Training in full swing, preparations continue

Jason and Holly cross Trorey Glacier in Spring conditions

Recent storms have reinvigorated the winter spirit in Whistler, but in January it was still mostly dry with minimal snow coverage. The Spearhead Range was still crevasse country on January 24, so the Whistler section of Team Flow (Holly and Vince) set out to spend a full day negotiating its fissured glaciers. Joining the full day tour was Jason Amerlaan from Squamish, an expert climber and experienced backcountry skier. Jason seemed just as happy as us to walk for 30 km over almost 11 hours with no powder turns, so he was welcome to join in on the suffering. As well as offering excellent guidance on negotiating rocky down climbs, his home made energy bars proved to be both tasty and effective.

We set off from the Blackcomb Glacier gate as soon as it opened, knowing that daylight hours were going to be short. Holly had been recovering from a couple weeks of illness and was treating the day as warm up for training. I had climbed Black Tusk two days earlier and was ready to start hauling a heavier pack, so I loaded up my 70L pack with camera gear, water and soup cans as well as all my regular touring gear.

Crevasses were still lingering at the end of January

There had only been one significant storm since the last mission when Emilie was in town in December, so the glaciers were still ridden with hazards. Gaining Decker and crossing onto the Trorey Glacier was routine enough, but once we reached Tremor Glacier we had to start watching our step. We all started to get a better eye for spotting crevasses from a safe distance, by observing the depressions in the glacier and giving the school bus-sized holes a wide berth. We stopped at midday for lunch at the Tremor-Shudder Col  for lunch, the usual turnaround point for the Spearhead Traverse. Past that point, it's just as quick to finish off the loop than to backtrack.

Tank tops in January on the Spearhead Traverse

The weather was like Spring, with temperatures as high as 7 degrees C with a cloudless sky. Much of the day was spent touring just in our base layers, with water needing constant rationing. Though there was no powder to speak of, we did lay out a few creamy turns on the Ripsaw. Thankfully we were in the shade of northern slopes for the hottest parts of the day.

Diavolo. Always an ass kicker

Every time I tour the Spearhead Traverse (this was my fourth circuit), I always dread climbing Diavolo. It's the last real punch of vertical on the route, so if you can make it up Diavolo, you're pretty much home free. Feeling confident with the soup cans not able to break me yet, I took off up the climb with gritted teeth. On the final few hundred meters before the col I began to feel dizzy, and Jason offered me some of his fruit-rich energy bars. I made it to the col and sat down and ate most of my remaining food, knowing that the worst was behind me. Holly wasn't far behind, the last weeks of flu not able to phase her.

Downclimbing onto Overlord. Jason was the only one confident enough to do it with skis and pack

We started to dream about beer and burgers, but we weren't done yet. Accessing the Overlord Glacier is usually a quick ski down, but with the snowpack at the time we ended up having to down-climb on rocks to avoid a lengthy detour. Rock climbing in ski boots was new for all of us, but with a bit of teamwork, we all made it down safely.

On the home stretch, reaching for headlamps

We reached the Fissile Whirlwind Col just as the sun began to disappear behind the McBride Range. Normally this is where you b-line for Singing Pass (the express exit to Whistler Valley), but with the snowpack at lower elevations questionable, we played it safe and toured back over the Musical Bumps, over Flute and exited through the resort on Whistler Mountain. Dodging snow cats under headlamps, we made it to Skier's Plaza and proceeded straight to Blacks for those beers and burgers.

Stay tuned for some exciting announcements from Team Flow! We are now less than three months away from departure on the biggest adventure of our lives.

VS