Blackcomb Backcountry Couloir Action

Finally the snow returns!!! It may have still only been 5cm's but we will take it!!
Headed up the Blackcomb ski hill and out to check out some couloir around the Spearhead and Decker. The sweet 5cm's really helped out, the skiing was great!

Sean popping out the East Col, Just outside of the Blackcomb ski area.

Spearhead Peak and the Spearman glacier

A little unnamed couloir onto the Spearman Glacier

Vista Bowl

Vista Bowl

The Chisel Couloir off Mount Decker

The Cham Chutes

Dropping into the Y couloir off of Mount Decker

Y couloir

Birthday Chute - Duffy Lake Road

Despite the prolonged dryspell on the Coast there still is good skiing to be found!! This week a good friend from Revelstoke came out for some backcountry snowboarding around Whistler.
We took it up to the Duffy Lake Road, North of Pemberton. Was a bit of a roll of the dice to decide just what we wanted to ride this day. We opted for the line i have always looked at but never skiied, the Birthday Chute off of the Vantage Shoulder. The line is a nice narrow chute about 40 - 45 degrees in to a large fan. Despite lacking snow on the upper pitch so it required some carefull down climbing the run was great!

Mount Joffre North face lines looking quite filled in for this time of the year.

Mount Matier, The Anniversary Glacier and Mount Joffree

Angus down climbing in to the Birthday Chute

Angus dropping in

Ice Season

In case you are one of the people not fortunate to be sitting on beach sipping pinacolada's its ice climbing season in the Rockies! A few routes are officially in: Ranger creek, Shades of beauty, Murchison falls, Nemisis, and the trophy wall. Climbed T2 up on the Trophy wall with local bad asses John freeman and Josh Lavign this week.

The Urpine

Its been 2 weeks so far in Canada. Its great to be back!!!! I really missed Canada and all the friends here. After a quick stay in Canmore AB i headed out to Squamish to do some rock guiding for a local outdoor leadership school. We were lucky to have an amazing weather spell with 30 degree temps and not a cloud in the sky for 10 days!!! Pretty rare for this part of the world this time of year.

Flight back to Canada.  Mont Blanc in the distance

la Plan du Chef

Meg and Paul excited to ship off to the Quartz Pillar

Taking the sea bus to the thievery corporation concert

Thievery Corporation

A little urban bouldering after the concert

Ferry to Nanaimo

Crushing the Squamish Buttress

Angels Crest

Frison Roche - Aiguille Rouge

I figure I have guided 50 out of the past 60 days at this point.  After arriving back home from the Matterhorn at 10pm the idea of getting up for some more climbing was a little tough...   So we opted for a 1030 breakfast.  3 coffees later we managed to make our way to the top of the Brevent lift on the Aiguille Rouge side of the Chamonix Valley to climb the classic Frison Roche (5.10).  Great climb with steep juggy climbing on nice rock.  And my favorite part: you walk down hill to approach and top out at the gondola.  Perfect!

Frison Roche goes up on the right side of the smooth face

James on pitch 2

Pitch 3

Pitch 4 

Pitch 5 

Matterhorn

Back up to the Matterhorn for one last trip of the season. This time we finally had perfect weather and perfect conditions! Nice work James on the super quick ascent!

Sunrise above the Solvay

James on the Shoulder

Climbing the last fixed rope section

Our friend Linus and Douglas approaching the summit

James on the summit

 

Now we go home...

 Looking back up from the Solvay hut

Taking a break to sit in the sun be for down climbing the pitch below the solvay