Place Glacier Traverse

March 11-13, 2006

We had planned to do the McBride Traverse, however a bad forecast for later in the week caused us to change our objectives. Instead we headed out to do the North Joffre Horseshoe, often referred to as the Place Glacier Traverse. The trip went really well and we were all very impressed with the route and the terrain in the area. There are a lot of great lines to ski above North Joffre Creek and everyone was keen to spend more time skiing lines here in the future.

Crossing the marsh towards Cassiope-Saxifrage

Above the Cassiope-Saxifrage Col

Heading to Camp 1, Cassiope in the background

Cooking up dinner at Camp 1

Camp 1 below Saxifrage summit

The crew: Martin Holloway, Stephen Ziff, Chris Gooliaff and Matt Gunn

Stephen skiing north facing slopes below Saxifrage

Chris at the Olds-Oleg Col

Chris skiing the North Face of Oleg

North Face of Oleg – our tracks are just visible

Ascending back to the Olds-Oleg col

Camp 2 – happy campers!

Camp 2 above the Place Glacier in the morning with ascent route hidden in the clouds

Climbing to the 8000 ft peak above the Place Glacier

Final tree descent from the 8000 ft peak back to North Joffre Creek and the vehicles.