In the morning we begin our ascent up the Bugaboo Glacier. I join Ben and Tomas through an icy graveyard of jutting seracs (ice pinnacles). We wear harnesses and rope up together, Ben probing for crevasses along the route. The sky is the clearest blue, the air warm with a summer breeze. I am nervous, but confident. A few weeks previous I took a crevasse rescue course with Alpine Air Adventures; the training is fresh in my mind. I’m careful to maintain rope tension, the steps of a potential rescue running through my head. We cross a snow bridge that extends over a crevasse, and I can hear the groans and creaks beneath my feet. We move swiftly past deep-blue ice, and bergschrunds, with views of the towering Pigeon Spire to our right. When we reach the Pigeon-Howser Col for lunch, I think about the importance of
going where you feel the most alive – for me, it has always been at high altitudes. There is an open toilet at the col, a perfect place for an alpine pee. The glaciers blend into mountains like watercolours do. The rest of the group gathers, all the friends with a constant taste for adventure. We switch over to ski-mode, and then it is a sweet but schmooey ride, filled with hoots and hollers, back to the hut.
turquoise-blue lakes, the same blue as the roof of the hut. The boys pond-skim on their skis. When the weekend’s end approaches, we ski down, pack up, and hike out. As we drive away from the Bugaboos, the Hounds Tooth shrinking smaller in my rearview mirror, fatigue sets in. My body aches with the bustle of a weekend in the alpine, but my heart is so contented.
Later that afternoon we sit atop a giant rock adjacent to the hut and sunbathe. At dark, Henry lights his fireworks on that same rock. We watch as the sparks ignite the sky, the mountains silhouetted against the moon – magical.
The Bugaboos truly is one of the most amazing places in the world.
I awake at sunrise, and drink my coffee below the pink glow on the Hounds Tooth. The hut sleeps 40, but nobody stirs.
For more information about the Bugaboos visit env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks or book the Conrad Kain Hut through alpineclubofcanada.ca.
“I swear to you, there are divine things more beautiful than words can tell.” - Walt Whitman.
Later, we ski-tour up a part of the Crescent Glacier. Spires overlook the melting of
Embrace the
Outdoors Team Elevation product testing on Castle Mountain, Fernie, BC.
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