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 Snowshoeing and Backcountry Skiing
 Garabaldi Lake frozen?
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Tash
Junior Member


Burnaby
Canada

340 Posts

 Posted - 02/14/2005 :  1:32 PM  Show Profile  Reply to this posting
for those that have been up around garabaldi lake, do you know if the lake looks frozen? 2wks ago, a party posted a photo on bivouac and water could be seem in the distance towards sphinx bay and they did not attempt. any ski tracks crossing the lake? any obvious unfrozeness that you could see? it's been pretty cold lately; hopefully if this keeps up, a trip across the lake is possible. thanks for ur input.

Edited by - Tash on 02/14/2005 1:32 PM

Marc
Advanced Member

map hatin', coffee perc totin', garbage collectin', backpacking, action hero wannabe, who loves to hide out in Garibaldi park and will have his scouts sing if you keep him awake at night


2468 Posts

 Posted - 02/14/2005 :  1:49 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
It looked pretty good this weekend. I couldn't see any obvious places where it wasn't frozen over. I walked a little ways out to have a peek and it seemed pretty good.
I'm hoping to make the cross over myself in 2 weeks, so here's hoping for continued cold weather.

PS: If anyone out there has done the cross over any info you have would be greatly appreciated!!

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Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, "Where have I gone wrong?"
Then a voice says to me, "This is going to take more than one night." - Charlie Brown

Edited by - Marc on 02/14/2005 2:21 PM

Marc
Advanced Member

map hatin', coffee perc totin', garbage collectin', backpacking, action hero wannabe, who loves to hide out in Garibaldi park and will have his scouts sing if you keep him awake at night


2468 Posts

 Posted - 02/17/2005 :  4:03 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
BUMP

I'm giving this one a bump. I'm looking at doing the crossover to Sphinx next weekend. Had a few questions, been doing a lot of research online, but would like to hear from anyone that's done it.
Anyone done it this year? When you did it, was there a preferred route? Now, I understand that it's a lake, a big frozen open area but I've never crossed such a large lake before so any info would be appreciated.
I know that Sphinx Bay is usually the last place to freeze so would it be better to go around by Mt. Price and along the shoreline that way? Straight across the middle dosen't seem the best choice.

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"...but I love Canada. It is a great country much too cold for good sense, inhabited by compassionate, intelligent people with bad hairdos." - Piscine Molitor Patel
ClubTread Supporter

Dru
Mountain Grammar Police

Sardonic sandbagging scoundrel, Cascade Climbers lobotomized spraymeister, space blanket flyer, new millennium vulgarian betaboy and friend to all squids

Climbing, a mountain
Canada

∞ Posts

 Posted - 02/17/2005 :  4:25 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Follow the beaten track and/or take whatever course is shortest. It freezes thicker in the middle than at the edges.

Make sure to bring compass and map and to take bearing so you have some idea of which way to go if it clouds over. Very easy to drift off bearing in poor visibility on a flat, white surface with no distinguishing features visible.

Marc
Advanced Member

map hatin', coffee perc totin', garbage collectin', backpacking, action hero wannabe, who loves to hide out in Garibaldi park and will have his scouts sing if you keep him awake at night


2468 Posts

 Posted - 02/17/2005 :  4:35 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Thanks Dru!

Was actually thinking of emailing you or SGRant directly for info. Was reading TR's of yours and his on Bivouac so was hoping I'd get to pick your brains.
Didn't know that it'd freeze fastest in the centre. Have seen pics. where the track seems to go right across the centre of the lake guess that explains it.
I had planned on "following the beaten path" if there is one, and I'll definitely be taking a bearing no matter what. Thanks again.

PS: Loved the Naturalist Approach to doing the Chief...heh, funny stuff.

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"...but I love Canada. It is a great country much too cold for good sense, inhabited by compassionate, intelligent people with bad hairdos." - Piscine Molitor Patel

Sharon
Intermediate Member


Whistler
720 Posts

 Posted - 02/17/2005 :  4:36 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
There were no tracks on the lake as of Tuesday at all. It looked frozen but it is a big lake. Perhaps call Blackcomb Helicopters or Helijet, they are flying over it all the time.

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Don't be afraid to go out on a limb...that's where the fruit is!
ClubTread Supporter

Dru
Mountain Grammar Police

Sardonic sandbagging scoundrel, Cascade Climbers lobotomized spraymeister, space blanket flyer, new millennium vulgarian betaboy and friend to all squids

Climbing, a mountain
Canada

∞ Posts

 Posted - 02/17/2005 :  4:54 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Ya the thinnest spots are always at the edges of the lake, especially where there are trees and hence more long wave radiation at night. Also where creeks flow into the lake tends to be thinner. Atthis time of year i would not really worry about the lake not being completely frozen over, I think you can count on it being solid. however as mentioned, there may be no tracks yet, cause it isn't really Neve season yet although it easily could be done now, the days are almost 11 hours long, and the weather is good and snowpacks are pretty stable right now

Tash
Junior Member


Burnaby
Canada

340 Posts

 Posted - 02/18/2005 :  1:38 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
thanks for the input; i think the lake is frozen now with this weeks cold spell. if the weather is favourable, we'll cross the neve next weekend.

sgRant
Senior Member


Vancouver
1822 Posts

 Posted - 02/22/2005 :  9:24 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
I did a day trip on skis to Sphinx Bay on Saturday with no problems (other than being tired and sore afterwards). I didn't go to Sentinel, but it appeared to me the lake was entirely snow-covered over there. I didn't see any ski tracks headed that way, but I didn't go searching. If needed, you can always skirt along the shore once you're past Mt. Price.

Bear in mind that if you're planning to use snowshoes, you are more likely to break through than on skis, and this is also true of crevasses. I imagine the crevasses on the Neve are unusually thinly bridged this year, so you might consider the unusual measure of roping up for it.

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Meet you at DYE-II?

Marc
Advanced Member

map hatin', coffee perc totin', garbage collectin', backpacking, action hero wannabe, who loves to hide out in Garibaldi park and will have his scouts sing if you keep him awake at night


2468 Posts

 Posted - 02/23/2005 :  05:57 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Thanks for the update sgRant! I was hoping I'd hear from someone who'd crossed the lake already.
We probably will head over to Sphinx on Thursday and camp out there. Spend a day or two playing in the area, and than home on Sunday. Maybe, we'll be lucky and be able to follow your tracks.


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"...but I love Canada. It is a great country much too cold for good sense, inhabited by compassionate, intelligent people with bad hairdos." - Piscine Molitor Patel
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