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Vancouver, bc
Canada
1008 Posts |
Posted - 05/21/2011 : 12:22 AM
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A few pics from yesterdays hike to Mount Matier. After a volley of different hikes (the nod was in favour of Needle Peak for a few hours), Alex posted Mount Matier, as a D4D hike (a la NSH) to a Meetup group. After a soft day and watching the Nucks spank the Sharks, we left Vancouver at 11pm.
  
1 Our objective 2. First light on Matier walking through debris fields 3. Sunrise
The drive up took 2.5 hrs taking some liberties with the midnight traffic. On the winter trail at around 1:30 am. There was no need for snowshoes on the crisp snowpack. Time and space went quickly by in the darkness, so it was a small epiphany coming into the second meadow - there was a flood of light from a gi-normously large moon. The freakishly deep snow bridges allowed for some easy creek hopping that added some variety to the approach. Rather than going up and around the Anniversary moraine, we stayed low, approaching Keith's Hut more directly from the east, less than two hours from the parking lot. The hut itself had a cold and abandoned vibe to it - dark and empty. We juggled some gear, ate and left.
     
Reaching the Joffre/Matier col
There was a palpable brightening in the sky at 4am as we worked our way up and along the ridge north west of the hut. We crested a knoll beside Motel 66 (6600 feet). We saw the peak of Mount Matier light up pink from the first light of day. As more of the mountain lit up, the lower peaks were fired up in turn. I strapped on my new spikes - replacing the BD Sabretooth (bailess now) and my Kahtoola aluminum spikes (worked down to nubs). For the next kilometre we worked our way through the many large runnouts streaming down from Joffre. The sun was just blinking above the long ridge line from Vantage Peak as we approached the Joffre/Matier col. It was a beautiful sight.
  
1. North east down the Anniversary Glacier 2. Joffre from the col. 3. Beginning the climb from the col.
We left non-essentials on the col and started and finished a line going straight up the north west face. About 75m up Alex gently passed over something schrundy like. My one leg fell through. Having my other leg fall through wasn't an option. Marjan opened up a hole revealing a 5m drop. It was the only incident of the day - outside of walking the ridge to the summit. It was narrower than a toilet seat with less than a foot of snow built up so there was no actual walking on it. We opted to side hill about a meter down from this, hoping the thin snow on rock would hold. In a blink we were on the summit looking down on Joffre, feeling pretty good about ourselves and reeling off a few gigs of pictures.
    
From the summit. 2. Joffre 3.The view looking west 4. South to Lake Lillooet 5. Must have been a rush skiing this
      
The downclimb
We had talked about bringing more gear, but in the end we didn't. We left the summit with some anxiety about the ridge. The snow was softer and ice axes didn't make anything safer. We made a quick downclimb mostly facing in. By the time we reached the col - 9:30 am - it was so hot you could fry an egg on it. We made good time and Alex wanted to bag the Aussie Col. Although conditions were optimal for it, I had been up for almost 24 hrs with seven more to reach Vancouver. I gave it a wave. A tremendous amount of snow was falling off the south east face of Joffre putting on a good show. Snowshoe time. We threaded our way carefully through the debris field. The snow was soft and slid easily under our snowshoes. By the time we reached the Motel 66 area we felt the hike was more or less behind us with only a few hours back to the parking lot.
      
