Grassy Mountain

December 6, 2015

1889m

Manning Provincial Park, BC

This weekend saw some “saturated weather” for pretty much everywhere in SW BC but Alex, Ben and I were still keen to get out. Those easy summits near Gibson Pass by Manning Park ski resort were brought to the table and we figured a traverse from Grassy Mountain to Bojo Mountain would be a great way to salvage a day. The early opening of the ski resort meant we’d have to wake up super early so that we wouldn’t get caught by a ski patroller when skinning up the down-hill runs… Despite the snowy and icy highway conditions we did get there early enough.

Grassy to Bojo ski traverse route

Grassy to Bojo ski traverse route. GPX DL

The first section of this trip was skinning up the ski runs. Alex and Ben had been there many times in the past and they knew exactly where to go. We kinda followed the lowest grade run up but veered right up a gully feature. The resort was fairly small and we made to the ski area boundary in no time. The weather was just as bad as expected – snowy, white-out and a bit windy… Turning left we crossed the top of the main chairlift and found the Poland Lake Trail a few hundred meters down the other side. Nobody went there so we had to start trail-breaking.

Skinning up the resort runs at the start

Skinning up the resort runs at the start

Approaching the top of the chairlift in a blizzard

Approaching the top of the chairlift in a blizzard

This picture sums up the weather... Photo by Alex

This picture sums up the weather… Photo by Alex

The trail-breaking was just awful… There were some massive accumulation of snowfall in the previous 24 hours or so and thank to the warm temperature the snow was heavy and wet… As a result our progress was terribly slow.. But the trail was relatively easy to follow and near the summit we left the trail and went straight up. Ben had some serious skin problem with the glue failing but we managed to tape/strap his skins and it (sort of) worked for the rest of the trip.

Starting the Poland Lake Trail

Starting the Poland Lake Trail

The typical terrain and scenery

The typical terrain and scenery

Almost there..

Almost there..

Alex on the summit enjoying the weather.

Alex on the summit enjoying the weather.

It was a full-on blizzard on the summit so there’s no reason to linger any longer than necessary and we immediately focused on the next objective ahead. Heavy duty trail-breaking + no views.. But oh well….