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Volume 43, Issue 1
ACC VANCOUVER ISLAND
SECTION
Social Events
The club has a monthly slide-show
presentation at the Swan Lake Nature
House, 3873 Swan Lake Road, Victoria,
BC on the second Thursday of each
month, except in July and August. The
doors open at 7:00pm, and the show
starts at 7:30pm.
Web Information
Web site: www.accvi.ca
Webmaster: [email protected]
Executive Meeting Minutes
Available on our meeting archives.
National ACC Office
For new memberships and renewals,
changes of address or other details, and
booking huts, contact the ACC National
office directly.
www.alpineclubofcanada.ca
[email protected]
403 678 3200, or P.O. Box 8040
Canmore, AB, T1W 2T8
Annual Membership Dues
Single $ 53
Family $ 75
Youth (19 and under) $ 38
The Island Bushwhacker Newsletter
A monthly (except for July and August)
publication of the Vancouver Island
Section.
Newsletter Editor:
Mary Sanseverino, 250 592 4677,
[email protected]
We encourage submissions of items of
interest to our membership, including
news items, announcements, and short
articles, along with photos. Email your
submission by the 25th day of the previous
month.
Advertising shall be accepted at the
discretion of the editor. All advertising
shall be for products or services of direct
interest to our membership.
Our Motto
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
COME BACK ALIVE
COME BACK FRIENDS
RESPECT THE LAND
HAVE FUN
GET TO THE TOP
(IN THAT ORDER!)
Jan 2015
Left to right: Manaslu (8163m), Naike Peak (6211m), Kyonggma Kharka (5326m).
EXECUTIVE
Chair: Mike Hubbard,
250 370 1096, [email protected]
Secretary: Russ Moir,
[email protected]
Treasurer: Colleen Kasting,
250 920 5278, [email protected]
Members-at-Large:
Geoff Bennett, 250 853 7515,
[email protected]
Chris Jensen, 250 516 3932,
[email protected]
Access and Environment
Barb Baker, [email protected]
BMFF Coordinator
Krista Zala, [email protected]
Bushwhacker Annual
Cedric Zala, 250 652 5841,
[email protected]
Education
Harry Steiner, 250 652 6647,
[email protected]
Equipment
Mike Hubbard (lower Island), 250
370 1096, [email protected]
*Tim Turay (upper Island), 250 334
5259, [email protected]
Evening Events
Brenda O’Sullivan, 250 658 3526,
[email protected]
FMCBC Rep
Rob Macdonald, 250 727 6734,
[email protected]
Library/Archives/History
Tom Hall (Library/Archives),
250 592 2518, [email protected]
*Lindsay Elms (History), 250 792
3384, [email protected]
Membership
Janelle Curtis, [email protected]
National Rep
Christine Fordham, [email protected]
Safety
Dave McDowell, 250 220 5028
[email protected]
Schedule
Russ Moir,
[email protected]
Slide show coordinator
*Peggy Taylor,
[email protected]
Webmaster
Martin Hofmann,
[email protected]
Webmaster Committee
Dave McDowell, 250 220 5028,
[email protected]
* Non Executive Coordinators
COMING EVENTS AT A GLANCE
Slideshow: Thur, Jan 8: From
Bush to Cryosphere. Martin
Hofmann and ski touring on
Vancouver Island.
Upcoming: ACC-VI AGM, Jan 16,
17, 18, Mt Washington. Lots to do
at the AGM -- check the Upcoming
Trips and Clinics for activities.
Inside
2
Upcoming Events
2
Upcoming Trips
3
4
Upcoming Clinics and Mountain
Education activities
ACC-VI Opportunities
5
Moon Mountain Adventures
6
The Bushwhacker Annual
7
Trip Report: Mt Joan
8
Trip pictures
8
e-Trails
Reminder to Members:
Keep your membership up-to-date,
so to as to be covered by the ACC’s
liability insurance.
Keep your contact information
current on ACC National’s site, as
it’s from this master list that we
download our email addresses for
mailouts.
Register on our ACC-VI site to make
your contact information available to
other ACC-VI members.
Join the ACC-VI listserv to keep in
touch and share information with
other ACC-VI members.
Join the ACC-VI’s Facebook group.
Upcoming Events
Thur, Jan 8, Slideshow: From Bush to Cryosphere. Presented by Martin Hofmann. Bush is an inescapable
fact of Island life, but for much of the year there is another world above the bush, the cryosphere, the zone
of interaction of the atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere, distinguished by negative or zero
temperature and the presence of water in the solid or super-cooled state. This world of snow is best
explored on skis. Join Martin Hofmann for a tour of the Island's cryosphere.