1. Ridge leading to Motel 66 2. Keith's Hut 3. Staring off into space 4. Typical trail 5. Duffy Lake 6. Cayoosh Creek bridge
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Edited by - Gearhed on 05/21/2011 12:35 AM
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n van, bc
Canada
830 Posts |
Posted - 05/21/2011 : 12:24 AM
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Wow. Intense. Next time, bring some gear......
But....
It looked like so much fun! |
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 | LeeL
Advanced Member
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 Extreme ski tourin, mountain bikin addict who hikes at least once a year
2506 Posts |
Posted - 05/21/2011 : 09:22 AM
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- yes it was a rush skiing that
- Fantastic and wise timing on crossing those S facing slopes
- Yes it would have been unwise and a russian roulette move climbing aussie late in the day
Beautiful shots. Looks like even the pow on the NW face is probably gone |
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North Vancouver, BC
Canada
283 Posts |
Posted - 05/21/2011 : 09:37 AM
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Cool I was up there on May 18 and those tracks on the ridge are from a heli drop.I toured and
ended up skiing the Joffre couloir with that group.I can't believe you can heli drop this area. |
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Happy go lucky, plaid wearin, postholin, safeway gaitor sportin, old-school film shootin, giver of many regards
Abbotsford, B.C.
Canada
13441 Posts |
Posted - 05/21/2011 : 09:50 AM
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Sweet trip, Rob.
Beautiful photos of a great area, wish I could have gone there.
K |
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Terminator shade wearing, summit questing, double Grinding, Gordo voting self annointed 'dumb ass' and Aconcagua Bagga who dreams of Robson, Teton, The Judge, and.....and....
Port Moody, B.C
Canada
2210 Posts |
Posted - 05/21/2011 : 10:03 AM
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| Great job! Love the pictures. |
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271 Posts |
Posted - 05/21/2011 : 10:12 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by ATraslin
Cool I was up there on May 18 and those tracks on the ridge are from a heli drop.I toured and
ended up skiing the Joffre couloir with that group.I can't believe you can heli drop this area.
Where did they land andy? Did they use the rap rock at top of Joffre Couloir |
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bandana wearin', pole huckin', view lovin', dog herdin', 4x4 navigatin', lake huntin', butt-slidin' bridge crosser, who enjoys postholing with an overnighter pack
Surrey, BC
Canada
4646 Posts |
Posted - 05/21/2011 : 10:17 AM
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Awesome read and congrats on a safe & successful trip  |
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North Vancouver, BC
Canada
283 Posts |
Posted - 05/21/2011 : 10:24 AM
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The group landed directly behind Matier NW face to the SE on a small ridge.
Then I joined them on the Aussie and we we're able to ski the Joffre couloir
with no rappel. |
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Victoria, British Columbia
Canada
1762 Posts |
Posted - 05/21/2011 : 10:46 AM
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| Awesome. |
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North Vancouver, BC
Canada
330 Posts |
Posted - 05/21/2011 : 11:08 AM
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Inspiring trip report. Awesome to be out in that morning light. Pretty easy to fall into a hole at this time of year - with heavy snow slumping away from rock faces large and small. I think it was a good call not to do the couloir. Some fine photographs.
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Edited by - noman on 05/21/2011 1:21 PM |
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962 Posts |
Posted - 05/21/2011 : 11:41 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Gearhed
A tremendous amount of snow was falling off the south east face of Joffre putting on a good show.
Was up there on the 20th. Left West Van at 6 AM and started up around 9. Nothing large came down during the day. Our skis cut loose some minor wet sluffs. The risk was manageable on south-facing slopes. Would have avoided big lines like the Aussie Couloir, though. Ski quality was good on the upper Anniversary and higher and below the hut in Cerise Creek. |
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Peak bagging, bushwhacking, zamboni driving, snowshoeing, self portrait artist, and speed demon who loves to hang out on Mt. Seymour
3996 Posts |
Posted - 05/21/2011 : 12:50 PM
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| That's a great trip and well told and illustrated. I wish I could have joined you guys but previous plans had me up a different mountain. Good thing we got out late week as this long weekend weather tanked out. |
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Vancouver, BC
Canada
2659 Posts |
Posted - 05/21/2011 : 1:25 PM
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Congrats on the successful summit |
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West Vancouver, B.C.
Canada
288 Posts |
Posted - 05/21/2011 : 7:29 PM
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| Nice work guys. I think heading up at night, as you did, is good one. It was smoking hot when we went up. The early morning light is so nice and great for photos. |
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87 Posts |
Posted - 05/21/2011 : 11:12 PM
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You guys are having a hard time to sleep or what?
I can't do anything but sleep at night 
Wow still some ice floating on Duffy lake... |
Edited by - gatier on 05/21/2011 11:14 PM |
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N.Vancouver, BC
140 Posts |
Posted - 05/22/2011 : 6:03 PM
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Thank you Rob for your TR,nice Photos & good company, It was nice to see & hike with you after last year Hozomeen Mt!!
Special thanks to Marjan for his offer to hike Mt.Matier " his 3rd home"
http://www.clubtread.com/sforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=21923
As we know Wedge Mt. is his 2nd home"
http://www.clubtread.com/sforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=16682
As far as I remember Marjan did Matier 5 times & Wedge 8 times so far.
I had to change our plan from A,B,C to D Mt.Matier.
Simon you missed this one due your commitment to Gerry to hike Zenith Mt, hopefully next time.
Again special thanks to Mother Nature without her permission this hike would not have been possible.
Here some my photos from Mt. Matier.
Cheers!
        
  
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
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Edited by - Alex Best on 05/22/2011 6:13 PM |
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canine loving, machete-toting bushwhacking lake seeker, Indiana Jones hat-wearing off-road 4x4 guru
Surrey Hole, BC
Canada
6768 Posts |
Posted - 05/22/2011 : 10:12 PM
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| Man, nice trip on the edge. |
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Vancouver, bc
Canada
1008 Posts |
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North Vancouver, BC
Canada
1602 Posts |
Posted - 05/26/2011 : 9:05 PM
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Neat trip and great photos.
We went to Kieth's Hut for a day hike for the first time on Saturday and will have to do some more exploring in the area. |
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Mount Matier - May 19
