View source for Archive:Whitemantle Traverse 2008

= Whitemantle Traverse 2008 =

This orphaned page is to help organize 



= Tasks =

Still to do:
* Steve to ask Gareth about Parks Garbage bags
* Steve think about a simple crazy carpet sled that will hold the Bora 95
* CV harras Whitesaddle
* CV will get charts - waterproof and tide guide
* Steve has a lead on aerial photo's/up-to-date loggin road maps c/o Tom Furst (friend of Pete Hudson).  His company is doing microhydro work at the head of Bute Inlet.
(details to come)
* test hammocks 2725 W 7th
* Steve will get his knees checked (monday appointment @ Peak Performance)
* Christian will get spare hose for stoves
* Steve does math on solar panel
* Give photocopies of maps, route plans, contacts, etc to Matthew

Completed:
* Madeleine has arranged a second double kayak
* Madeleine put together a great sponsorship effort, which was denied
* Christian, Steve and Line prototyped sleds... decided on garbage bags
* Steve bought a bunch of sled materials
* Christian has talked to Homathko logging camp, and Whitesaddle Air about route
* Christian has arranged for a radio for the trip (although it still hasn't arrived)
* (?) Steve checked for photos on Brig, but didn't find them (?)
* Christian and Line checked all past CAJ articles available at UBC
* Christian talked with Baldwin about our intended route
* Satphone was abandoned as an option (information contained in wiki history)
* Christian bought a car, so we don't need a CAN vehicle
* Personal info filled out


=== Conversation with Chuck ===

Chuck, the camp caretaker of the Homathko logging camp can be reached at (250) 286-0962 or 604-288-7747.
The Logging Camp at Waddington Harbour is on the east side of the Homathko River about 3 km up the river from the ocean.

CAMP located at NAD27: 10U 368809 5646108 (bivouac)

Route - [http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=50.93476&lon=-124.86524&s=100&size=l&u=6&datum=nad83&layer=DRGCM50 Somewhere near Potatoe Point] the trail to House starts.  Apparently it's obvious.  The scenery along the ridge to Cumsack is supposed to be spectacular.  The trail down from Cumsack is not as nice - brushy and travels through an old burn.  Not recommended for uphill travel.  Chuck says that lots of people head up this way to get into the Whitemantle range, but that he's not sure if it's possible to make it.  I'm not sure exactly what this means - hopefully Rob Wood can clarify.  Certainly, lots of people have gone along the House-Cumsack ridge.

Weather - Campbell River, Williams Lake are closest centers.  Whitesaddle air might know better.

Homathko river peaks in August ~ 7knots, in May we might be able to kayak up, if we want.

Communications - Chuck says an Iridium phone might not help out so much.  Homathko camp has a repeater tower which covers most of the Whitemantle - along with Whitesaddle's in the Panthenon most everywhere is covered.  We should either buy a VHF programmable radio that we can program ourselves (Chuck would give us the frequencies at camp).  Alternatively, Whitesaddle air rents radios with the frequencies pre-programmed.

homathko'AT'xplornet.com

= Gear =




== Kayaking ==

=== Volume requirements ===
~ 400L of food
4x 50L drybags for packs
4x 120L Alpine equipment
2x 35L for kayak stuff
4x2 35L drybags for personal kayak crap
4x 5L drybags for small personal kayak crap

Total for trip ~ 1450L (no skis...)

=== Entertainment ===
* Frisbee
* full size deck of cards
* (Line) jungle speed
* each bring one book
* songbook
* ukulele?

=== Personal Gear ===
* fishing license (for clams etc.)
* Bug net
* Soap/hand sanitizer
* Rain/Sunhat
* Bear spray (one each, with holder)
* Headlamp (double for Alpine portion)
* Mini light for camp, so you don't need to carry so many extra batteries (if can find one with switch)
* Sunscreen
* Sunglasses
* Chap stick (spf 30)
* toothbrush
* toothpaste
* dental floss
* TP!
* Optional moisturizer
* Pee bottle (at marine store?  Called "Little John")
* Pee funnell for the ladies
* Camera
* Dive Knife
* Whistle (seahorse kind)
* Towel
* Flagging tape to mark your drybags (Line gets Pink, Christian Orange, Steve Yellow, Madeleine Whatever)
* Paddle leash (Christian will aquire)

