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...PEAKS 3,000 METRES OR MORE. OUR CHALLENGE IS TO SKI ALMOST 100 KILOMETRES THROUGH SOUTHWESTERN BRITISH COLUMBIA, OVER A SERIES OF GLACIERS KNOWN TO BACKCOUNTRY TRAVELLERS AS THE LILLOOET ICEFIELD.
THROUGHOUT WINTER, I DREAMED OF THE WILDERNESS BEYOND WHISTLER, THE UPSCALE MOUNTAIN SKI VILLAGE WHERE I LIVE. NOW, AFTER MONTHS OF PLANNING, I'M JOINED ON THIS MID-SPRING MORNING BY STEVE "FRENCHY" ST. HILAIRE, 35, OF SQUAMISH, AND VANCOUVERITES DOMINIC AUGER, 36, AND STEVE WICKHAM, 27, FOR A WEEKLONG ADVENTURE THAT WILL END WITH A WELL-EARNED SOAK IN THE HOT SPRINGS AT MEAGER CREEK, JUST UPSTREAM FROM THE CREEK'S CONFLUENCE WITH THE LILLOOET RIVER.
Each year four or five parties of skiers attempt this arduous traverse, or a variation of it. Some end up tent-bound for days, caught in bad weather, while others ski through without incident. We hope to ski our entire route, both uphill and down, but we're prepared to strap skis to backpacks and hoof it if necessary. We'll travel south across the icefield, over the so-called High Ridge and through a collection of mountains known by climbers as the Manatee Range.
Though a glacier might look flat, it may rise and fall with the bedrock that lies below, sometimes creating a dramatically broken surface. Ridges extending down from surrounding peaks separate the glaciers. The topography is convoluted and vast, with glaciers so deep that they bury the mountains, leaving only the peaks poking through the ice.
We glop on sunscreen and line the bottoms of our skis with climbing skins, strips of synthetic hairs that grab the snow like Velcro. Carrying 30-kilogram backpacks, we push a track up to a ridge dividing Tchaikazan from Chapman Glacier.
"How is the snowpack?" Auger asks, concerned about avalanches. I push a ski pole down through the snow, feeling for changes in consistency. Uncertain, I dig deeper with a shovel. "Can't find anything strange," I decide.
Within an hour, we've climbed 200 metres; the ankledeep powder has stiffened and our climbing skins slide on the snow. At...
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