Hope Creek Ski Touring
We met in Pemberton at 16:00 ready to convoy and meet the snowmobiles staged at the Upper Lillooet River FSR / Hurley River FSR junction.
Staging location WAYPOINT
Our access to the lodge was 34km along the Hurley, up and over Railroad Pass (which was the geographic I used for weather), then turned NE onto Hope Creek FSR. I tried to note the summer route into Semaphore Lakes Rec Area on our ascent but didn't get a good look.
Sled Access (Dec 29) GPX
Day 1
The commercial operation was in the process of making snow roads. The last significant snowfall brought fresh powder everywhere. We staged the sleds (at 50.58209, -122.98299) for pick up at the end of day and toured south to an elevation of 1900m. We mainly skied mellow slopes through the trees on ridges and through drainages.
Skiing (Dec 30) GPX
Looking back into the direction of Hope Creek
1900m. North aspect. Rain crust present at 30cm. Light snow above. Facets at bottom just above ground. Ground at 170cm. Mild sheer at #27 affecting 10cm of surface snow.
Day 2
It snoed a few centimeters overnight. We traveled further SE of the pass. Stormy weather was preventing us from reaching the alpine so we stuck to treeline and skied similar terrain as the day before.
We used the sleds for access staging them at (50.57284, -122.98895)
As you can see here, we had some trouble getting there.
We dug another pit and found similar results to yesterday. I think this was a west aspect. Ground at 175cm. Elevation 1895. Layer at 53cm. Solid below that. No sheers. Bridging stable at site but different terrain could trigger, reason to avoid.
Rocks logs and other debris was hidden just below the surface in some spots
The snow cat operation uses this radio repeater near the east/west camels
Day 3
Happy new year! An above average day in terms of great weather, snow and terrain...
Clear cold weather brought sunny skies and we started higher at (50.59975, -122.99557). Winds were calm as we traveled through the alpine and dropped into Dental Basin. We did extra laps, riding quality was amazing. Spotted another party of 3 (at 50.60156, -123.00110) who were likely skiing the fall line back down to the Hurley FSR.
There must have been a mild inversion with fog down in the valley and warmer temps up high. Our high point was 2237m on a summit above Dental Basin.
Wind affected snow on the ridges
Looking back at our skintrack
Avy risk too high on these steep slopes down to the lake
More mellow terrain and lots of snow
Lunch break
Dental Basin
The cornice would make access at that point more difficult
Skinning back to the slopes above Railroad Pass
Another party of skiers down below
Allan and Graham have been in this zone 15+ times over the decades
'Mini hornet' bowl
#earnyourturns
#uptracksdontmakethemselves
Last run of the day in fading light
Day 4
Another above average day. This photo below is the terrain we saw from the ridge above 'mini hornet' bowl. We accessed it from a different area than yesterday, staying closer to the lodge since we also had to get back to our vehicles at the end of the day. The snowcat had a winter road through an old forest fire zone. Coverage was thin lower down in this zone. Skiing out through the trees at the end of the day was over lots of deadfall and not ideal.
Photo from yesterday or our skiing terrain for today
Skinning up through the old burn
Our high point at 2103m
We did 3 nice laps of the area on the ridge using our original skintrack as the ascent route before traversing back to the old burn area and skiing back down to the lodge.
Snow conditions had deteriorated on the Hurley FSR especially lower down with lots of bumps (likely from increased traffic on yesterday's clear day). We made it back to the vehicles as darkness set in and I finished the smooth drive back to the Vancouver this same evening. Wahoo!
My biggest takeaway from this trip is the abundance of skiing terrain in this zone off the Hurley. Which shouldn't be surprising considering the access from Pemberton and logging road networks in place. Once in the alpine, decision making takes over for the choice of what to ski in what conditions. I had lots of practice trail breaking and route finding and Graham's knowledge of the zone was invaluable. I imagine one could access this zone with just skis by showing up at the Hurley trailhead early on a Saturday morning and getting a tow from a sledder. The road skiing out would be doable but long and rough in bad conditions. Seems like a good place to bring a tent in nice weather and basecamp for a few days.