=== Eating ===
* Spoon
* Bowl / measuring cup
* Thermos (optional)
* Nalgene
* Huge water bladder or capacity (10L minimum)

===Clothing===
* Technical top
* Drytop
* Wetsuit bottoms and/or Bathing suit
* Neoprene booties / tivas
* Neoprene skull cap / fleece
* Neoprene gloves
* Lightweight gloves to prevent burning - cycling gloves? (optional)
* Warm upper for kayak
* separate underwear for camp
* fleece pants for camp
* fleece hoodie for camp
* warm socks for camp
* clogs or other dry footwear if bringing neoprene booties

===Sleeping===
* Sleeping Bag (not doubled with alpine) (sythetic?)
* Blue foamy / thermarest
* Hammock (with 3 auxillary biners)

=== Group ===
* (Christian) 2 Short, sturdy, aluminum pipes to facilitate moving the kayaks as a team of 4
* (Steve) Bearhang kit including 2 20m pieces of 5mm cord, 3 5m pieces of webbing, 2 pulleys and 4 'biners.
* (Steve buys 1, Christian has 3, Madeleine buys 1 if feeling spendy) 5 Bear canisters - 1 per person for daily use food and a 5th for the group cooking gear. 
* (Madeleine + Steve) 2x Tarp and rigging
* (Christian) Big pot for seafood
* (Steve and Christian) 2x metal garden trowel for clams
* (Christian) Clippers for trailblazing (Vlad)
* (Christian and Steve) 2x pots (doubled with Alpine)
* (Christian and Steve) 2x stoves (doubled with Alpine)
* (Christian and Steve) 2x water treatment (pristine drops - 60ml)
* (Steve) water filter
* (all kayaks on their own) enough webbing to secure all drybags to deck
==== (Steve) Repair Kit (additional to the alpine repair kit) ====
* extra webbing
* extra elastic cord
* large roll duct tape
* big multitool
* rivet gun
* brace and bit with drill bits
* 2-part epoxy

== Skiing/Mountaineering ==

=== Entertainment ===
* deck of cards (Steve's microcards)

=== Personal Clothing ===
* 2 pairs skiing socks
* 1 pair sleeping socks
* 2 pairs skiing underwear
* 1 pair sleeping underwear
* 1 warm lower
* 1 base lower (preferred light, to wear in the sun)
* 1 shell lower
* 1 warm upper
* 1 base upper (preferred light, high collar, to wear in the sun)
* 1 shell upper
* optional addittional warm upper
* toque/balaclava
* down jacket
* 1 pair gloves with removable liners
* 1 pair overmit shells
* 1 pair lightweight gloves to protect hands from sun
* optional gaiters
* camp booties (or equivalent)

=== Personal Skiing Gear ===
* Skiis
* Skins
* Poles
* Boots + Liners + orthotics
* Beacon ''spare batteries''
* Shovel
* Probe

=== Personal Large bits ===
* (!) Huge Pack ''modify lid to enable day tripping''
* Sled ''are we still good to use garbage bags?''
* Sled towing crap - long webbing with elastic inside, 2 biners, Voile strap

=== Personal Small bits ===
* Voile Straps (4 each - two medium one large one garbage sealer)
* Sunglasses
* Goggles (lighter lenses?)
* Sunscreen
* Sunhat/sunshield
* nosesheild
* 2x extra webbing straps to attach random crap
* hand sanitizer/soap
* toothbrush
* toothpaste
* dental floss
* TP!
* spf30 or better Lip Balm
* moisturizer with aloe
* small knife, < 50g
* lighter
* pee funnel for the ladies
* menstrual cup for the ladies (better than disposables - if it works for you)
* Birth control (at least for Line)
* small cloth
* whistle
* Compass
* Headlamp ''spare batteries''
* Camera ''spare batteries''

