We headed out from the back side of Blackcomb Mountain on what is the first leg of the “Spearhead Traverse” – a three day, two night ski tour from Blackcomb Mt to Whistler Mt.  We were not intending to do the whole traverse, just a quick tour out to Mt Trorey.

Within 30 minutes or so we had left the mayhem and crowds of the in-bounds Whistler Blackcomb ski area and were in the back country.  It never ceases to amaze me just how large the mountain area is, compared to the area that we ski – you reach the top of the ridge, look out and see layer upon layer of little-touched mountains.  I say ‘little-touched’ as this is a well traveled ski tour route and there were probably 50 – 80 people out there.  Still, that leaves a lot of space and untouched snow for us.

After traversing a little, we headed up the already well trodden ski tour track to the top of Mt Trorey (2,600m).  It took us about an hour.  The sun was out and warm, although there certainly was a chill in the air.  Rob built his now famous snow fort that would act as our kitchen and living room for the night while I dug out a level area for our tent.  From experience, this time I took the time to level out the snow pad by jumping up and down on it with my skis.

As the sun went down, the temperature dropped and the wind came up.  The sunset was pretty and the stars too.  We knew it would be an almost full moon but by 10pm it had still not materialized and I was too cold to wait any longer.  The wind was getting stronger and stronger and at times during the night we thought that the tent was trying to take off.  Not a great night’s sleep was had!  In the morning, after most of our stuff was out of the tent it actually did take off!  Thankfully I had tethered it fairly well so we didn’t have to chase it all over the mountains.

A beautiful, tiring experience and I wouldn’t have missed a moment of it.  Enjoy the photos!

Thankfully we could take a couple of the Whistler Blackcomb ski lifts to get to the top of Piccolo Mountain.  From there we hiked up Flute Mountain then skied down to the base of Oboe.  It was tricky going as the sun had melted the snow giving it a crust that was hard to ski, especially with a heavy backpack.  Then we hiked up Oboe to our camping spot.

Rob loves to build and I love to take photos, so I ‘let’ him build camp which I documented it. Eventually Rob’s creation, complete with lounge area, kitchen and ‘fireplace’, was ready and he made us both a hot chocolate.  He topped his up with a well earned tot of rum!

We watched as the sun set spectacularly behind Black Tusk Mountain, the moon rose and the stars came out.  I carried on taking photos and video while Rob carried on with his domestic chores and made us some noodles.

After an uncomfortable night’s sleep (snow, contrary to popular belief is not soft and fluffy to lie on all night!) we got up at 7am to see the sky turn pink and blue as the sun rose.  As we were up so early we took advantage and went for one ski run without our heavy packs.  The snow was great on the non-sun affected slopes.  Then we packed up, fed the birds a little more and headed back home.

It was a tiring but exhilarating weekend.  Now……where to go next?

12►

I was there to document not so much the bands themselves as the venue and the lighting.  It was a fun shoot, and I’m more and more impressed every time I go.

Here are a few of my favourite shots:

Good luck to them both!

I couldn’t resist the water even though it was fed with glacier run off and only marginally above freezing.  Rob didn’t get more than his toes wet, but he did manage to chill our wine for us so that was nice.  After a stunning sunset we watched as the moon peeped over Mt Wedge and then rose full in the sky, bright enough to see by all night.

Our legs felt fresh in the morning so we went for a hike up to the toe of the glacier before heading back down to the valley.  Two days later and our legs are still burning from the descent, however!  Well worth it though.

12►

Again, such a special treat to be this close to wildlife.

What an experience!  It doesn’t matter how many time I’ve seen bears I’m still in awe of them, and amazed at just how close to them we are, living here in Whistler.

More music for the next two weekends.  Check it out!