When Alexis laid out the plan for the weekend trip, I thought, “Finally, he’s back at peak bagging!” He also had Birkenhead Peak on the agenda, usually a fancy two-day ski trip. Me? I’m the kind of guy who doesn’t mind a bit of torture now and then, so I was game.
After a successful outing in the Steep Creek area, we drove to Darcy and car-camped at Blackwater FSR. The weather looked as promising as a soggy sandwich, some drizzle on the way in, but hey, the forecast said Saturday would be better than Friday, so optimism was alive!
Our high-clearance vehicle managed about 1 km up Blackwater FSR before we called it quits and camped for the night, ready for an early start. The next morning, patches of snow greeted us on a steep bend. We hoofed it about 200m before strapping on skis. Here’s where things got spicy, we took the third switchback at 1230m, which was apparently the scenic route to Blowdown City. That detour cost us a 200m drop to the creek, a bushwhack through obstacle hell, and a newfound appreciation for navigation skills.
Eventually, we followed the creek to a meadow at 1290m (6.3 km in). From there, it was a straightforward slog to Birkenhead Glacier. We boot-packed the hanging glacier to the col between the summit and NW1, arriving at the summit in full-on whiteout mode. Congrats, we found the top… somehow.
The descent from the col was a comedy show for me. My brain was clearly not calibrated for “steep”, which I redefined as “death-defying” ,and I was on survival skiing mode. Meanwhile, Alexis floated down effortlessly, probably wondering why I was making more noise than the avalanches we hoped wouldn’t happen.
The snow was sub-optimal with a few centimeters of crust, but thankfully the run back to the meadow was long and gradual. Skiing through the forest wasn’t too bad, and we exited to the logging road at 1060m. We rolled back to the car earlier than I expected , bonus!
Huge thanks to Alexis for a weekend full of laughs, bruises, and memories. Next time, I’m bringing a GPS... and maybe a parachute.
Great trip, too bad you did not get a sucker hole for the headwall! runningclouds
ReplyDeletehow bad are the crevasses in the headwall, runningclouds?
ReplyDeletewhat is the degree of the couloir? it looks vertical! also what is the vertical gain of that coul?
ReplyDelete