=== Personal Sleeping ===

* Sleeping Pad
* Sleeping Bag

=== Mountain Gear === 
* 2x 60m ropes (maybe buy new lighter ones?)
* 1 long iceaxe each
* Secondary super-light axe (?)
* Single long screw with hooker
* Crampons
* Harnesses
* Ski crampons (?)
* Helmets (?)
* 2 prussiks each
* 2 small locking biners each
* 1 large locking biner
* 1 double length sling each
* 2 non-lockers
* 2 prussik minding pulleys total (?)
* 10m rap tat

=== Group ===
* (Christian) Tent with spare pole segment
* (Madeleine) Thermos (?)
* Bear spray (?)
* (Christian) Spare pole (colapsable) (? likely not)
* (Christian) 1 Extra sunglasses
* (Christian) Kickwax
* (Line) 2x Pinklady
* (Steve) Globstopper
* (Christian) Maps
* (Steve) Guidebook - photocopy relavent peaks
* (Steve) GPS ''spare batteries''
* (Christian) Altimeter
* (Christian) VHF Radio ''spare batteries''
* (Christian and Steve) 2x pots
* (Christian and Steve) 2x stoves ''with repair kits''
* (Christian and Steve) 2x windscreens
* (Christian and Steve) 2x heat exchangers
* (Line) 1x pot scrapers
* (Line) 1x scrubbies
* (Steve) 1x spondonacles
* (Line) Fuel ''Email faff about how much''
* (Madeleine) Extra salt and pepper
* (leftover from kayak) Water drops
* (Line) black plastic for water generation

==== Repair kit ==== (Christian and Line)
note: spare ski pole, tent pole segment, and sunglasses in group kit
* small roll duct tape
* 25' steel wire
* small multitool
* small screwdriver
* small file
* 1x G3 repair kit screws
* 2x extra binding cables
* 2x extra cartridges
* 3x extra heel throws (Steve got one)
* spare skin tip loop
* seam grip
* 2 m of 2mm elastic cord
* 15m 2-3mm cord
* spare basket
* goretex patches
* thermarest patch kit
* spare thermarest valve

=== Eating ===

* Bowl/measuring cup
* optional shaker cup
* Spoon
* Nalgene
* Water Bladder

=== Not bringing ===
* Extra iceaxe
* Snowsaw
* Pickets
* Rock Pro
* Belay Device

== Food ==

=== Requirements ===
'''Kayak'''
* 9 Breakfasts (max 3 warm, min 6 cold)
* 10 Lunches (must be edible as snacks - we will likely not find beaches to eat at)
* 9 Dinners

'''Alpine'''
* 16 Breakfasts (4 warm are shared, remainder are cold)
* 16 Lunches
* 16 Dinners

'''Transport/Faffing'''
* Breakfast at Zoe's / Quadra
* Dinner at Zoe's / Quadra
* Meals for drive to / from Quadra

'' All dinners will be shared!  Each person brings 1 group breakfast for the Alpine portion.''
* Everyone brings
 26 lunches
 21 breakfasts
 4 Alpine dinners to share
 1 Alpine breakfast to share
 2 Kayak dinners to share
* Christian brings 1 extra Kayak dinner

==== Supplements ====
* 2 servings Protein Goo per day
* multivitamin
* optional glucosamine
* optional cold assist

=== Christian ===
'''Average daily consumption'''

*200g Breakfast
*500g Lunch
*400g Dinner
*50g Chocolate
*60g Protein Goo (2 servings)

'''Breakfasts'''
 '''21x200g=4.2kg'''
 2.2kg (11 days) Granola
 1.2kg (6 days) Oatmeal
 0.8kg (4 days) Oats

'''Lunches'''
 '''26x~500g=13kg'''
 25% = 3.25kg trail mix
 25% = 3.25kg sesame sticks
 15% = 2.0kg pepper nut cookies
 10% = 1.3kg granola bars
 10% = 1.3kg cheese
 7.5% = 1.0kg meat jerkey
 7.5% = 1.0kg peanut butter

'''Alpine Dinners'''
* minestrone soup + shrimp and sundried tomato on angel hair pasta with lemon pesto sauce
* crab and corn soup + savory chow mien dish
* good old fashioned tomato and ground beef spaghetti with Parmesan + mousse (or sorbet if I can pull it off...)
* meatloaf with mashed potatoes + pineapple orange tapioca

