Scotty & a-Ron on the East Ridge of Matier

Scotty, Mike and I decided to head on up to Mount Matier for a peak about. This would have been my first time up there and I know that Scotty was keen to take a look at the east ridge on Matier.

We left Vancouver nice and early on friday and started to jump through the typical traffic hoops. When we finally arrived at the parking lot to the hut around 6pm we couldn't believe that there were over 20 vehicles at the lot. Even averaging 2 people per vehicle there were a lot of fricken people up at the hut.

So we headed back to Pemberton to have a delicious meal at the Pony Xpresso and sleep in a warm bed at a local hotel. Saturday came around and we were back at the lot by 4:30am and on our way up.

We were up and into the area by around 7am and it had been a beautiful ski in. Mike was to head on over to the hut and try to locate a few pow heads to do a few runs with while me and Scotty headed up to the col between vantage and the our ridge.

It didn't take us long and Joffre was looking pretty sexy off in the distance and for this being my first time up in the area I could tell that this was going to be a romantic winter.

We gained the ridge with an enormous amount of effort that found us making huge up tracks on a slope that I really didn't want to be on. In hind sight we really should have just stayed along the shoulder and gained the ridge via a much saner way.

Scotty was having a great time and was moving with confidence enjoying the breaks in the clouds and the amazing scenery around us. It wasn't long till it was time to stash the ski's onto the back of our packs.



We finally came to the point where we were going to need a rope and harness and time was beginning to be a consideration. So rather than continue along the technical portion of the ridge we dropped down a sweet little couloir.

It wasn't long till we were sitting in the Joffre/Matier saddle enjoying a bit of reprieve. It was nice to sit and fuel up for the final little slope to summit.

Well, of course I couldn't resist a little ski porn with my brand spankin new G3 Aces. I had picked these up just prior to the Russet lake trip but didn't want to scratch em all up so early in the season.

So I primarily picked these ski's up due to the fact that they're extremley light yet still wide enough to shred it up on powdery slopes. And after testing out the Barons the previous year I knew that I liked the cut.

Beautiful day, amazing sky, and great snow made this final section memorable. Though as we made our way up to the crest of the ridge Scotty wasn't feeling so well and decided to sit out the rest of the trek while I made a quick summit bid.

Sexy time!

My first trip into the region and i'm awarded with this fantastic view and great conditions.

I will be back!

OOOOooooo......now it's my turn to ride these bad boys back on down. It's going to be a sweet & crusty ride on down!

Back in the saddle we run into a few dudes out on a bit of a tour. Apparently the hut was packed the night before and there were even a couple of dogs to make it more memorable!

Scotty makes some sweet carves down the aniversary glacier to end up at the Keiths hut. Its amazing that it only took us about an hour to get back down from the summit of Matier!

The Long Way Home

We started off near Whistler on a 4 day trip through Garabaldi Provincial Park on Dec 27, just a couple of days after a very relaxing time in Parksville. Our plan was to ski up the back side of the Black Tusk and down into Taylor Meadows, bivy in the shelter of the hut, get some yo-yo skiing in and maybe climb Garabaldi or the Tusk.

The air was crisp and fresh, the weather was looking excellent and we had 4 days ahead of us. It was a great way to start a trip. . We figured we had about 15km to ski in before we'd hit the basin to the black tusk at which point we'd either spend the night there or try to make the shelter of the hut. After a bit we could see Black Tusk off in the distance but knew we had a long long way to go.
We ended up spending the night in the basin beneath the Tusk in a comfy little bivy pit. It had been a crisp fresh night and we'd all slept well. We quickly packed up and headed out excited to be skiing in the back country.

Day 2 we skied to the base of the Tusk at which point we decided to take a hike up and check out the conditions at the base of it. Jay was carrying the rope, so he was definitely on the look out to use it. No point in carrying dead weight right? Naw, there's nothing wrong with a little training weight. So we headed to the base, Me and Nick in crampons and Jay on his ski's, took a good look around, caught a breath taking vista of the entire Garabaldi Park. We could see from Whistler to Garabaldi and even down into Howe Sound. It was pretty amazing.


After Jay skied an icy, sketchy descent from the base of the Tusk we made our way down into Taylor Meadows where we knew a shelter awaited us. It wasn't so much a a shelter as it was an area with 3 walls and a giant snow drift for a door, this would be our home for the next couple of days. It was a relief to set up camp and have an opportunity to relax. While Nick provided and excellent way to lose ourselves we gorged on food and water. A luxury I haven't had on previous trips because weight is such a concern.


The next morning we decided we'd go do a bit of yo-yo skiing. The snow was light and fluffy, visibility was good and we were fresh from a good nights sleep. We made our way out towards the hills we had descended from the previous afternoon and soon found a very nice slope. First things first we dug ourselves an avalanche pit to test the snow stability.



The snow was great. There was 2 foot layer of fresh snow sitting atop a hard, well consolidated base. We knew that the snow was bomber and avalanche risk was low. We spent the rest of the day skiing up and down an amazing bowl of fresh powder, new tracks each time till our legs just wouldn't carry us up any further.

On our last run the sun was setting over Howe Sound creating a beautiful vista.

Another night in our little 3 walled shelter, huddling togeather for warmth brought us to day 4. I The end always comes so fast.

We decided to head out via Cinder Cone flats then follow a certain creek, name forgotten, out till we reached a logging road which essentially would take us bake to the car. After skiing for the entire day on flat terrain it didn't seem likely that we'd make it back to the car that evening. So we settled down for another bivy.


We woke early the next morning finding that the logging road was only another 300m away and finished the rest of the morning off skiing back to the car. All in all it was a good trip.