Moby Dick, april '15

Werd!
hey i wanted to share some stoke from a trip last spring, but there were some issues…

it sounded like posting a TR on this site had turned into a gargantuan and highly technical endeavour, I’m all good for that, I’m a super smartypants, but sh!z fuk i was too busy to learn new tricks… I’m not sure if things have gotten easier here, or if it wasn’t actually such a big deal in the first place… but if the crazy bananas are back, it cant be so bad yah?

also, Bruno n Greg were keen to cash in on this trip with some photos and Greg’s story of recovery from his broken leg in an avalanche accident in Pakistan. i dunno if any of y’all read ‘Ski Canada’ magazine (i know, right? me neither!) but it’s an interesting read… i didn’t realize Greg was so affected by that accident, he always has a game face on. Anyway, i wasn’t gonna scoop the story, they might not cover a flight for me again! but that’s all published now.

anywaze, heres my version of events…

i’ve known for years, seen photos, heard stories, read guidebooks, about the great white whale, and of course its always interesting. but when i topped out on Purity, 6 years ago, and looked south, my eyes locked in on the beast and she took a piece of my freshly scrubbed soul. I posted a photo of Tyler’s in my TR from that trip, thar she blows!!

i’ve been smitten ever since, planning and scheming and trying to get back there, but honestly that shiz is in the frickin middle of the Selkirks, thats gads country and the folks at Battle Abby won’t help no riff raffs get into their gravy!!
i needed 3, maybe 4 days in there, and its 3 maybe 4 days each in and out… thats 12 daze total and a weather forecast around here is all bullshiz any farther out than 3 days.
Plus i was getting deeper n deeper into real life with every year that passed, business, home, baby…. i don’t have 12 days to gamble on a weatherman….

Greg came up with the solution. He had some heli budget, use it or lose it, so i bailed on my responsibizzleties and called pea shooter. The guy with the budget gets shotty.

We flew to Pequod Pass, between Battle Brook and Butters Creek, and dumped our camping gear out of the bird, then took off again to catch a lift back onto the high plateau of Mt. Proteus. A quick skin and bootpack, scrambling, put us on top of the highest point of the Battle Range and the snow conditions seemed to be prime. A quick safety meeting confirmed reports from Battle Abbey, that the buried V layer that was concerning us around Revy and Rogers Pass wasn’t much of an issue here. Regardless, we warmed up with the only mellow run around.

Chancy’s a bit of a cowboy, its not his first rodeo.

We toured back up the run for more

I was mad keen to hit the lines off White Jacket, so we traversed below Proteus and gained the ridge towards them. I’d hoped to leave the first line, between the glacier and the rock, for whoever wanted it; myself i wanted to traverse White Jacket and shred the eastern coolie which cuts through the rock wall…. but the ridge line turned into granite, a coarse slab that would be fun in rock shoes, with a flake crack which would take good cams, but the shoes and cams were in my basement, and my board was on my back, so i down climbed back to the group and they let me have at the consolation prize.

I offered first tracks to Greg but he told me that the injury to his leg wouldn’t let him do justice to the steep first pitch of the line. I was surprised, i hadn’t realized he was so far from being fully recovered, he was always positive and upbeat in our plans for the trip, and even when he told me to go first he was just matter of fact, with his game face on….

So i did, and It was all time!!
we leap frogged our way down.

Chancy’s all certizzified guidypants now so he’s always trying to tell us where to go

yes Chance, strait fukin down! Behind him is Yes Please spire, Mts Butters and Ahab.
Bruno was listening, Chancy!

i was too busy looking up

Down on the glacier it was every guide for himself, Bruno and i took photos

then we scooted around the corner and ascended back towards Pequod Pass

Yes Please!
and ice for scotch

and a good look at what we came for

Moby Dick, NE Glacier, Beckey climbed it in ‘88.

we dragged our camping gear 100m west from the pass to a wind scoop below a rock wall and made ourselves at home at the foot of the great white whale. In the morning we realized how much E in in the NE glacier, as the whale was thrashing early. We decided on plan B for Butters and skinned up it in good time.

You can see a speck which is our camp just right and below the centre of that photo.

We noticed a group from Battle Abbey coming up too… our buoy DaGlo and their guy Marco go way back so they chatted a while. It was Family Week at Battle Abbey and the family was climbing Butters to scatter some ashes of Robson Gmoser from that top corner of their domain. Long live the King.
We respectfully left them to deal with their burden.

When we got back down to our camp the whale was silent in the shade. The air temp was cold though the sun was warm while we ate lunch.
‘We might as well take a look’ suggested Greg, but i think we all knew we weren’t going to approach that slope just for the view.
DaGlo got us started

we quickly crossed under the seracs and then booted up the right side to the shoulder formed by the top of the wall we’d been skiing under the day before.

you could see our tracks on the glacier if the res was better.

the summit pyramid above us was mixed ground with exposure, we could have ascended by traversing east, onto the slope of our run, and climbing across the ‘schrund, and up an ice and snow slope… but there was a cornice above, and the sun had been warm all day…… so we dropped in. It was pretty good!! i didn’t stop to take photos til i got to the bottom

Then next day our forecast was calling for a warm front to come thru later in the afternoon, so we called our pilot and arranged a mid day pickup.
But first we went for a tour around Pequod Peak. We climbed to the high col between Moby Dick and Pequod

and looked south from there

the shiz its endless….!!

Syked for another winter!! i hope y’all have a fine season!
safety third n shit yah!
thanks for readin!