Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Relay Approaches Squamish: Legs 2, 3, & 4

After a wrong turn in Whistler, and an extended thrash along an overgrown logging road, five intrepid Leg 2-3-4 participants backcountry skied into the Alpine meadows below the volcanic plug of Black Tusk (seen below).
Despite being in snow, "the heat was hot" (to quote America). Our Team Darfur wristbands assisted us in wiping perspiration from the brow.
Rising above treeline, we entered the Alpine... and approach Helm Glacier.

As the afternoon wore on, we climbed to Gentian Pass, at the head of the Helm Glacier. In all, we gained 5000' of elevation on the first day.

Beyond the pass, finally views of Garibaldi, the Table, and Garibaldi Lake. After a steep and technical ski down through a densely treed slow, we reached Sphinx Hut, where we spent the night.

Katy and Sarah in Sphinx Hut after a 10-hour, 25km day.

By 8am on April 23rd, we had skied across the frozen Garibaldi Lake, and began our ascent of the Garibaldi Neve.

The Garibaldi Neve can be crevassed in places.

The torch reaches the high point of the Garibaldi Neve traverse. From here, it's downhill into Squamish and the ocean. A "sky to sea" journey.

Skiing for 50km in 2 days can make a 30-year-old's foot look like a 90-year-olds!

Next up is the downhill mountain bike ride to the base of the Squamish Chief. The next update will be after Leg 7...

2 comments:

Rebeka said...

yeah baby! You guys rock.

Anonymous said...

beautiful!