly awesome trip... It would be nice to give Wedge a proper attempt. It could probably be done as a long day trip, and according to the guys we met at the hut the first night, the NW couloir should be a fun descent. We'll definitely be back.