The first day's route from Blackcomb-Spearhead col.
With a fantasic weather forcast (again!) for the weekend, the word was out: ski touring conditions were exceptional and lots of great trips had been done the week before: ski tours of the Eldorado and Klawatti plateau, of the Nooksack Cirque, of the Snowking area, and so on. With the forecast it was important to hang up the rock shoes for the moment and concentrate on a great ski tour that Summer and I had had our sights on for years: the Spearhead Traverse.
The Spearhead Traverse is something I had started hearing about when I lived in Bellingham, and heard even more about as I went to Alaska with my Canadian friends Maurice, Terry, and Jason in 1998. Terry had never done it, and at the time was pretty obsessed with completing it. I called Terry, but being a new dad shifts your priorities so he was not in for this trip. Evenso, Summer and I got ready to do the Spearhead over two days in early April. This was going to be great!
We left Seattle Friday night and crossed the border, waiting it out in a huge traffic backup. The trip up to Squamish was smooth, though, and we crashed in the Smoke Bluffs parking lot for the night. The next morning we met our friends Terry and Christine, with new kiddie in tow, at the White Spot for breakfast and caught up a little. But soon Summer and I were on our way again, and headed for Whistler.
The Spearhead Traverse is a traverse across the Spearhead and Fitzsimmons ranges, from Blackcomb to Whistler. Its a U-shaped route, not quite an out-and-back, but effectively one as you start and end in Whistler Village. Summer and I packed our stuff, got our backcountry tickets, and were on our way! The route starts by riding the lifts to the top of Blackcomb mountain, where you can start the traverse by leaving the ski area at the Blowhole. Here, a long gentle traverse leads to the Blackcomb-Spearhead col, and the true start of the traverse of the Spearhead range.
The first day's route from Blackcomb-Spearhead col.
The first day we wanted to get the the Ripsaw Glacier, what some say is the halfway point. With a warm, bluebird day it seemed completely possible. Summer and I skied down from the first col and started the long traverse over Pattison, the Tremor Glacier, to where we thought we could get to the Platform Glacier. The day wore on and the sun beat down. Gentle up and down slopes lead to the Shudder and Shatter Glaciers, and finally late in the afternoon to the high col entrance to the Platform Glacier. One final upslope led to the col between the Platform and Ripsaw glacier, and Summer and I, sensing the snow was firming a bit with the onset of evening, decided to call it a day and just get an early start the next morning. We set up camp.
Summer traversing up the Shudder and Shatter Glaciers on the first day.
Camp on the Ripsaw Glacier.
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We were alone on the Ripsaw Glacier, but there were two parties nearby on the Platform and more ahead of us. The bonus to this camp was that a hundred yards away we had running water, so we didnt use much fuel to cook and melt snow. It was a fine evening, and after the initial cool-down due to the sun setting, it didnt get any colder. It was above freezing all night, and Summer and I both woke up and got out of the tent at around 1 am, just to look at the stars. At 1:30 am, we heard Canada Geese fly over our camp! The next morning, we got up and brewed some drinks and oatmeal. It was a nice morning, and in our position we would get the sun first, as the Ripsaw has an Eastern exposure. The snow was crusty, the top inch or so of the surface frozen solid. We broke camp as the sun hit the upper part of the glacier, and I skied ahead over towards the next glacier on the route. Halfway across the glacier were some icy ruts, left from the many skiers that have traversed this route over the previous weeks. I managed ok, but as Summer came across the same ruts, she hit them badly, and took a spill. Immediately I knew something was wrong, as Summer cried out in pain, then "No! Oh No! Oh No!" and just lay there. I ripped off my skis and ran, or tried to run, back to her. Here at 8000+ feet, I could only run a few yards before I was out of breath...so I walked really really fast to where she was. When I got there she was finally picking herself up. She descibed her fall, and we both immediately knew she had sprained her knee. So, this was bad. We both knew it was bad. We didnt really know how bad, but sprained knees and skis dont mix well. Summer and I both immediately went into survival mode, and discussed our options. We didnt have a cell phone, but fealt ok with two groups behind us for the moment. I thought it would be better to go forward than back, thinking we were at or past the halfway point on the traverse and that the second day was alot of downhill to the Singing Pass area, then either a fairly level traverse out over the "Musical Bumps" or a trail out to Whistler Village via Singing Pass. If worst came to worst, we would at least try to get to Singing Pass today, then hike out the next day, Monday. |
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So we continued on. Just 15 minutes later, boot-packing our way down a short step to the next glacier, Summer took another twisting fall and injured herself worse. It was pretty clear her knee could not bear much weight. The next glacier, however, was a level traverse to the top of MacBeth col, which leads down the MacBeth Glacier to the Iago Glacier, over towards Overlord. The level traverse was fine, and went fairly quickly. However, the steep run down the MacBeth Glacier was too steep for Summer to ski down, and it turns out it was too difficult for her to hike down it too, with the still icy conditions. It was only about 8:30 am. So Summer positioned her shovel blade on her pack just so and, wearing her pack, was able to slide on the blade of her shovel down the MacBeth Glacier.
