Canyons near Whistler or Squamish ?
Hi,
I'm going to British Columbia next year beginning of july and I was wondering if I could squeeze in a few canyons at the end of my stay (in the Whistler/Squamish area) ?
Any slots one might recommend, given the season ?
Thanks,
Koen
Hi Koen,
A lot of the canyons up in the Whistler/Squamish area are glacial, so actual descents aren't really possible. The beginning of July is also cutting it a bit close with the water levels, although it depends on the year. I would say that your best bet would be to drive an extra half hour to an hour on the Sea to Sky highway and hit Cypress and Goldie Creeks in North Vancouver. Both should be in condition by then, and are pretty good little canyons. That said, I am planning a trip into one called Monmouth Creek, literally on the edge of Squamish. Haven't done it yet, but at least one climber has completed it, and the entire route is visible from a nearby trail. The canyon looks like it should be one of the best in the province, as there is a lot of shallow slot action, some nice slides and potholes, and a few larger drops in the 30-50m range. The creek is lake fed, so there may be a more constant water level than the snowmelt stuff in the region. As
noted above, however, early July might be just a bit early for it.
There is a guy operating out of Whistler (name escapes me, but query "whistler canyoning" on google and you should be able to find him) that is apparently guiding people through canyons in the region. I don't know what his creds are or what canyons he is doing, but he'd be worth a look to find out more. I suspect he is probably offering the upper Cheakamus River as one option-which would be a big water, jump-and-swim deal more than anything. There are a couple of smaller streams near Whistler that may be possibilities as well, but I have not scoped or done them, so can't really provide much info other than that they are there and have interesting sections visible from area trails.
Since your reputation precedes you, I would also be happy to provide you some info on a few bigger projects in the region, if you would be interested in the idea of more committing, beta-free technical terrain.
In any case, I will keep you in the loop regarding Monmouth, if you'd like.
Cheers,
Chris H.
--- On Tue, 15/12/09, kv5476 <koen@mtb.be> wrote:
|
A reputation ? Do I have a reputation :-) ? Nothing but good I hope...
I'm aware the period for canyons isn't ideal, but I can't change the dates. I'm going to participate in this: http://www.bcbikera
That bike race (which will be part work, chaperoning a bunch of European mountainbikers) is basically just an excuse to come to BC. Which has been on top of my "want-to-go" list for the last 20 years.
If it'd be possible to do some "trade route" canyons in the general vicinity of Whsitler, I'd happily do them if you'd tell me where to find them.
But if somebody would be so kind (or foolish ;-)) to take me along to go explore stuff, no distance will keep me away. I much prefer the adventure of just exploring things... sometimes you find something, often not. But it's always fun !
Koen
We just booked our flights to Vancouver for that mtbike race... and a week extra.
The race itself is done on the 3rd of july. On the 4th we'll be nursing our hangovers, but can move (with care :-)). Let's say fully operational and within a radius of 600 miles from Whistler from the 5th onwards. On the 6th we can be halfway through Canada, if something really, really worthwile is beckoning. On the evening of the 10th we need to be back in Vancouver for our flight back.
"We", that's 3 friends and me. Two of us pretty experienced in wet canyons, the other two eager novices. If need be I can make sure those two get some really wet and steep stuff under their belts by then.
I've been looking at renting wetsuits and other gear but haven't really been succesfull in finding it... and we can't bring our own gear (already bringing our bikes and such). If anyone has leads where to rent what, much obliged.
And ofcourse, suggestions as to what to do with that gear... we'll have Alpacka packrafts at our disposal (but no experience with them). So canyoning (if we find rental gear), floating down moderately foamy stuff, hiking and mtbiking is basically of interest. As long as it's fun and beautiful.
Or an adventure :-).
Koen
Alpacka rafts? Do you have pals in the
Whistler area that own pack rafts? I would like to see on a map where they are
hiking/ rafting.
Doug
From:
pnwcanyoning@
Sent: Saturday, February 06, 2010
3:23 PM
To: pnwcanyoning@
Subject: [PNWCanyoning] Re:
Canyons near Whistler or Squamish ?
We just booked our flights to
The race itself is done on the 3rd of july. On the 4th we'll be nursing our
hangovers, but can move (with care :-)). Let's say fully operational and within
a radius of 600 miles from Whistler from the 5th onwards. On the 6th we can be
halfway through
"We", that's 3 friends and me. Two of us pretty experienced in wet
canyons, the other two eager novices. If need be I can make sure those two get
some really wet and steep stuff under their belts by then.
I've been looking at renting wetsuits and other gear but haven't really been
succesfull in finding it... and we can't bring our own gear (already bringing
our bikes and such). If anyone has leads where to rent what, much obliged.
And ofcourse, suggestions as to what to do with that gear... we'll have Alpacka
packrafts at our disposal (but no experience with them). So canyoning (if we
find rental gear), floating down moderately foamy stuff, hiking and mtbiking is
basically of interest. As long as it's fun and beautiful.
Or an adventure :-).
Koen
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Hi Koen,
Thanks for the update. I might be able to organize something for you. As I noted earlier, it is a bit on the early side for the local canyons, but at the present, the snowpack is quite low, and I suspect there will be an early start for the season this year. Your stated trip radius gives you lots of options, including a number that would be reasonable in normal years. You even have the option of crossing the border, should you be inclined to do so!