'''Alpine Breakfast'''
* Muffins

'''Kayak Dinners'''
* chicken soup + seafood spices, veggies and rice (to go with clams/mussels/beach crabs or limpets, in order of preference)
* Chicken and gravy with cranberries and walnuts on Quinoa + jello pudding
* Unknown

=== Line ===
'''Average daily consumption'''

*250g Breakfast
*400g Lunch
*300g Dinner
*60g Protein Goo

'''Breakfasts'''
 '''21x250g=5.25kg'''
 kg (17 days) Oat with powder milk 
 1.0kg (4 days) cereal with powder milk

'''Lunches'''
 '''26x400g=10.4kg'''
 Peber noedder
 chokolade
 Beef Jerky
 Gummy bears (for kayaking)
 granola bars
 Almonds
 Cheese
 Crackers
 Nutella 

Alpine Dinners

* vegetable and shrimp noodles+ snow cones or shakes
* Ground beef with mushroom sauce with mashed potatoes + tomato soup(with bacon)
* Pasta with tomato sauce(with bacon) and falafel + chokolade pudding
* Sweet and sour cous cous + some soup with bacon

Alpine Breakfast

*  

Kayak Dinners

* Curried rice + some soup with bacon
* Spaghetti a la carbondale(with bacon)+ oat and coconut balls

=== Ideas? ===
*Clarified butter to further reduce weight and reduce chance of spoiling

== First Aid Kit discussion ==

What was brought to the head of Knight Inlet:

'''Drugs:'''
*Loperamide (Immodium) x 10000
*Cephalexen 500 mg x 40 (broad spectrum antibiotic)
*Dipenhydramine HCl, 25 mg (antihistamine)
*Hydrocortizone Cream (for itchyness)
*ibuprofen

'''Paper:'''
*Accident Incident Report form (form to fill out when someone gets hurt, helps you remember what to check)
*Pencil
*Instructions for all drugs (cut off of box, or from prescription)
*Instructions for more complicated bandaging supplies
*Guide to Wilderness Medicine
*Accident flowchart (steps to take)
*Illustrated Guide to Life Threatening Emergencies

'''Wound cleaning:'''
*10 mL syringe
*nitrile gloves
*povidone iodine prep pads
*isopropyl alcohol prep pads
*cotton tipped applicators
*Ziploc for waste

'''Cutting:'''
*several needles (various sizes)
*scalpel blades (we had #11 and something else?)
*first aid scissors (easily cut through clothing etc, blunt end)

'''Bandaging:'''
*lots of bandaids
*2nd skin blister pads
*several OpSite sheets
*various sizes of steri-strips
*2nd Skin Moist Burn Pads
*numerous 3x3" and 4x4" sponges
*some non-adherent dressings
*moleskin
*triangular bandage
*safety pins
*tensor bandage
*small rolls of gauze
*abd pad

'''Tape:'''
*athletic tape
*micropore tape

'''Other:'''
*thermometer

'''Not brought, but should be considered:'''
*metal splints
*thicker ziplocks for waste
*polysporin
*disposal of used scalpel blades/needles
*stiches kit
*foreceps

typically for longer trips you want more sponges, gauze, bandaging
supplies because if you have a wound you have to keep changing the
dressing.

Most available at Lancaster 601 W. Broadway
http://www.lancastermed.com/

This stuff was packaged into 3 or 4 thematic ziplock bags inside one drybag (OR fabric one, so it's reasonably light) so you could dump out the drybag and find what you needed without worrying about the contents getting wet.



= MEC Grant Application =

== Relavent qualifications ==

Madeleine is looking into an MEC grant application.  Since last time I tried this we dropped a combined $15000 at MEC, this is a very good idea
'''MEC Member info - Relevant qualifications - what you have done to prepare for this trip'''please post and i will compile

=== Christian ===

Growing up in Ontario, Christian began camping, backpacking, and canoe tripping during childhood.  Upon moving to Vancouver in September 2005 for graduate studies at UBC, Christian shifted his outdoor focus to better suit the mountains.  After going on an introductory backcountry ski-tour with UBC's Varsity Outdoor Club in 2006 Christian discovered his true passion, and was organizing his own VOC ski-tours within a few months.  Since then he's spent over 100 days on skis in the backcountry.  During the summer Christian spends his time scrambling peaks and organizing the maintenance of the the VOC's backcountry huts and trails.

