Hey everyone! I am happy to announce our new partnership with the Backcountry Ambassadors Club! The first thing I will say about it is that it is very NEW. This means that as passholders we will be "breaking trail" as this new club grows. Because of of this we will be benefiting greatly from the many perks the BAC offers it's members. Here are just a few that I'm sure lots of you will appreciate: 1. Cat Assisted Base Camps.
We will have a Piston Bully snowcat that will be able to take us up any logging road that a snowmobile could access. The benefit of this is we can take A LOT of equipment, Food, Firewood, and overnight supplies to build a sick basecamp up the Van-Horlick or Blowdown Valleys.
2. Accommodation at the BridgeWater Chalet near Pemberton This amazing lodge can comfortably fit 6 passholders. It has a kitchen and a BBQ so we can book this place and run more trips in the Duffey, Birkenhead, and Hurley Zones..... No Tracks No People.
3. Sleds for Passholder
Instead of getting pulled up a logging road... why not just get your own a sled and ride up.. park and tour. After being orientated and signed off by the BAC you will have access to your own sled. Nice!!
4. Pemberton Ice Cap multi-sport days We will have unlimited access to the Pemberton Ice Cap. First we fly there in a helicopter, then we get some Sleds or pile into a Snow Cat.. and we do pretty much what ever we want. We can do day trips... or spend the night up there in tents or a fiberglass snowdome. There is some world class adventuring up there and we now have the permissions and toys to make the most of it.
SO, with all this said, I am excited! Guides will let you know of any of these plans in the Guide Announcements (here). They will add the BAC upgrade trip as the booking service. Since the cost of these will vary depending on what we do (Helicopters, Snowmobiles, and a Snow Cat all cost money) the price will also be calculated and added to the upgrade product (very much like the Heli Drop days). Here is a trip I would like to do.... Spend 2 nights on the Pemberton Ice Cap: Fly in - land - Ski down - get a Sled - Rip up the IceCap - Have a Snow Cat bring a basecamp - Set up camp - have a good meal - Sleep - Ski steep terrain a Sled can not travel on - Sleep - Rip back as close to Whistler as possible - Ski - Call the Heli for a pick up. -3 days of skiing -2 nights -Heli -Sled -Snowcat -Good Food Value for $$ = BIG BOOM. 😎
Who's in?
Pretty cool area! Heres a quick, high level update on conditions up there from yesterday. Above 5500’ The ice cap is beginning to fill in, (Below 5500… not so much!) most terrain around the “shoreline” of the ice fields (rocky slopes) from 6k’ - 8k’ have a blanket of well bridged, consolidated snow with mid shin to knee, dry, light snow. This all sits on a solid wind packed base in this immediate area (see photos) HS varies with cross loading at 1.4 - 1.8M .
Ice fields themselves above 6k’ are filling in but any convexities are no go zones for travel.
Steeper, higher elevation, S & SW aspects to be completely avoided based on several na, 1 -1.5 releases observed. A fly in, ski touring option would be awesome up here right now.
Looks pretty sweet
Sounds amazing!!