Headed for the Mountains
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: vancouver, BC, Canada.
Posts: 282
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Steep Creek and Lost Valley ski loop
A deceivingly short tour, that looked easy on the map: around 12km and 1000m elevation gain.
The day started with a nasty icy forest traverse, from Darkside Lake to the Steep Creek east bowl.
In the bowl conditions got better, but still hard packed and icy in many places:
It took about 2h from the lake to the col.
We then dropped in the Lost Valley, through some terrain cluttered by many old avi debris:
..but regardless of this, the views were amazing!
The col that you see in the middle-left of this picture, was our next destination: conditions were way better in this valley than anywhere else, but still no light fluff
From that point on we had to get to an interesting looking ridge line, full of cornices:
The last 10m to the top of the ridge(breaking through a cornice) took more than 30 min for our group of 4, using a rope for the last of us, as the snow was no longer holding any footsteps.
On the other side of the ridge we got welcomed by one of the most amazing terrain I've seen around Duffey:
The ridge line from here was icy and steep so we had to carry our skies for quite a while:
From the top of Peak 2300(??name) we dropped through a well known bowl that can be seen from the Darkside Lake, again trying to negotiate icy and tough snow, combined with rock solid avi debris:
In the end I have to say this loop was one of my most memorable trips in BC!
It took us about 8h with tons of breaks for lunch and pictures, but with better snow conditions, this loop should take a bit less
.
The day started with a nasty icy forest traverse, from Darkside Lake to the Steep Creek east bowl.
In the bowl conditions got better, but still hard packed and icy in many places:
It took about 2h from the lake to the col.
We then dropped in the Lost Valley, through some terrain cluttered by many old avi debris:
..but regardless of this, the views were amazing!
The col that you see in the middle-left of this picture, was our next destination: conditions were way better in this valley than anywhere else, but still no light fluff
From that point on we had to get to an interesting looking ridge line, full of cornices:
The last 10m to the top of the ridge(breaking through a cornice) took more than 30 min for our group of 4, using a rope for the last of us, as the snow was no longer holding any footsteps.
On the other side of the ridge we got welcomed by one of the most amazing terrain I've seen around Duffey:
The ridge line from here was icy and steep so we had to carry our skies for quite a while:
From the top of Peak 2300(??name) we dropped through a well known bowl that can be seen from the Darkside Lake, again trying to negotiate icy and tough snow, combined with rock solid avi debris:
In the end I have to say this loop was one of my most memorable trips in BC!
It took us about 8h with tons of breaks for lunch and pictures, but with better snow conditions, this loop should take a bit less
.
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Summit Master
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Vancouver BC
Interest: 10%
Posts: 5,022
On the other side of the ridge we got welcomed by one of the most amazing terrain I've seen around Duffey:
That valley (beneath Windfall and Silent Hub NW3) is a sight to behold (and hike through) in the summer. 2 peaks are above 2300m where you were - Steep and Darkside. Steep in Baldwin's book is south of Darkside Lake and Darkside is east of it. On Bivouac.com the peak naming is reversed.
Great trip.
That valley (beneath Windfall and Silent Hub NW3) is a sight to behold (and hike through) in the summer. 2 peaks are above 2300m where you were - Steep and Darkside. Steep in Baldwin's book is south of Darkside Lake and Darkside is east of it. On Bivouac.com the peak naming is reversed.
Great trip.
Off the Beaten Path
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: vancouver, bc, Canada.
Posts: 612
Quote:
Originally Posted by simonc
View Post
On the other side of the ridge we got welcomed by one of the most amazing terrain I've seen around Duffey:
That valley (beneath Windfall and Silent Hub NW3) is a sight to behold (and hike through) in the summer. 2 peaks are above 2300m where you were - Steep and Darkside. Steep in Baldwin's book is south of Darkside Lake and Darkside is east of it. On Bivouac.com the peak naming is reversed.
Great trip.
That valley (beneath Windfall and Silent Hub NW3) is a sight to behold (and hike through) in the summer. 2 peaks are above 2300m where you were - Steep and Darkside. Steep in Baldwin's book is south of Darkside Lake and Darkside is east of it. On Bivouac.com the peak naming is reversed.
Great trip.
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Scaling New Heights
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Posts: 56
great trip - nice work!
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