In the summer of 2006 he participated in a self-supported kayaked accessed attempt on Mount Waddington via Knight Inlet, including a 230km kayak approach.  Logistically successful, the party of three made it to the head of Knight Inlet bringing with them full mountaineering gear for rock, snow and ice.  Unfortunately, one party member became seriously ill on the second day of the land portion - this illness spread to the rest of the group and the party was forced to abandon the trip.  Once everyone had recovered the party kayaked out, returning 30 days after departure (4 days early).  Although the expedition failed to reach the alpine, it served as an eye opening experience to the possibilities (and difficulties) of totally self-supported travel.

Christian's role as an executive member of the VOC, with frequent organization of VOC trips as well as experience in the Canadian Armed Forces Reserves have prepared him for his leadership role on the expedition.

Partial list of ski mountaineering, winter ascents and ski-tours:
* Wedge (with ski decent Wedge Couloir)
* Black Tusk (false summit)
* Gandalf
* Aragorn
* Peregrine W1
* Duke ESE3
* Wrottesley (kayak approach)
* Snowspider
* Vantage
* Deception
* Ashlu-Elaho traverse
* Garibaldi Neve (in a day)

=== Steve ===

=== Madeleine ===

=== Line ===



== Gear we need, and don't own already ==

=== Kayak ===

* [http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442502135&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302700757&bmUID=1203523936762 Kayak for Steve/Madeline]
* Spare paddle, 2 bilge pumps, 2 floating life ropes, 2 paddle floats for above kayak
* 2 kayak mounted compasses
* Personal kayak gear
 * Jacket, farmer john, skull cap, gloves for everyone, booties
 * Live vest, dive knife, whistle, paddle for Steve, Line, Madeline
 * Pee bottles for Steve, Line, Madeline
 * Giant MSR 
Dromedaries for Kayak portion
* Hammocks
* Giant tarp (or 2 small tarps?)
* 1 million drybags
* 1 million bear-proof cans
* Custom drybag for skis (I was going to make it, but we might as well ask...)
* fuel
* Big pot for clams

=== Alpine ===

* Big pack for Steve (he's got a borrowed Bora 95 confirmed)
* Big pack for Madeline(?)
* Light ice axe for Madeline(?) (chistian, line & steve have light ones)
* Heat exchangers for pots (steve will buy one.  does christian have one already)
* Aluminum crampons(?)
* Small glacier pulleys for Steve, Line, Madeline (?)
* Kick wax
* Altimeter
* G3 repair kits (Line has bought two.  Steve already owns one)
* Maps?

== Gear we could use, since what we own is old/heavy ==

=== Kayak ===

=== Alpine ===

* New sleeping bags for everyone
* New sleeping pads for everyone
* New ski setup for Madeleine
* New Gortex ___ for people (ie. pants for Christian)
* New gloves
* New probe for Christian
* New light [http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442423651&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302725879&bmUID=1203526338742 450g shovels] for Steve/Madeleine(?)
* Crampons
* Pickets
* Fancy GPS
* Ice screw(s) + hooker

== Gear we own, but is consumable ==

=== Kayak ===

* Lots of batteries
* folding solar panel to recharge stuff

=== Alpine ===

* Ropes (christian's petzl dragonfly's: two X 8.4mm X 60m @ xxx g/m.  steve's mammut: one X 60m X 8.0mm @ xxx g/m)
* Tent (probably not, since MEC doesn't carry a comparable tent)
* Webbing

== Other costs ==

* Food
* Sat phone rental
* Transport costs to get to Quadra
* New digital cameras for everyone (how else will they get their good photos?)
* First aid supplies

= Emergency Plan =

Primary contact in Vancouver is [http://carroll.org.uk/contact Matthew] (778 996 9594). I'm putting all this info here in case my computer dies or something.

