Fairy Meadows 2008 – Echo Glacier – Shoestring Glacier – Swan Creek Trees

Useful links:

Fairy Meadows hut general information from the ACC
Fairy Meadows hut description and gear checklist from ACC
Video by Eric Hink group
Videos by Tim Place
General information by Jim Frankenfeldre glacier conditions glacier travel and crevasse rescue in Fairy Meadows area
General information on place names by Jim Frankenfeld (Inaccuracies in Government of Canada 1:50,000 maps)>
1:20,000 BC trim data map – Fairy Meadows to Great Cairn version (big file)>[PRINT AS 3X 24″ by 36″ maps)
Official Government of Canada1:50,000 topos of Fairy Meadows with UTM points;north map and south map
1:250,000 Government of Canada topo map of north Selkirks (big file)
14 days that Lee spent in FairyMeadows last year – week 1 and week2

As predicted, the weather broke today. 10 cms of new snow fell overnight. More fell during the day. We started the day off by heading up to Friendship Col to see what slopes would ski well. While Bill and I took a lap on the Echo Glacier then followed up with a lap on the Shoestring the rest of the group headed down the Shoestring then down to the hut for lunch.

We go up

(Top) Sharon and Benet looking down the Shoestring Glacier (Bottom) Group ski in graybeard

Light was really flat to say the least. I knew the Echo Glacier pretty well so managed to work the pitch and find knee deep snow where it had wind-loaded. The Shoestring wasn’t as good as yesterday’s ski with a pronounced slab starting to form.

Bill and Lee taking their laps on the Echo Glacier

Whiteout on the Shoestring Glacier

Flat light on the Shoestring = head plants + body craters!

After yesterday’s deepfreeze it was pure luxury to come back to the hut and have lunch and a hot drink. But it was now puking outside and more snow was filling in the tracks from previous groups in the trees NE of the hut. We made our way over there and worked the slopes till dark.