COMP - Keep Jumbo Wild
As four Swedish backcountry skiers - the BC seemed like the perfect place to spend a couple of weeks. Used to the public huts and the right of common (ie - you're allowed to put up your tent anywhere in the mountains) back home, we thought it would be easy to find a nice remote location for ski touring. This turned out to be harder than expected, but we kept trying. Finally, with the excellent help of backcountryskiingcanada.com and other forums, we found the Columbia Vallley Hut Society and their Jumbo Pass Cabin. Without knowing much about the place, we made a reservation fot four nights and started the planning.
At first, we had a hard time finding out exactly how long the trip to the cabin would be. Our initial plan was to skin all way in, in total about 20 kms and 600 elevation meters. As the date for our departure got closer we realized how much snow the BC:s get every winter. Breaking trail all distance suddenly seemed a bit too much and we were happy to find a guy who accepted taking us through the flat section with his snow-mobile.
We struggled hard to find the topographic map 82K7. First try - MEC, Calgary. No luck. Second try - ACC Hq in Canmore. No luck. Third try - Bacchus books in Golden. No luck here either, but the friendly owner ordered a copy. When we got back one week later to pick it up - no luck. At this point we started to feel a bit nervous. Two bookshops later, crying out on the shoulder of a friendly guide finally got things moving. Ten minutes later we laid our hand on the map. (Thanks to Abby and MB!)
The weather forecast predicted snow and elevated avalanche danger level the day after our planned arrival to Jumbo Pass. We decided to give it a go anyhow and if needed, spend a day or two indoors.
As it turned out, it snowed a lot during our days in the cabin. We spent the first day with chopping firewood, snow shovelling and snowpack evaluation, as well as relaxing in the cabin.
The two following days we enjoyed excellent tree skiing, avoiding steep terrain.
We even got five minutes of sunshine and a moon-lightened glimpse of the magnificent views the area has to offer.
Even if the weather could have been better, we had a great time up in the cabin. We are all impressed with the never-ending skiing possibilities this beautiful country has to offer. We agree - please keep Jumbo wild. We'll be back!
