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All images © CPBL unless otherwise stated |
| | Flying in to Vancouver was a chance to survey my old digs, |
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| | the glorious coastline, and the current difference between lowland and alpine weather. |
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| | Erick had been overly generous in even showing up (in addition to leading lots of logistics), given his sore knee, and our efforts to lessen the strain included buying rides up Blackcomb, ... |
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| | upon whose eponymous peak we shortly stood. |
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| | Heading down from Spearhead ... |
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| | was decisive for Erick's plans to head back out. |
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| | He stayed anyway for one night to allow us to chat ... |
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| | and make a worthwhile local jaunt |
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| | with views over some of the terrain of the Spearhead Traverse. |
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| | We saw a cornice fall off Decker, |
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| | which would later join other evidence to turn Bryan and me back too. |
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| | At midday, Erick left for home. |
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| | Bryan and I made the best of the weather and roped up to find a route up past Decker, |
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| | between the crevasses and the cornice debris, on the growing accumulation, and in the low vis. |
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| | It was too tight for us, and we returned to camp. |
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| | After another night of accumulation we made for home, |
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| | content with the fate of out-of-towners constrained by their fixed schedule. |
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| | We examined the wind-loaded snowpack on the homeward side of the Blackcomb-Spearhead col, but the slope doesn't get much beyond 25°. |
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| | It treated us well. |
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| | We returned to Blackcomb's commercial slopes, whose season had ended while we were out, |
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| | which meant we had it to ourselves. |
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| | What to do? True road trips intersperse alpine with cragging, |
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| | and it was a great day for the Smoke Bluffs Connection ... |
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| | and Diedre. |
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| | 'Til next time! |
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