Mt Cheam on Skis

I've had my eyes on this peak for a while now, having flown over it multiple times in a helicopter and knowing that there is a relatively easy hiking trail up the backside. My hinderance has always been the approach, requiring a rugged 4v4. Fortunately I had met a buddy skiing solo in the Coquihalla and we joined forces for this mission. 

We were able to park pretty high up the road at 1050m. coverage was spotty and limited turnarounds past there. There was another fellow out on skis this weekend also. We were able to ride in his vehicle another 3km further up the road. 

Mid April proved to be a great time to get out here! I imagine the meadows and upper slopes will hold skiable snow into May also. 

The summer trailhead 

Another parties hiking tracks through what would have been slow and deep snow

The American Border peaks. Canadian border peak (left) and Tomyhoi (right)

Tomyhoi is the one with the visually impressive summit glacier 

(credit to D for the beta)

A meadow area where thoughtful decision making and terrain selection takes over. We took a gulley on the left side which was rather steep that could also be used for the descent. It was the more direct route but not ideal. I would certainly cross the creek at the trail's footbridge and use another gulley on the right to bypass this steep section. It is always hard to tell from looking at terrain in front of you and we took the ski descent without fully knowing what the micro terrain was like. There is overhead hazard more on the right approach to consider also. 

After the saddle with Lady Peak we skinned up the Cheam south east ridge and you get great views of the complex terrain on lady peak as well as the exposure off the other side. The area is moderately treed and not too difficult to navigate. We stayed away from the open slopes as the sun was beating down on the south aspects. 

Lady Peak 

Views into the Fraser valley from where we transitioned. It was maybe 20m below the true summit. I was ready to ski!

I enjoyed navigating through the new terrain and deciding to experiment with the other gulley on uptrack right for our descent. We transitioned back into skins at the col. It was the better choice that day with easy micro terrain and better slope angles and no avalanche debris in the gulleys. That feeling of the unknown is both very concerning as you can get caught above a cliff or another feature but with the descent we were able to cover more ground quite efficiently. 

The logging road descent was fast, until it wasn't again with the push combo. I had stashed my hiking boots up the trail and was sad to see that some hikers had snagged them :(

Regardless, a fun day and great company - wahoo!