Slideshows are at Swan Lake Nature House. Doors open at 7:00pm, and the show starts at 7:30pm.
Fri, Jan 16 – 18: ACC-VI AGM, Mt Washington. A full weekend in the mountains staying at the Vancouver
Island Mountain Centre at Mount Washington. Participants are free to organize their own activities, offer
trips and workshops to others, or join in scheduled trips. Saturday night will be pot luck dinner and the
Annual General Meeting. Organizer Catrin Brown reports: “The AGM weekend at Vancouver Island
Mountain Centre at Mt Washington is coming up fast! We are at full quota with 40 beds taken, but happily
are able to expand our capacity by using an extra room as a dormitory with foamies and duvets provided.
So if you still want to come, act fast and please contact me by January 6th: [email protected]
(250-477-5806), then send $75 payable to ACC-VI to Catrin Brown, 3449 Blue Sky Place,
Victoria, V9C 3N5.”
Upcoming Trips
Jan 16. Moonlight snowshoe/ski in Paradise Meadows: B1. Snowshoe or ski to the light of the "sliver of the
moon" in Paradise Meadows. This will be on the eve of the ACC-VI AGM. Contact Christine Fordham,
[email protected].
Jan 17. Albert-Edward ski tour: C3. This early departure and late return trip coincides with the AGM weekend.
Contact Sean McIntyre, [email protected] for details.
Jan 17. Mt Allan Brooks: B2. AGM day trip: Ski tour up the north ridge of Mt Brooks. Meet at Strathcona
Wilderness Centre beside Raven Lodge, Mt Washington ski area. Contact Martin Hofmann,
[email protected].
Jan 17. Tour de Mont Elma: B2. AGM snowshoe and ski day trip around Mount Elma, via Lake Helen
McKenzie, the col, Croteau Lake, Lady Lake and Battleship Lake. Meet at VI Mountain Centre, across
from Raven Lodge. Contact Cedric Zala, [email protected].
Jan 24 – 25. Mackenzie Range Winter Ascent: C4. Steep snow, low fifth rock, winter camping. AST1 required.
Contact Stefan Gessinger & Shanda Lembcke, [email protected].
Feb 21 – 22. Jack's Peak, Mt Adder Ski Traverse: C3. Join us on our 5th attempt to summit Adder on skis.
AST1 required & winter camping skills. Contact Stefan Gessinger & Shanda Lembcke,
[email protected].
Mar 22 – 29. Ski Week at Mistaya Lodge in the Rockies. A week of catered, unguided skiing from Mistaya
Lodge at 6700' in the Rockies west of the Peyto Glacier, a 20 minute helicopter ride from Golden. Great
skiing above treeline right up to the great divide with tree skiing near the lodge. Possible option to exit via
Wapta Icefield at end of the week. Friendly staff on site for meals and lodge operations. Lodge has
private rooms (2 to a room), reading area, sauna, hot shower, indoor washrooms & toilets, power to
charge electronics & limited wireless internet.
Cost: $1740+taxes=total $1900. Includes helicopter flights, lodge room, bedding & towel, meals & snacks
and limited internet access. Deposits required by January 15 th
Contact Cameron Fraser, [email protected], 604 500 4682, ACC-Vancouver section.
Be sure to check our on-line web schedule frequently for updates!
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Upcoming Clinics and Mountain Education activities
Jan 03-04, Avalanche Skills Training Level 1 (AST1). The Avalanche Skills Training 1 is an introductory
avalanche course designed for individuals with little to no avalanche related experience. Students will learn
to recognize avalanche terrain, gain the skills to initiate and manage a self-rescue, have a basic
understanding of how weather contributes to avalanche hazard, be able to understand and interpret
avalanche bulletins and the hazard scale, be able to interpret and utilize the Avaluator card and learn basic
analysis of layers in the snowpack. This is a two day course with one evening session.
Note: This course has a fee, reimbursement of up to 75% available http://accvi.ca/index.php/coursesubsidies
Location: Mt Washington.
More information: http://accvi.ca/index.php/education
Contact Harry Steiner, [email protected], 250 652-6647.
Jan 03-04, Backcountry performance workshop – Part 1. Work on your skiing or snowboarding skills,
especially in natural snow conditions. Three two and a half hour, low ratio sessions with a high end ski or
snowboard coach followed by a day of off-piste back country with a certified guide will set you up perfectly
to succeed in the back country.
