Magical Cypress Bowl — hovers above Vancouver

Cypress Bowl looks like a magical place above the City of Vancouver

The captain of the flight from Toronto pointed out Cypress Bowl, home of Olympic events, as we approached YVR this afternoon.

Last Cypress Bowl Ski before Olympics

Tomorrow, for security reasons, we backcountry skiers will not be permitted in Cypress Bowl until after the Olympics. Hollyburn Mountain is not a venue for the games, so that beautiful old growth forest will belong only to the security goons with guns. Today, the weather up in the bowl was mild (as everybody in the world seems to be learning) and foggy… but backcountry travellers are supposed to be able to handle anything (except lack of snow for skiing). So, we went there. The altitude where we start to ski up is about the same as most of the Olympic events. I have never seen so little snow at this time of the year — it looks like very late spring.

Snow conditions at the Hollyburn Mt. Hikers' Trailhead

Things improved with a bit of altitude, and above the Water Boards (top of the nordic trails) there was even some fresh wet snow.

On the Hollyburn Mt. summit trail, above the Water Boards

There were very few people up there today. Instead of fighting churned up snow to the summit, somewhere above this point we headed off into the woods looking for some smooth glades.

The place to remove skins and start skiing

We were alone in the woods. It was dark and foggy. And no other ski tracks. Somehow we missed our planned line and were heading into the unknown. So, we put skins on again and doubled back.

Suddenly we found ourselves on the slope we were seeking.

The slope we wanted to ski

The only person who’d been here before us left a single snowshoe track. I don’t think I’ve  ever been the first to ski this pitch. It wasn’t powder… but I learned to ski in this lovely, soft, damp, west coast snow. It was marvellous. There was several inches of fresh snow over a firm base.

Wilderness Tourism Assoc. writes about Fish Farms to the Hon. Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada

The Wilderness Tourism Association (WTA) says,

The regulations, as they currently exist in BC, are woefully inadequate to protect wild salmon as they do not address the impacts that open net cage salmon farming has on the wild salmon stocks.

The WTA has sent an open letter to the Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada on January 25. The full text of the letter is here. << PDF format, 3 pages.

The WTA principles and position papers are available at their web site: http://www.wilderness-tourism.bc.ca/issues.html.

Salish Sea, and Twitter, chosen Names of the Year

Salish Sea was chosen Name of the Year by the American Name Society at its annual meeting in Baltimore, Maryland on January 9, 2010.

To download the MS Word media release from the ANS, click: 2009 Name of the Year

If you don’t want to download the document, I’ve reproduced it in the next pane of this article…

Surprise: it was pleasant skiing today

From the ferry we could see fresh snow high on the hills

As I headed out on the ferry to the mainland I could see that the recent rains had deposited some fresh snow high up on the local hills. Skiing on Hollyburn Mt. was actually much nicer than last week (see previous blog post). Even more snow had melted at the trailhead and the place looked like late spring. We skied up anyhow because we wanted the exercise. For most of the way there was a fresh layer of soft snow over a firm base. It made for a short and enjoyable ski.

The Depths of the Dark Season

Just so I don’t seem to be blogging about only the pleasant weather: here on Bowen Island and south coast of British Columbia we seem to have just 3 seasons: spring, summer, and dark. The Dark Season is from late October to mid February. In other words, Now! The weather is often dark, mild, and raining; or it is nippy and sunny. Last night and this morning it rained hard and continuously. And it has been very dark. It is likely to be a bit  sunny and colder tomorrow.

Post edited to add: This morning, when I took the above video, it was very dark here at the bottom of the clouds. That changed dramatically, and by 2 PM the sun was shining in a mainly blue sky. So, here are those same puddles now:

Hikers’ Trail, Hollyburn Mountain

We went skiing in the rain today. I love the mountains, the woods, the fog – or being in the clouds… so we dressed for the weather. We were surprised at the lack of snow.  Normally, by January there is lots of snow in Cypress Bowl. This is the entrance to the Hikers’ access, a trail that leads to the summit of Hollyburn Mountain.

Not much snow at the Hikers' trailhead to Hollyburn Mountain

The top of the groomed nordic runs on Hollyburn is known to the locals as the Water Boards. What we call the backcountry begins when we go above that. We were astonished to see that above the Water Boards there were still huge holes where water was flowing beneath the snow.

Snow conditions above the Water Boards on Hollyburn Mountain

In the picture, the top of the nordic run is the flat area in the top right of the picture. The sign is warning folks of the dangers of backcountry travel beyond that point. These holes reveal the current depth of the snowpack.

Lots of snow last January.

Tantalus Range from Howe Sound

Mt. Tantalus, Serratus Mountain and Alpha Mountain from Howe Sound

Christmas day 2009 looking northward on Howe Sound. I took the picture just after 3 PM. Visitors often ask me the names of those peaks. That is the Tantalus Range. The highest peak is Mt. Tantalus on the left. Actually the highest point that is visible is a sub-peak of the massif: Mt. Dione 2590 m/8500 ft. Next is Serratus Mountain 2326 m/7632 ft then Alpha Mountain 2305 m/7562 ft. To the right of Alpha is a lower flat-top hill that is actually not next to Alpha but on a closer ridge. It is Mt. Pelops 1980 m/6500 ft. Pelops is the  near side of a massif that is separated from the slightly higher Mt. Niobe 2010 m/6600 ft by a high col. The snowy bump at the east end of that ridge (on the right) is Mt. Thyestes 1680 m/5500 ft.

These hills are visible when driving north on the Sea-to-Sky Highway. Part of that road is visible down by the water.

Carolling – Millers Landing – Bowen Island

Carolling around the tree lit with real candles

Is this the better tire chain?

Diamond pattern - easy installation - tire chains

Since I needed new chains for the car, I’ve been looking for better performing chains that are also easier to install. This is what I found. I have installed them to check to see that they fit. The plastic is to keep them clean in case they have to be returned. They fit. I’ll post the boring details in the next pane of the blog…