TR: A Coastal Adventure

Words: Darryl Hunt
Photos: Darryl Hunt (and Mike Wigley where specified)

While the skiing in the Kootenays in BC haven't been bad by any means, a lack of big storm cycles since mid December has made some of us feeling a little trapped in the usual routine of trying to find good snow in zones we, for the most part, already knew. My friend Wigley found out about a backcountry festival going on at Mount Cain on Vancouver Island and after a few phone calls and some rushed last minute planning we had a crew of 4 ready to head out on a road trip to unknown territory. Wednesday night Jesse, Wigley, and Luke (ShredMasterPlus on NS) drove from Rossland, Calgary and Lake Louise to my house in Revelstoke for last minute planning, packing, and wings and beers at the local pub.

Not even the hangover from the previous nights beers could keep us from waking up early, packing the car and starting the drive to the coast. Somehow we fit 4 people, 4 pairs of skis, 2 snowboards, and winter camping gear in my Subaru Legacy and we were off to catch the ferry over to Vancouver Island. After a very pleasant drive we arrived to warm temperatures and blue skies - which would be the trend for the next few days our our trip.






Once we docked in Nanaimo we drove down the road and took another ferry over to a smaller island called Gabriola where we were to spend the night at Jesse's friend Quill's house. Within minutes of us being on Gabriola we were down at the docks with our friend Mitch who also lives on the island heading out into the night on a boat looking for a prawn trap. The boat was only big enough for Jesse and Mitch, leaving Luke, Wigley and I on the dock to drink beer and look at the stars. Armed with only head lamps and a rough guess as to where he left the trap they failed in the search but any time hanging out by/on the ocean is good times.






Friday morning we woke up early with the goal of skiing an abandoned ski area on route to Mount Cain. Just south of Mount Washington there is an abandoned ski area (one of 3 on Vancouver Island) called Forbidden Plateau. Instead of just spending Friday driving, we were itching to get a ski in and thought it would be a great opportunity to check this place out.
















































Over the next two days we skied the slackcountry that Cain had to offer with blue bird skies and hot sun. While the sun destroyed any snow it touched, we did manage to find some short, steep, north faces that kept good snow, and for some odd reason - remained untouched for the whole weekend. By the end of the weekend, the only lines in the zone were ours. We weren't complaining.


















































Once Monday rolled around we packed up and headed off to our next destination of the trip: Duffy Lake, with a quick stop off in Whistler. An old frind of mine, Dave Pauls (OG NS member Ducttapeboy), was on a bit of a vacation in Whistler and let me crash at his fancy hotel room in the Village for the night. Maybe if we were younger and/or more hip I'd have pictures of us hitting the clubs and, you know, being cool and what not. That didn't happen though so deal with it. Tuesday morning we woke up and headed north out of town to Duffy Lake area which is the northern half of the 'Sea to Sky' Highway north of Pemberton. Our mission was to skin into a hut for three nights and do some ski touring (surprise, surprise).






With minimal knowledge of the area, we headed up to the "Keith's Hut" which we heard can turn into quite the gong show to see what we can get done. After a super easy approach we found the hut no problems, and found it empty which was a nice surprise and dumped our heavy packs before heading off to check out what the mountains have to offer.






Since none of us really knew anything about the area we relied on what we could see and seeing what's around 'the next corner' as far as what we could/should ski. We also didn't know the names of any of the runs (besides the main classic descents in the area) so we said 'fuck it' and started naming the things we skied as we skied them. I'm sure the runs we skied have names, so if you recognize anything and know the real name, feel free to correct me.























































































By the time Friday rolled around we were all feeling pretty tired, but Wigley and Jesse had one last mission on their mind - sunrise mission up the face of Joffre Peak above the hut. While I would have loved to join them, I just didn't think I'd have the energy to do the run, ski back to the car and drive the 6+ hours to Revy that day. They left the hut at around 5:30am and started skinning up the ridge to the face above.






















This is about the time I crawled out of bed to see how their progress was.
















Overall, the trip was a great success and the celebratory burgers and beers when we got to Kamloops was straight up delicious. I am back home in Revelstoke now wondering what to do for my next adventure. Luckily it's snowing out, so I will just have to go ski Rogers Pass for now until the answer comes to me. Until next time!

Darryl Hunt.