VARSITY OUTDOOR CLUB JOURNAL 62nd Edition 2019-20 University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada 1 VOC JOURNAL Cover Sunset from Brew Hut, photo by Gabrielle Booth. TABLE OF CONTENTS 8 The Exec 12 President's Message by Birgit Rogalla Copyright © 2020 by the Varsity Outdoor Club. Texts © 2020 by the individual contributors. Photographs © by the photographers credited. 14 HIKING, PEDALS, AND PADDLES All rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be reproduced, 16 My First VOC Trip: Bikes, Hikes, and Lessons Learned stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the publisher. by Samuel Shulman 21 Putting the Wack into Chilliwack The Varsity Outdoor Club Journal (est. 1958) is published annually by: by Kyle Clarkson The Varsity Outdoor Club 24 Advanced Hotspringing at the Pitt River Hot Springs: An Elaho Box 98, Student Union Building Epic 6138 Student Union Mall by Andrew Wilson University of British Columbia Vancouver BC 28 Highland Trail 550 Bikepacking: The Tale of a Girl, Her Bike, V6T 2B9 and a Two Week Epic Through the Highlands of Scotland www.ubc-voc.com by Maureen Nadeau Proofreeding and text editing by Kylie Schatz, Katya Anderson, Emma 43 Golden Ears: A Friendly Self-Propelled Trip Green, Andrew Wilson, Julia Ramos Bujalil, Jessica Brown, Jacob Gross- by Joe O'Brien bard, and Erica Haugland. Production, typesetting, text design, front matter, and cover design by 47 Mount Baldy Circumbike-n-hike: The Long Way to the Top Kylie Schatz. by Elliott Skierzskan 52 Carbon Neutral[er] Climbing the North Cascades on Two Printed and bound in Canada by Hemlock Printers Ltd. Printed on paper that comes from sustainable forests managed by the Wheels Forest Stewardship Council. by Tereza Jarniková 2 3 VOC JOURNAL - TABLE OF CONTENTS 57 Vancouver Island Solo Bike Tour: What Alain de Botton Taught 124 How Not to Do the Tantalus Traverse Me by Jessica Brown by Julia Ramos Bujalil 126 A Mid-Spring Weekend's Dream: Easter 2019 on Skis in the 67 Why Would You Go Canoeing in Freezing Water? Garibaldi Provincial Park by Caitlin Schneider and Julien Renard by Luca Egoriti, Nick Hetherington, and Freek De Haas 73 Circumnavigating Sechelt Peninsula 133 McBride Traverse: Just Don't Fall by Lukas Schreiber by Vincent Hanlon and Caitlin Schneider 142 Garibaldi in 1.5 Days 78 CLIMBING AND MOUNTAINEERING by Alberto Contreras-Sanz 80 Butt Lite Epic 149 Coupla Yahoos on Wahoo: 8 Days of Ski Mountaineering in the by Vanny Pornsinsiriruk Manatee Range 83 Mt Assiniboine: August 7-8, 2018 by Will Matous by Alastair White 158 A First Descent and an Unfortunate Lack of Hot Springs 88 Pangea, Coastal Granite, and the Age of Discovery by Jessica Brown by Nick Hindley, Duncan Pawson, and Harlin Brandvold 160 Garibaldi-Neve Traverse 99 New Routin' at Phelix by Devlin Mottershead by Nick Hindley and Duncan Pawson 162 CLUB LIFE 102 PHOTO CONTEST 164 Attempts to Regain Access to Harrison (Deja Vu) by The Harrison Task Force, i.e. Birgit Rogalla, 108 SKIING AND WINTER MOUNTAINEERING Cassandra Elphinstone, Haley Foladare, Declan Taylor, 110 Spoiler: The Lake Isn't Frozen Yet Vincent Hanlon, Andrew Wilson, Ross Campbell, and by Vincent Chan-Ying Kylie Schatz 113 Crossing the Tantalus Range on Skis 169 Exploring South Creek by Caroline Jung, Julie Van de Valk, and Megan O'Brien by Cassandra Elphinstone 121 Snow Camping Using Paragliding Rescue as a Roof 175 A UVic Interloper Learns the True Meaning of Faffing About by Tobias Klenze and Florian Meier on Mt Brew 4 5 by Teagan Dawson and Declan Taylor 178 How to Buy a Wood Stove by Jeff Mottershead 186 Phelix Gets Heat by Roland Burton 190 A Big Tree in South Creek by Krista Forysinski 196 An Unusual Pairing: Ski Touring and Ice Fishing by Birgit Rogalla 198 Cousin of Cave 2019 by Natalie Maslowski 203 (Not the Actual) Brew Debacle: Burns 'n Turns 2019 by Julia Ramos-Bujalil 207 Ode to the Laddies, or on the Ontological Dissimilarity between Free and Fixed Heels by Tereza Jarniková and Declan Taylor 209 First Time on the Neve by Roland Burton 6 VOC JOURNAL - THE EXEC THE EXEC HALEY FOLADARE BIRGIT ROGALLA HUTS COORDINATOR PRESIDENT ABIGAIL CHAPMAN VICE PRESIDENT ROB SHILTON TRIPS COORDINATOR JULIA RAMOS BUJALIL VANNY PORNSINSIRIRUK MARIA BERNO SECRETARY TREASURER PUBLIC RELATIONS CASSANDRA ELPHINSTONE TRAILS COORDINATOR DECLAN TAYLOR VOCENE EDITOR 8 9 VOC JOURNAL - THE EXEC THE QUARTERMASTERS: ROLAND BURTON HANNAH BATES USEFUL PERSON KYLIE SCHATZ JOURNAL EDITOR JACOB GROSSBARD WEBMASTER SWANTJE MOEHLE DIEGO ADLESON JESSICA BROWN NOT PICTURED: GABRIELLE BOOTH JACKSON DAGGER - MEMBERSHIP CHAIR NATALIE MASLOWSKI - QUATERMASTER ERICA HAUGLAND - LEGACY COORDINATOR NATALIE BOJARSKY - FMCBC/ACC REP CHRISTOPHER BARRY - SWAG MASTER 10 11 VOC JOURNAL - PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE & Trails Committee, expanding the committee from three VOCers to eight! At Brew, a bridge on the Roe Creek FSR is zero-rated and will be removed this summer, rendering vehicle access to the trailhead impos- sible. Although our long evenings, emails, and meetings with the Forest District have not yet completely resolved these problems, we are moving in the right direction and I remain hopeful. PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE The trip agenda is packed with annual traditions, instructional trips, and new creations despite the difficult weather this winter: ava- lanche danger was high for most of January, yet the snowpack is thin. At Tele School on Mt Seymour last week, it was pouring rain. By lunch time, everyone looked like they’d jumped into a swimming pool with ski gear on. Yet enthusiasm was as high as ever and was stoked even more when two VOCers showed up at lunch time with skis on their bikes (there has been a revival of self-propelled adventures this year). Dear readers, The comings and goings of the club continue as always, with “You better make good use of your $40 membership” a white- some pleasant updates. During lunch times, the club room is a popu- haired VOCer grumbled as he helped me sign up for the club back in lar hangout spot and many a weekend plan is made. Thanks to some 2014. Well, I think I got my $40 worth and a whole lot more: friend- stress-cleaning by the QMs, the club room and gear room are also more ship, memories, adventures, and some of the best experiences of my life. organized than they’ve been in a long time. This summer, a partnership I hope that you will too, and that the stories and pictures in this journal was established with Mammut, who have kindly donated climbing ropes help you see that the VOC is much more than a club. The VOC is a family and avalanche gear. And, with the help of an FMCBC grant, we were able and community of individuals who happen to share a penchant for type to replace all our out-dated Tracker beacons. Additionally, in September, 2 fun, don’t mind returning home to Vancouver at 5 am on a Monday a convoy of 200+ cyclists, including about 40 VOCers, biked from UBC morning before a full day of work or school, enjoy singing off-key, and to City Hall down Broadway to join the crowd of 200,000 for the Van- most importantly: enjoy just being outside with friends. couver climate strike. It was wonderful to see the VOC show up in force After battling thick mould for many years, we finally installed a to fight for what we care about. wood stove at Brian Waddington (Phelix) Hut! In classic VOC fashion, That leads me to the most important point of this message. I the stove, chimney, and all other materials were carried up on workhik- cannot overstate how amazing each member of this year’s VOC execu- ers’ backs with help from the old guard of the VOC. New logging this tive has been. They have been a joy to work with and have blown all my summer will improve the access road by rebuilding the stretch through expectations away. This year’s successes belong to everyone who helped, the landslide and replacing the zero-rated bridge. Few things have been inside and outside of the executive. Thank you for the wonderful, sup- so straightforward on the huts and trails front, however. portive community that you’ve helped create in the VOC. Now be safe This year, we’ve been plagued by access problems for both Har- and go have fun! rison and Brew Hut. Two gates were installed on the Lillooet South FSR on the way to the Harrison Hut Trailhead, reducing the reasonable ac- With a full heart, cess window to a few months per year (see page 164 for the full story). The first gentleman of the VOC rallied the troops in support of the Huts Birgit 12 13 VOC JOURNAL HIKING, PEDALS, AND PADDLES From top to bottom, left to right: 1 I’m having too much fun out here, photo by Maureen Nadeau (see page 28). 2 Our kayak fleet paddling down Sechelt Inlet, pho- to by Cheng Tsai (see page 73). 3 Views at Chilliwack, photo by Kyle Clarkson (see page 21). 4 On the water at Seton Lake, photo by Cait- lin Schneider (see page 67). 5 Myra Canyon tunnel and trestles, photo by Elliott Skierszkan (see page 47). 14 15 VOC JOURNAL - HIKING, PEDALS, AND PADDLES choosing to spend my weekends like this?”, which I think is a very valid question and gives me something to think about so as not to think about MY FIRST VOC TRIP: BIKES, my quivering calf muscles.