On the traverse over to the Iago Glacier, we met a party coming the opposite direction. There was a steep gully up there, they said, and were going back to Blackcomb. At this point we could see the Fitzsimmons below us, and in talking to several others there seemed to be a way to get over to the Singing Pass area without going over the high route over Overlord. We also had the option of turning around and heading back to Blackcomb still, but I just had a feeling that that would be worse, as it is significant up and down. So after some more descion making we decided to do a low-traverse to the lower Overlord Gl, via the Fitzsimmons. This had one major benefit. It lost elevation here, immediately, then just gained a whole lot back to Singing Pass, without too much more down (or so we thought).
We made our way slowly down to the Fitzsimmons Glacier, bootpacking down a steep slope. Whenever we encountered something other than an up-track, I would take Summer's skis and she would either boot-pack or butt-slide down. She couldnt ski down at all. We both knew it was important to not have her fall again, and further injur her knee. We also knew the weather was supposed to turn Monday, and that most ski tourers would be gone then and so with them any real chance of summoning help should Summer not be able to make it out under her own power. Though our going was slow, we were making steady progress, so we were optimistic.
From the Fitzsimmons Glacier we started a long uphill traverse to the lower Overlord. This type of travel was travel that Summer could do on skis, however the snow surface was cold (North facing slopes) so the going was slow at times as I lead and Summer followed. The uptrack we were following was lain by three hard-core's the day before, it seemed, who had skied the entire Fitzsimmons Gl, perhaps in a day trip from the hut at Russel Lake. We finally reached the Overlord Glacier, and could see the hut! That became our becon of hope, as the slopes that greated us on the Overlord were far from gentle!! Summer again had to slide and boot down the slopes, and these were south-facing so the going was slow in the oatmeal snow. But with the hut in sight, several things were pretty clear: we were going to make the hut today, but thats as far as we would get. There was someone at the hut, as I saw some people wandering around outside it even from this distance.
Summer, tired, skins up yet another steep track on the lower Overlord traverse to the hut from the lower Fitzsimmons Glacier.
We traversed the lower Overlord Glacier, and it took a while. It was already mid-to-late afternoon, and Summer and I were both hurting for water and food: In Summer's slide down the MacBeth Glacier she had lost the nipple tip to her Platypus bag, and so we had lost a liter and a half of water, and had only 3 L between us for the entire day in the sun. It was starting to take its toll. Summer was digging really deep, working on her last energy reserves. It was really painful for me, as someone who loves her and doesnt want to see her in pain, to keep herding her and hounding her, keep her going over the long slog through the Overlord and up those final slopes to the hut. We got to the hut at 6:30pm, approximately 10 hours after we broke camp. Our pace had been between half and one kilometer per hour, all day.
At the hut we met a guided party that totally took care of us. They gave us lots of food, helped us check out the maps, and provided great company! The best news of all was that the guide had both a cell phone, and Sat phone. So Summer and I could rest a little easier knowing we had options.
Thanks, guys!!
Monday morning Summer and I again left early, ahead of the guided group, knowing they would catch us quickly. We were back on the regular Spearhead Traverse now, working our way over to Singing Pass, 2 km away. Summer's knee had swollen a little and was much more painful this morning, compared to the previous day. I was carrying more weight today, and Summer just had the tent and her sleeping bag - about 10 pounds. As was the case the previous day, going uphill was not a problem, but going downhill was a huge problem. Summer couldnt ski downhill at all. Not one bit. She tried valiantly on gentle downward traverses, but everytime she did she was really taking a big risk. Just one fall could really mess up her knee much worse than it was. Summer took the better part of an hour coming down the slope to Singing Pass proper, as the snow was breakable crust and she was post-holing with her boots on. At this point, the guided party caught us again, and Summer and I decided, before these guys took off into the sunset, to throw in the towel and get Summer a helicopter back to Whistler. I was just sick with worrying about her, and watching her fight and take risks. I was worried, even with the short distance we had left, that we wouldnt make it out with a happy outcome.
The guide was very knowledgable about the local helicopter scene and SAR, and had cell phone reception at Singing Pass, so made a few calls. Before long, we had Blackcomb Helicopters coming into Singing Pass as an air ambulance, and finally Summer would be safe!! The helo came within an hour of our initial calls, and Summer was whisked away to Whistler Village (a 3 min chopper ride). While they helo could take me too, I declined for three reasons: I wasnt injured, I wanted to finish the traverse, and I wanted some time alone to start decompressing. The last day and a half had taken a toll on me, and I just needed some time alone where I wasnt constantly worrying. So I continued alone over Oboe and Flute to Whister ski area, where I returned to civilization just two hours later.
Guide Chris Lawrence guides the chopper in.
A Paramedic checks out the injury before Summer flies out.
A signpost on the top of Flute, announcing civilization, as the weather deteriorates.
Summer was diagnosed with a torn ACL and sprained MCL at the Whistler clinic. Despite our attempts to self-rescue, in the end we think the helicopter was the best option and probably should have called for it on Sunday, after the accident. It just wasnt really worth the very significant risk of further injury to try to go out the way we did. Evenso, I could not have asked for a better partner for this trip, or more of an effort from anyone getting out. Summer's skill, drive, and determination made her the best partner I could have asked for on this trip!
