1978 - The Squamish Bluffs, Hollyburn Skiing, Fraser River Paddle, Mt. Slalok

Little Smoke Bluffs - Squamish, B.C.

Location of the Little Smoke Bluffs

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Chris cleaning and practicing gear placement.

We have spent a lot of time aid climbing up at Squamish, cleaning out cracks of moss and dirt, and sometimes even putting up new routes. Waitress got to know what we meant when we said, "The usual please". We even wore out the toes of our climbing shoes! If nothing else, we found out about putting in protection. If you look very closely you'll notice in this photograph that Chris Cooper is using pitons. Chocks were something that were just coming on to the scene.

Hollyburn Mountain Skiing
Location of Hollyburn Mountain

Skiing on Paul Ridge.  Europa 99s were awful to turn!

This picture is taken at the top of Hollyburn Mountain, on the northern perimeter of Vancouver. We used to go up there quite a bit before it was privatized and we had discovered other areas. Chris is holding a pair of Europa 99s. A number of us had bought these skiis, much to our later frustration. They had lots of camber, and were incredibly stiff. When you got into powder snow there was no way that the tips were soft and flexible enough to float on the snow. No, they persisted to dig into the snow making turning something you just dreamed about. How different skiis are today!

Fraser River Paddle
Location of Hope, our put in point.
Location of Kanaka Creek, our pull out point

Talk about bucolic.

I forget who came up with the idea, but we organized a paddle down the Fraser River from Hope to Kanaka Creek in Maple Ridge. My generous dad shuttled some of us and at least one canoe to Hope so at least some of us didn't have to drive the one hundred kilometers back to Hope to get our car.
I remember the sound of sand hitting the bottom of the canoe as we put in at the Hope bridge. It was strange to think that there was so much sand and current under us that the sand was hitting the canoe hard enough to make that sound.
I remember doing around curves in the river and wondering what was ahead. In bends, there were whirlpools, and if you went deep into a sharp curve, there were whirlpools deep enough that I was sorry were had taken that particular route. I'm sure that people used to rivers would consider those whirlpools minor and nothing to worry about, but they certainly got my attention.
In one section near Abbotsford, the river seemed to be over a kilometer wide and it appeared to have something that looked like white water in the distance. As we approached it, I was really startled by a sound that didn't make any sense to me, here in the middle of this huge wide river. We were dragging bottom! The "white water" was the river rippling over the sand and rocks. For most of the year, this section of the river would have been an island!
By the time we got to where the Harrison River entered the Fraser, we were ready to find camp. There was a grassy island that provided an idyllic setting.

Camping near where the Harrison River enters the Fraser.

We set up camp, enjoyed a couple of cold ones, and had supper. We had a very good sleep.

Of course you put a touch of liquor in your omelet!

The next morning, Chuck made omelettes with either a lemon or orange liqueur and they were wonderful. The ability to take more heavy stuff on canoe trips was appreciated!

We set out again skirting the huge slow moving whirlpool that the Harrison River sets up as it enters the Fraser, and made our way down to Maple Ridge. The river was slower in this section and the hot afternoon made for a lazy paddle.
And yes, they were the days of lots of hair, for all of us.


Mt. Slalok (Rex's Pillar)
Location of Mt. Slalok

What's the weather going to do?

Early in the summer of '78 Chuck McCafferty and I made a trip up the Duffey Lake road and intended to have a go at Matier via the Joffre Lakes. For some reason we avoided the big glacier between Joffre and Spetch and went up the glacier coming down the north side of Slalok. We contemplated going up a shallow snow gully at the base, but I felt the ridge to its right would be safer. Soon after that decision, rock fall pummeled down the gully.
We climbed up the glacier and made camp on a minor ridge between the glacier that slides down to the north of Slalok and the glacier to the north of Matier.
In the picture to the left, you can see the Joffre Lakes in the background.

Summit of Slalok in the background.

We woke up in the morning to see a sea of clouds below us. Only the highest peaks poked through. It was difficult to tell what it was going to do weather wise. I think we also realized that this was not the best approach for Matier and that affected our motivation. 
In the picture above, Chuck is making his breakfast.

Mt. Matier

The view of the north side of Matier was beautiful. The north west face had a patch of ice showing. It was that face that Chuck and I climbed in 1987.

The clouds made for an other worldly feeling.

To go back down the way we came up, we had to go up a ways. Our campsite was on the rock just to the left of Chuck in the photo.