Note: This course has a fee, reimbursement of up to 75% available http://accvi.ca/index.php/coursesubsidies
Location: Mt Washington.
More information: http://accvi.ca/index.php/education
Contact Harry Steiner, [email protected], 250 652-6647.
Jan 10-11, Backcountry performance workshop – Part 2. Work on your skiing or snowboarding skills,
especially in natural snow conditions. Three two and a half hour, low ratio sessions with a high end ski or
snowboard coach followed by a day of off-piste back country with a certified guide will set you up perfectly
to succeed in the back country.
Note: This course has a fee, reimbursement of up to 75% available http://accvi.ca/index.php/coursesubsidies
Location: Mt Washington.
More information: http://accvi.ca/index.php/education
Contact Harry Steiner, [email protected], 250 652-6647.
Jan 17-18, Introduction to Back Country Skiing. Tired of rattling down the same old groomers? Try out back
country skiing! No more wistfully gazing across to Mt Elma from the hardly deserved peak of Mt
Washington! WORK for your peaks, MAKE new friends and have TEN TIMES more fun in the pow(der)!
Location and time: Mt Washington, Vancouver Island Mountain Centre, during the ACC-VI AGM.
Prerequisites: ACC Membership, Back country ski gear + ski skins, outdoor winter clothing, avalanche
beacon + probe + shovel (club offers rentals), be able to ski green/blue runs at Mt Washington.
More information: Intro to Back Country Skiing
Contact Harry Steiner, [email protected], 250 652-6647.
Jan 17-18, Avalanche Skills Training Level 1 (AST1). Info the same as the Jan 03-04 course offering.
Jan 17-20, Avalanche Skills Training Level 2 (AST2). The Avalanche Skills Training 2 is an advanced
avalanche course which takes a closer look at how avalanches form and how to manage more complex
terrain. We delve deeper into the snow pack and learn how to apply different tests to help gain an
understanding of snow stability and strength. Transceiver training moves into the realm of multiple beacon
searches and how to solve these sometimes complex searches. AST1 or equivalent training or experience
are required as a prerequisite for this course. Participants should be intermediate skiers as there are
usually many ascents and descents.
Note: This course has a fee, reimbursement of up to 75% available http://accvi.ca/index.php/coursesubsidies
Location: Mt Washington or Mt Cain.
More information: http://accvi.ca/index.php/education
Contact Harry Steiner, [email protected], 250 652-6647.
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Upcoming Clinics and Mountain Education opportunities: continued
Jan 17-20, Avalanche Skills Training Level 2 (AST2). The Avalanche Skills Training 2 is an advanced
avalanche course which takes a closer look at how avalanches form and how to manage more complex
terrain. We delve deeper into the snow pack and learn how to apply different tests to help gain an
understanding of snow stability and strength. Transceiver training moves into the realm of multiple beacon
searches and how to solve these sometimes complex searches. AST1 or equivalent training or experience
are required as a prerequisite for this course. Participants should be intermediate skiers as there are
usually many ascents and descents.
Note: This course has a fee, reimbursement of up to 75% available http://accvi.ca/index.php/coursesubsidies
Location: Mt Washington or Mt Cain.
More information: http://accvi.ca/index.php/education
Contact Harry Steiner, [email protected], 250 652-6647.
Jan 17, Learning the Ropes Workshop. A practice session all about knots, rope management, and roping up in
the mountains. To be held in one of the Mountain Centre classrooms on Saturday, Jan 17, at the AGM.
Contact Iain Sou [email protected], Derek Sou [email protected], or Harry Steiner
[email protected].
Jan 18, Back country ski/telemark clinic. Ski clinic during the AGM at Mount Washington. The clinic will be
alpine technique - suitable for AT or telemark equipment. Depending upon what people want or abilities, I
could do more than one session to accommodate different abilities, could do some work on groomed as
well as in the crud. If there are other instructors in ACC-VI we could coordinate efforts. Please contact
Anne beforehand to help with plans and coordination.
Instructor: Anne Webster (CSIA 3, CSCF 2)
Contact: Anne Webster, [email protected], 250 896-0613.
Jan 24-25, Avalanche Skills Training Level 1 (AST1). The Avalanche Skills Training 1 is an introductory
avalanche course designed for individuals with little to no avalanche related experience. Students will learn
to recognize avalanche terrain, gain the skills to initiate and manage a self-rescue, have a basic
understanding of how weather contributes to avalanche hazard, be able to understand and interpret
avalanche bulletins and the hazard scale, be able to interpret and utilize the Avaluator card and learn basic
analysis of layers in the snowpack. This is a two day course with one evening session.
