Disneyland Heli-Bike

The stats

1500m descent

11.6 km

3h30mins elapsed (2h20 moving)

Choose your own adventure in this adult playground

About 10 years ago, I heard rumors of the Disneyland bike trail high above Britannia Beach, but had assumed that the trail and its access had faded into oblivion and never pursued it. My curiosity was renewed this winter when I picked up the new Sea to Sky backcountry map and saw the trail marked on Goat Ridge. 

Heart Line Rock Climb (17 pitches, 5.9, 1100m)

Heartline

17 Pitches (sport)

5.9 A0

1061 m

Hunting for the start

The Heart Line is a full day "sportaineering" route from Heart Creek to the summit of Heart Mountain. We were able to climb it in ~7 hours with a single rope and a rack of 12 alpine draws (although one went missing along the way). We linked a few pitches for efficiency, but ended up with a fair amount of rope drag thanks to the rambling nature of the route that follows the obvious ridge all the way to the top. As with any rockies alpine route, there was some route-finding and loose rock but the climbing was varied and interesting without being too difficult. The rock sections are broken up by a few 3rd and 4th class scrambles and there was even an aid ladder pitch to add some variety.

(Most of) Mt. Joffre in a Day

Mt. Joffre, Alberta

36km (round trip)

3450m elevation

1300m gain

Not to be confused with Mt. Joffre BC on the Duffy Lake Road, Mt. Joffre is the tallest peak in Kananaskis and the southernmost 11,000'er in Alberta.

The glacier that never ends on the approach to the North Face of Mt. Joffre

Powder Cowboy

Steep and Deep lives up to its name

It was a quiet weekend up at Powder Cowboy last week, and for the most part we had the whole zone to ourselves. We had two nights booked at the Little Sand Cabin with Rob and we spent the weekend touring and doing sled laps on the slopes around the hut.

A Sub-Arctic Week at Jumbo Pass Cabin

~Jumbo Pass Trailhead~

We have both been up to Jumbo Pass in the early season, when you can still drive most of the way to the trailhead, and had an excellent time. This year, Kyle managed to book the hut in mid-February and we were pretty excited to see what it was like in the middle of winter. The Jumbo Cabin can be accessed from Invermere to the east or Meadow Creek to the west. Our original plan had been to meet some friends from Nelson at the hut and spend a week up there together, but like most of our plans during COVID the group dwindled down to just me and Kyle a few weeks before departure.

Surprise Pass

Surprise Pass is a good 10km loop if you are looking for a shorter day touring in the Rockies, with great views and a 900m descent from the pass down to Lake Louise.

Looking up at the Surprise Pass descent from the bottom

Phantom Couloir

Phantom Couloir - Mt Ogden

~15km car to car

1250 m elevation

Couloir - 300m vertical

Phantom Couloir

We took the opportunity of a stable snowpack and bluebird day to check out a new zone and ski my first Rockies Couloir this past weekend! It hadn't snowed in 2 weeks so we weren't expecting fresh tracks by any means but it was a good excuse to get out with our friend and ski something cool. It was -23 at the Sherbrooke Lake parking area and we managed to grab one of the last parking spots at 7:45 am. We kept moving to stay warm, but still had to do spot checks of each others faces for signs of frostbite.