== Trip Members details / emergency contacts ==

=== Stephen Keith Mullen ===

Info removed for privacy purposes

EMERGENCY CONTACTS

Info removed for privacy purposes

=== Line Lund Christiansen ===

Info removed for privacy purposes

EMERGENCY CONTACTS

Info removed for privacy purposes

=== Madeleine Aurelie Martin-Preney ===

Info removed for privacy purposes

EMERGENCY CONTACTS

Info removed for privacy purposes

=== Christian Neil Veenstra ===

Info removed for privacy purposes

EMERGENCY CONTACTS

Info removed for privacy purposes

== Trip Plan ==

Our plan is to leave Quadra Island on the 30th, arriving at the head
of Bute Inlet via kayak on May 4th or 5th from where we will gain the
alpine via logging roads up House Mountain (N 50°54' 46.1" W 124°56'
46.0") and traverse into the Whitemantle Range over Cumsack and Brig
(N 50°58' 59.9" W 125°05' 17.9") hopefully crossing Brig on or around
May 9th.  From there we will traverse North through the Whitemantle
Range along the route described is Baldwin's ski guide and hopefully
crossing by Dauntless (N 51°13' 00.1" W 125°20' 35.9") and into the
Waddington Range on or around May 14th.  On or around May 18th we hope
to ski the NW summit of Waddington then ski out via the Waddington
Glacier to Coola Creek and return to Bute Inlet via the logging roads
on the Homathko River by May 21st.  Of course, this plan is a
best-case scenario.  The most likely short-cuts are to remove the NW
summit of Waddington , or to fail to even find a route up Brig from
the East side allowing access into the Whitemantle range and being
forced to back off the way we came.

== People to inform if something unexpected happens ==

Emergency contacts (above)<br>
Christian's work: arpes [] phas.ubc.ca<br>

== Additional info Matthew has offline ==

NTS maps with the planned alpine route:

* {{NTS link|092|K|15}}
* {{NTS link|092|K|14}}
* {{NTS link|092|N|03}}
* {{NTS link|092|N|06}}

The Baldwin Ski guide - includes the route being followed after they get over Brig.

== Contacts en route ==

The team have a VHF radio and may be able to make contact en route with Whitesaddle Air and the Homathko logging camp. This is not guaranteed, as the radio might simply not be working. They should, however, definitely be able to make contact from the Homathko logging camp at the head of Bute Inlet, where there is a landline phone, and back at Quadra Island.

These third-party contacts are not for use by people wondering how the trip is going. For that, contact Matthew for any updates.

Whitesaddle Air (close to Panthenon Range):<br>
Telephone: (250) 476-1182<br>
Fax: (250) 476-1180<br>
Email: heli [] whitesaddleair.com<br>

Homathko logging camp:<br>
Chuck, the camp caretaker of the Homathko logging camp can be reached at<br>
(250) 286-0962 or 604-288-7747<br>
homathko [] xplornet.com

== Food ==

The team have 17 days Alpine food, 10 days Kayak food.

== Overdue dates ==

They are considered overdue, and rescue should be called if they don't make contact, and attempts to contact them via the Homathko camp or Whitesaddle air fail under the following conditions. They have a copy of this arrangement. The exact dates will depend on when the various portions of the trip actually leave.

'''Kayak out:''' call rescue if no contact on the morning of Kayak day 9 - Wednesday 7 May<br>
'''Alpine:''' call rescue if no contact on the morning of Alpine day 20 - Friday 23 May<br>
'''Kayak back:''' call rescue if no contact on the morning of Kayak day 9 - Saturday 31 May<br>

== Updates ==

* They left Vancouver the evening of Monday 28 April.
* They didn't phone from Quadra, so assuming they got all the ferries and departed as planned. Tuesday 29 April is Kayak day 1.
* They arrived at the Homathko logging camp on schedule on Saturday 3 May, and telephoned from there.
* Sunday 4 May is Alpine day 1.
* Update from the Homathko camp, Sunday 18 May: "[They] have been calling in regularly. They had 3 days in tents because of weather but have been going along since then. We haven't heard for a day or so and suspect they are in a low spot so no transmition. They were saying they were going to come out the west side of Brew Creek."
* After a few days of bushwhacking, they got picked up by a logging helicopter and taken back to the Homathko camp on Thursday 22 May.
* They telephoned from the Homathko camp. Friday 23 May is kayak day 1 for the return journey.
* They got back to Quadra on Tuesday 27 May.