Archive:Whitemantle Traverse 2008

Whitemantle Traverse 2008

This orphaned page is to help organize

Kayaks

- we need 2 double kayaks,

Tasks

get a second double kayak

Ideally Nimbus Skana (21' 8", 800L Volume) Madeline will look into friends boat (x2) Christian will check Jericho again

Here are some links to possible rental businesses on Quadra, apparently the Campbell River company has the best prices, and is open to price negotiation Quadra Island Kayaks: http://www.quadraislandkayaks.com/quadra_island_kayak_rentals.html Campbell River Kayaks: http://www.comoxvalleykayaks.com/vancouver_island_kayak_rentals_bc.php Out for Adventure: http://www.quadraislandoutfitters.com/kayak_rental_vancouver_island_rentals.htm HBI Adventure Centre http://www.islandadventurecentre.com/kayaking_rentals.html If were able to rent from the CRKayaks it would cost about $810 calculating for 3 weeks, but I guess that is if we could convince them to let us rent, and maybe getting a deal would be possible...

Sponsorship

Madeline will look into sponsorship - MEC / Nimbus / Seaward ?

Nimbus is a no go - they stated that they are too small a company to offer support to this expedition

Maps

Steve will look into printing on Tyvex Madeline will see whether or not she has extra Tyvex

Sleds

Christian will prototype sleds with Steve. Pete Hudson Tim Blair Stephan

Four orange! crazy carpets is now purchased. They can be found in Line's room.

Route

Christian will call Whitesaddle about weather forcasts and radios Christian will call Chuck at logging camp ask trails to cumsack and house. Steve will look into arial photos of Brig Line will summarize CAJ articles

Aerial Photographs

We should check the aerial photograph library at UBC to see if there are any photos of the south face of Brig. http://www.geog.ubc.ca/resources/gic/air_photo.html

Conversation with Chuck

Chuck, the camp caretaker of the Homathko logging camp can be reached at (250) 286-0962. 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)

Trails -

Brig -

Weather -

No answer 7:00 on Thursday...

Satphone

Steve will look into satphone costs The Iridium distributor in Vancouver is InfoSat:

Vancouver - Head Office
18 Fawcett Road
Coquitlam, BC V3K 6X9
Toll Free: +1.800.871.3011
Worldwide: +1.604.524.3038
http://www.infosat.com

Chris Michalak says:

I have the Globalstar GSP-1700 which was released about a year ago and
is half the weight of its predecessor, the GSP-1600. See models here:
http://www.globalstar.ca/en/content.php?cid=105
There's a good description of the problems with globalstar on wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globalstar
You can get a list of Globalstar retailers here:
http://www.globalstar.ca/en/dealerlocater/locate_dealer.php?province=BC&city=Vancouver
I bought mine from Glentel.
Iridium is the only other handheld sat phone provider. They are much
more reliable at the moment (and are truly global, unlike globalstar
which doesn't work in the middle of the ocean or in the arctic).
Negatives are that they are more expensive and the handset is ~385g vs
~210g for the GSP-1700.

Looks like you can rent an Iridium for $289/month here:
http://www.deakin.com/index.cfm?action=display&product_class_id=2&product_group_id=39&product_id=44

Radio

Steve will talk about VHS radio

Altimiter

Christian will buy an altimiter

Transport

Steve's truck may be able to transport everyone Christian will convince someone (Matthew?) to weekend Quadra for the departure date.

Hammocks

Everyone will test drive a hammock

Water gear

Christian will develop kayak gear recomendations

Plan B

Do we have any 'plan B's for the trip?

Scrambles guide to the Whitemantle Range

We should find info on some of the local peaks

Planning Guides

Christian will consult planning guide and print off sheets

Medical

Steve will get his knees checked

Stoves

Steve will get 2 new hoses

Random

Go to Baldwin's slideshow (Tuesday, March 11)

Gear

Kayaking

Personal Gear

Drytop? Wetsuit bottoms?

Group

Tarp Big pot for seafood 2x metal garden trowel Machete

Discussion

Hammocks - $140? Probably no crab trap? (are we even allowed to catch crabs?) Mussles? Clams? (look into seasonal limits) Neoprene?

Skiing/Mountaineering

Group

Christian's Tent

Discussion

Climbing gear

Pickets? No Rock Gear? Screws? (One + tape, lots?) Harnesses? Crampons? Ropes? Helmets? Axes? SkiCrampons?

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 tripplease 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 climbs (do the expect stuff like this?):

• Wedge (ski decent Wedge Couloir)
• Castle Towers (false summit)
• Black Tusk (false summit, summer and winter)
• Gandalf (summer and winter)
• Aragorn (summer and winter)
• Peregrine W1 (winter)
• Duke ESE3 (winter)
• Wrottesley (spring, kayak approach)
• Shadowfax (summer)
• Iota (summer)
• Snowspider (spring)
• Vantage (winter)
• Zoa (winter)
• Seymour (winter)
• Deception (winter)
• Panorama (summer)
• Gentian (summer)
• All the stuff from Ashlu-Elaho (Christian - Check map!)
• Brew (winter)
• Keg (winter)
• Hops (winter)
• Malt (winter)
• Price

Ski-traverses:

• Garibaldi Neve (daytrip, 10.5 hours parking lot to parking lot)
• Ashlu-Elaho

Gear we need, and don't own already

Kayak

• 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
• Big pack for Madeline(?)
• Light axes for Steve/Madeline(?)
• Heat exchangers for pots
• Aluminum crampons(?)
• Small glacier pulleys for Steve, Line, Madeline (?)
• Kick wax
• Altimeter
• G3 repair kits
• Maps?

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

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 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
• 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