Date: November 8-11, 2008
Day #: 1-4
Location: Jumbo Pass (50km west of Invermere, BC)
Crew: Me (splitboard), 4 skiers, 1 snowboarder on snowshoes

Drove to Invermere Friday night – crammed 6 people in a tiny super 8 motel room. Up early Saturday, drove up Toby Creek valley, then into Jumbo Creek valley for a total of 51km driving. Had about 20cm of snow on the road at the trailhead. Left trailhead at 11am under cloudy skies with light snowfall. Skinned for about 1-1.5km then had to bootpack due to shallow snow in the forest. Weather warmed up and rain turned to snow. Broke out of the forest into the alpine and strapped the skis/splitboards/snowshoes back on and continued hiking. Rain turned to snow around 2100m. Gained the pass at the south end then made a couple route finding errors before eventually making it to Jumbo Pass Cabin (elevation 2350m or 7700′) around 3:30pm. Total distance covered: 5.5-6km. Elevation gain: 600m. Unloaded the packs as the weather cleared then I went for a quick run on the ridge north of the cabin. Dinner, card games and drunken tobogganing followed.

Up early (5am) Sunday morning. My roommate and I had the skins strapped on before 6am to hike up the north ridge and catch the sunrise. Had a photo session about halfway up then continued hiking to the summit (el. 2500m). Watched the sunrise then had a wicked november pow run back down to the cabin. The rest of the crew was awake by then so we had breakfast then did a couple laps on the slope below the cabin on the west side of the pass. Back to the hut for lunch followed by 2 more longer runs on the east side of the pass. Dinner, lots of booze, card games and tobogganing again.

Late start on Monday morning – hungover. Hiking by 9am, reached the summit above the hut just before 10am. Wicked pow run down the southeast ridge, then back to the hut for brunch. After brunch, did 3 more laps on the same ridge – awesome freshies for november! I took a break for a run to rest my foot (still healing after breaking it in September) then did a late afternoon run to the southwest. Hiked back up under moonlight then continued up the ridge north of the cabin for a headlamp/moonlight run. Dinner, drinks and a pretty chill night.

Got up early on Tuesday – did a quick run on the north ridge again and was back at the hut before 8am. Had breakfast, packed up then skinned to the south end of the pass. Changed over to snowboard mode, then rode until there wasn’t enough snow to get any more turns. Bootpacked the remaining 3km back to the truck. Finished off the weekend with a drive up to Lussier hot springs for a soak, then a 4.5 hour drive back to Rossland.

Epic way to start the season.

Notes: This was the maiden voyage for my new gear – burton split 168, voile interface/skins, p1.1s and ozones. I must say it is an awesome setup. Comfy, cushy and perfect for pow. No issues and I managed to avoid any serious rock damage.

Photos:
Hiking in:

Hut life:

Saucer Bomb Drop:

Good morning:

Sunrise:

Morning hike:

Early morning pow turns:

Claim that peak!

Looking south from the north end of the pass:

Moonlight hike:

Jumbo Pass Cabin:

Group claim:

Ninjas invaded the hut:

Sorry for no action shots of me – I’m always the one behind the lens!

Finally, please check out http://www.keepitwild.ca. There’s been a push for almost 20 years now to build a resort up in this area, with huge opposition from the locals. This area should be kept away from development. Keep Jumbo Wild. Keep Jumbo Local.

Cheers,

Steve