Note: This course has a fee, reimbursement of up to 75% available http://accvi.ca/index.php/coursesubsidies
Location: Mt Washington.
More information: http://accvi.ca/index.php/education
Contact Harry Steiner, [email protected], 250 652-6647.
ACC-VI Opportunities
Schedule a Trip
Please consider putting an activity on the Trip Schedule. Any member who would like to post a trip, educational
activity, or event over the next few months is encouraged to contact Russ or Karun to get those blank spaces
filled in. Contact Russ at [email protected] or Karun at [email protected]
We encourage those of you who have led trips or coordinated events to take courses. The club has funds to
support educational activities and provide course subsidies. These include ACC-VI run courses and courses
offered by others. We will pay up to 75% of the costs. Review the criteria on the ACC-VI website under Course
Subsidies.
4
The bridge is from Nepal to Tibet. No customs!
Only used by herders, the trail leads to the most awesome view of the
north face of 7420 metre Ganesh 1.
Greetings everyone:
When the cyclone hit the Himalaya, we were two days below snowline, waddling up towards Annapurna's
Sanctuary in torrential rain. Our porters are all from one Tamang village. A dozen of their sons and brothers
were at high altitude behind Dhaulagiri. At Machapuchare Base Camp, in the sun and melting snow, we heard
by cellphone that six of them were swept away. And then we heard of the horrors on Thorung La Pass. We
were able to let our families know we were fine. At Annapurna Base Camp we silently watched huge
avalanches crashing down the immense wall of Annapurna 1. Despite, and maybe partly because of the tragic
news, we had a deeply felt and wonder-full trek.
I am returning to the south side of the Annapurnas this coming spring and fall. Both treks will enter
Annapurna's Sanctuary but their routes to it are on paths beaten only by the local people. The village
experiences are rich. One by one the Annapurnas show all their sculpted faces as we slowly wander
westward.
March 14 - April 11 / 2015 ~ In Annapurna's Lap: A traverse below the Annapurnas through Rhodoland
and the Sanctuary ~ The snows of the Sanctuary and on the peaks above our route, frame red-petalled paths
and hillsides of red, white and pink. Impossibly beautiful! A 20 day trek, high point 4100m.
Oct.3 - Oct.31 / 2015 ~ To Lamjung Himal's Base Camp and the Annapurna Sanctuary ~
We climb high above the Marsyangdi Valley to our 4500m high camp on the shoulder of Lamjung Himal, the
eastern pillar of the Annapurnas. Alpine lakes and meadows and stunning views. A dayhike goes to 5200m on
Lamjung Ri. Descending, we begin our traverse to the Modhi Khola Valley, the entrance to the Sanctuary, the
inner sanctum of the Himalaya. A 20 day trek, high point 5200m.
Maps, itineraries and photos are available on request.
For more information please visit my site: www.moonmountainadventures.com/schedule.html
Cheers, Tom Carter
5
Calling contributors for the Island Bushwhacker 2014 Annual
By Lindsay Elms
Another wonderful spring/summer climbing season has finished and fall/winter is officially upon us, so
with those shorter days and longer evenings, it is time to start thinking about putting fingers to keys and
typing up those stories for the Island Bushwhacker Annual. Club trip leaders or members are encouraged
to submit articles with photographs about their adventures in the mountains for the 2014 publication. We
want to have as many 2014 Trips, Climbs and Expeditions recorded as possible. As well as the stories we
also welcome member poetry and artwork related to the mountains. In the event that we receive too many
submissions, articles about the Section's scheduled events may take precedence.
Please be sure to send your submission before the deadline of January 31, 2015.
As usual the editors are all looking forward to reading those stories before they go to print and preparing
them for Cedric Zala who will then format them to the brilliant standard of the magazine that we saw last
year. There are a few things that everyone can do to help save some time for the editors. I know that you
the authors (I have done the same) like to have their stories look aesthetically pleasing when they are
sent in, however, if you could ignore that styling and:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Use one font size throughout including the title.
Don’t bold or underline the title of the story.
Left justify everything including the title, author, date, participants and any headings.
Date the trip so we can put the story in chronological order.
List the participants on the trip.
Don’t indent new paragraphs, instead leave a line between.
Only italicize or accent special words and where you would like the photo to be in the text.
Single space between words and new sentences. I know many people still double space between
sentences but one is good.