My opening suggestions would cover what I would consider the best of southwest British Columbia: Cypress Creek, Norrish Creek and Looper Creek. Cypress is located on the edge of Vancouver and is an easy day round trip from Whistler. It is ready by early July in most years, and is a pretty straightforward 4 (or 5, using the new upper entry) descent in a pretty granite gorge with excellent access. A good one for novices, with a particularly fine bottom rap. Norrish is a long jump-and-swim gorge about an hour east of Vancouver. Non-technical, with the odd scramble or two to position for jumps. It is quite scenic in places, and would be a longer day (maybe 11-12 hours, round trip) from a base in Whistler. Looper is on Vancouver Island, but is very scenic and borderline technical (1 sometimes rappel, and a keeper pothole). This one is normally done as a very long day round trip from the Vancouver area-much of the time spent on the ferry trip to and from
VI, and a fair amount of driving on logging roads. Even with all of this, it is very much a worthwhile trip.
There are a number of other possibilities as well. Goldie Creek is also on the edge of Vancouver, with 12 raps total. It isn't a huge canyon, but is fairly scenic and will be ready by July. Lost+Terepocki Creeks are also good and doable as a day round trip from Whistler, although Terepocki may take longer to come into condition. Boston Creek on Vancouver Island is also good, but would require an overnight trip from the mainland. It is a long day, with 14 raps and lots of water. I suspect it might not be ready by then, but I'll keep an eye on the snow and streamflow situation to be sure.
Finally, there is Monmouth Creek. This one has an outside chance of being ready, and has not been done by me yet. It is located on the edge of Squamish and has a lot of water and a lot of vertical. The canyon is on the shallow side (lots of potential bail points) but very interesting looking. It would not be a good novice canyon, but much of the tricky stuff is visible from a nearby trail. I am hoping to grab a descent (it has been done before) this summer, so if you'd like more details, let me know (the same can be stated for anyone else interested in this one)
As for rental gear, you can probably track down rental wetsuits at one of the local dive shops. The one possibility that springs to mind would be the Edge Diving Center in North Vancouver. I will ask if they have rentals the next time I am in the vicinity. Other gear is less easy, but I do have some spare rap devices, lots of rope, and maybe a harness or two that I can supply.
That said, I will note that my availability to help you with all this is somewhat uncertain at this point, as I am not sure what my work situation will be around that time. My heavy work season is normally the summer months (field work, so I'm out of town for extended periods). Hopefully, it will work out that I am around at that time, so I will plan for it, and if it doesn't work out that way, will make sure you have a way to get any gear you need, and maybe a local "tour guide" :)
Cheers,
Chris Hood
(oh-the Cheakamus River near Whistler might just be suitable for a packraft trip. Will have to look into it!)
--- On Sun, 7/2/10, kv5476 <koen@mtb.be> wrote:
|
Hi Chris,
Thanks for all the ideas, those are a lot of options for a short stay ;-). I'll maybe just wait to decide as spring and the snowpack unfolds ?
And thanks for checking out possible wetsuit rentals if you happen to pass by shops who might have suitable ones. We probably can take along our harnesses and descenders if need be.
As for the packrafts, I'm getting myself one and 4 of my Belgian canyoneering friends are too. We'll need them to descend some canyons that drop down into the fjords in Norway.
So to save transport and (a lot of) import duties I'll buy them "locally" and have them delivered to our hotel when we're in Vancouver. Me and a few biking friends will divide them in our luggage and take them back with us to Europe when we leave.
And if we put some scuffs and scratches on them while in BC, we're sure not to have customs trouble:-).
So any leads on nice, even multiday packraft trips in the greater BC region are very, very welcome. No extreme wild water, I'm an experienced ww swimmer but if I have a boat I'd rather stay in it :-)!
Koen
Not sure about packraft possibilities. I'll have to think about that one. The best that springs to mind would be to hike up to Garibaldi Lake (a highly worthwhile and popular trip near Whistler), then packraft across to the Sphinx cabin on the far side. The Tantalus Range-a great venue for easy to moderate mixed alpine routes, next to Squamish- is another possibility. Most of the range, including the Monmouth Creek drainage, requires a river crossing to access. The lower Squamish River itself is quite mellow, although it is glacially fed and requires attention for the occasional sweepers.
-Chris H.
--- On Wed, 10/2/10, kv5476 <koen@mtb.be> wrote:
|
Koen,
Welcome to the PNW canyon group.
I see Chris Hood has listed some ideas, he is a great resource for Canadian canyon info.
If you were keen for a ferry ride, would be simple to head to Vancouver island for a day or two.
Some great stuff out there...
Again, Chris is the guy with the info.
And if you find yourself around Seattle, be sure to give a shout.
We have some canyons here that I think are pretty good.
Cheers,
Rob
--- In pnwcanyoning@
>
> Hi,
>
> I'm going to British Columbia next year beginning of july and I was wondering if I could squeeze in a few canyons at the end of my stay (in the Whistler/Squamish area) ?
> Any slots one might recommend, given the season ?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Koen
>