i’ve had for some time now a silent worry, a nagging fear in the back of my mind, after years of this lifestyle, all winter railin fat lines, tweakin for snow, powder fiendish and ski bummin, then summer hittin the rock, crack addict, dirtbag climber…. once in a previous life i had higher aspirations, dreams n plans, what happened? fate or free will, whats the difference? i was true to myself, and now i’m here….
concerned, just a bit, but what if i do have a soul??? it’d hafta be pretty dark, dwelling in this dirty ol karkis!
dont worry bout my issues, but how i deal with them.
it seemed to me, with typically twisted logic, there could be a chance for redemption, a way to purify my soul (if i have one) with a pilgrimage of devotion….

I met Tylers friend Joel when he picked me up in revvie around mid day last sunday. we hit the RPC and met up with the Gside crew: Ty, A/dog and B/dog. a brief discussion made sure we were all on the same page; we registered with the park, permits, and a quik call to Danyelle the hot warden who told me what i wanted to hear, a track was in!! we went down to the Asulkan/SillyIlly parking lot and got organised. by 4:20pm we were ready to go high. I in I praise Jah thanks for snowy mountains, the waxing moon, and a crew of brothas to adventure with. the heat of the day had passed and we made good time with full loads up to Sapphire Col, where a shelter that looks like a tin can proves to be a diamond in the rough

the next morning we dealt with the brutal slide down the south aspect of the Swanzy glacier route to the Incommappleux River. we crossed the Fish, heading downstream, and started up Van Horne Brook, then up Mitre Creek to its confluence with Black Creek, and spent the afternoon digging camp in a nice sunny snowbank. (Note to self: sunny locations are not actually good spots for snow shelters in the spring)

camp had a wicket view of North Purity

the next morning we made for Purity Pass (lookers left of North Purity)

where we stopped for lunch

thats me on the right, looking over my shoulder, how could you not look???
Purity, N face

but you can only look for so long before ya gots ta git after it!

the view from the summit, south to the Battle Range

but we slid back north to drop in

5 x shralped!!!

we crossed back over Purity Pass and slid the bowl beside North Purity… i couldnt resist, with a soul this dirty i gots ta rub up on anything i find named ‘pure’

Tyler was in too, i dunno if he has a black soul, or if he worries bout it, but he shreds like he stole it

the next day we headed up Mitre Creek for the Bishops

i stopped at a boulder for some cross training but i’m weak, didnt send the mantle

so we continued up to the Bishops Glacier

to see what we could ski. the guidebook (Selkirks South, Jones) is quite recent but the photos in it must be a bit older. the line off Cyprian which looks cherry in the book was lookin brutal in life, and i’m not sure if its just a low snow year or more likely glacier melt and low snow. so we settled for the only obvious line on this side of the range, from Camarade, the snow dome on the left

the next day we packed camp and headed for Donkin Pass

the cornice on the Pass was pretty big but the coverage on the rocks below was a bit sparse so we rapped

we slid back down to the Incommappleux and waited out the warmth of the day, and started up towards Swanzys glacier late in the afternoon

and booted up to the Sapphire Col hut in the dark

the next morning we had a bit of fresh laid down to smooth our way out

All photos Tyler Mills. Nice work Ty, and thanks!!!