9. There is no limit to the number of stories you can submit but keep in mind the length of the story.
Pictures must have a caption indicating location and identification of the feature (if relevant) and the
names of the people in the picture. Picture captions, in italics, may be included in the body of your text to
help indicate where the picture is placed in the final layout. All text should be supplied as an MS Word
document or a simple Text file.
High resolution photos (a minimum of 1200 x 1550 pixels or the Hi setting on your digital camera) should
be supplied digitally as JPEG or TIF files in the RGB color space.
Cedric will also act as the "post box" and collect all the material for the Annual. Please make your
submissions by emailing text and digital images as attachments to [email protected]
Mist rising up the climbing cliffs on Sugarloaf in the Sooke Hills. Photo by Dave Suttill.
6
Trip Report: Mt Joan, Dec 13, 2014
Story and photos by Nic Scott
Leader: Nic Scott.
Participants: Jess, Ken, Martin, and Bill.
After an Islander Alpine start and against the odds of facing a lack of
gourmet coffee and bakery options at an early hour we headed out from
Victoria. We made the most
of the short days this time of
year, thumbed our noses at
those complaining about the
lack of snow, and headed for
a hike into the Beaufort
Range, an area unknown to
all of us.
Mt Joan (click for map)
We met the northerner participant, Bill, at the Cook Creek road
turn off from the highway and squeezed in to my car for the
logging road ascent. 7km in, the adventure started when a
knocking noise started in the back of the car. It turned out that
The Crew: Martin, Ken, Jess, and Bill
I’d lost a bolt from the suspension that I’d just replaced. I’d
watched a couple of episodes of ‘Bush Mechanics’ back in
Australia so I knew what to do! After lashing the shock back on to the car, we made the ascent up to just
below 700m. We travelled over a 4x4 logging spur road to the CVMC trailhead to Mt Joan and Mt Curran,
arriving at 9:15am and beginning on the trail by 9:30am.
The first half of the ascent is on old road which varies in quality from a stroll, to washed-out, to slide alder
to the crossing of Roaring Creek. Which is aptly named as
you can hear it roaring all the way up the valley. Eventually,
we started up the trail, after a short time we were welcomed
by old growth cedar forest and a steep switchbacked trail
into a small alpine lake, which was frozen and very much in
snowy winterland. No snow on the Island, eh? 500m to go.
And snow.
One of the funny things about the Island and our recent
weather was that a lot of that weather was very localised.
This area had a huge snow dump on Thursday night, while
Victoria was unseasonably warm. After about 100m we
were kicking steps and sinking into the snow- it was quite
slow going- but we gained the ridge in between Mt Joan and the Squarehead and headed south following
the height of land as the trail was very much buried in a metre or so of snow.
We reached the, umm, summit at 1:15 pm. Not quite where the majestic tribute to the highest peak of the
Beauforts is celebrated with a 15 metre dildo sculpture,
but at a false peak adjacent to it. The short day required
that we turn around at 1:30pm, and the trail breaking
was hard work. And it was lunch time. I had a
sandwich. It was pretty good, which is more than what I
can say for the view.
We arrived back at the car at about 3:30.
The view from the summit.
The “majestic tribute” visible in the
distance.
7
ACC-VI: It’s all about the climbing!!
On Gowlland-Tod ridge, Dec 7, 2014
Left to right: Matthius, Marta, Jessica, Mary,
Vladka, Mike. Photo by Mike Whitney.
On Corner Hill, Sooke Hills, Dec 28, 2014
Left to right: Colleen, Dave, Mike, Roger (clinging),
Liz – letting it all “hang out”.
e-Trails + : Online articles, stories, reviews, how-tos about mountain activities,
announcements, gear, goodies
(If you have a link that you feel others would enjoy, or an announcement to get out, send it to
Mary Sanseverino, [email protected], for inclusion in the next Island Bushwhacker
Newsletter.)
New gear in the rental pool: Mike Hubbard advises that the Section has acquired for the rental pool one
set of Voilkl tele-skis and skins together with one pair of ladies plastic tele-boots. These are a gift from
Ulrike Schmidt. Many thanks Ulrike!
ACC-VI Up Island transceiver rental pool: Christine Fordham advises that the
Section has two sets of avalanche safety tools available for weekend rentals out of
the Courtenay area. Contact Tim, our “up Island gear guy”: [email protected]
Ken Wong’s image is so beautiful it deserves showing again! (Map of area.)
The spectacular Birendra Tal on the Manaslu Trek, Nepal.
L2R: Manaslu (8163m), Manaslu North (7157m) showing just above the col, Naike Peak (6211m) in the
middle and Kyonggma Kharka (5326m) on the right
8