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Two snowboarders. One mission. What could go wrong?
Rethel Mountain is one of the summits of the Wedgemount Lake area. That was not our plan yesterday, not even a plan B (it was closer to the third part of a very ambitious plan A lol). But adaptation is one of those things, that will 100% make you a better backcountry skier or snowboarder. Being OK without accomplishing that mission’s objective is, of course, easier said than done. I should know, it’s a complete mental game for me out there. Thankfully I was touring with a friend who picked up my mood and helped me shift the mindset when the moment came.
The alarm went off at 12.45 am. It wasn’t easy but I was ready. It was one of those moments, where the morning mate fills you with not only caffeine but the euphoric sense of motivation and ready-ness.
Fuelled up with a bowl of Stoked Oats and felt ready to rock n roll.
The gear was packed a few hours before (3 hours of sleep is usually enough isn’t it?) and the car was loaded 20 minutes later. The drive up to Whistler was amazing but sketchy. The stars made it amazing and the little Golf pretty much running on last fumes was sketchy. We filled up the tank in Creekside and continued to the Wedgmont parking lot, just north of Whistler.
read more: Banana Chute On Fissile Peak
We left the car around 3 am. The first part was cruisy, we took a wrong route right at the start (following the typical summer route to the parking lot), since we’d both been there but in the summer! So that was the route we were familiar with. That took us up an FSR and by the time we realized the mistake we were too far in. We decided to boot pack the 100 m vertical difference between the two FSR’s and got up to the lake trail just when it was starting to get bright. It was awesome. The frozen slush from the last hot week was very enjoyable to hike up! The skins were gripping without any issues, the edges of the splitboards were cutting in, we hiked up fairly fast for the distance. Lol/
Isn’t it great? We only had to boot pack twice before hitting the alpine! I love spring. I can confidently say that between the morning boot pack and the boot pack up to our line, it almost felt like I spent more time, strapped to my crampons than on my split board! Ha.
The day was more than beautiful. Sun came out around 6.30/7 but it was just touching the tips of the trees, leaving us in a perfect hiking temperature. The first 1200m vertical to the lake were the hardest, by the time we reached the hut, it was full-on summer. Of course, I found out I forgot my sunscreen AND (!!) my big water bottle.
Rethel Mountain 2408m
Whistler / Garibaldi Provincial Park, BC
From all the trip reports I have been reading on Rethel mountain, most of the people would usually ski the wider and less steep “North couloir” so it was kind of nice, going off the typical path and doing something different. I’m not sure if this line has a name, if not, I’d like to name it something beyond the means of type 2 fun! Like Icey n’ Spicy.
There you go. The couloir has a name.
coming out between the middle cliff and the right-hand side rock.
The line itself is incredible. Quite narrow but just open enough for enjoyable turns. With good snow, I imagine January/February, this would’ve been an amazing one to ride! We will just have to come back. It was quite good for hiking up but the way down, this couloir was survival skiing haha. Some side slips, some bunny hops over a thick ice crust… no thank you. It gets narrow on top, there is no cornice but some iced-up blocks of snow, covering the rocks above you. Dante got hit by one of those, as they started melting with these hot spring temperatures.
The ride down was amazing! We took the way to the left of the standard hiking route and ended up in very cool gullies with pillows and little drops! What we hated on the way up was now all melted (3pm at this point) and what turned out to be amazing spring skiing! The FSR and its snowmobile tracks were also nice and slushy, making the end of our day more enjoyable than we anticipated.
The sunset for the ride back to Squamish was healing, our feet were done and the faces burnt. Happily, making our way down we came at the perfect timing of a highway closure. Due to an accident on Highway 99, we ended up being stuck there for about 4 hours, resulting in an almost 24-hour trip house to house. You can imagine we were very stoked. Overall, my Strava showed 33km and 2800m vertical. I would hike that distance any day to ski a 50-degree tunnel of ice. 😉
I took some tea with few drops of CBD oil before going to bed, my muscles REALLY needed that. If you are someone who is interested in faster muscle recovery, I recommend trying Resolve CBD. Over the years, many studies have proven the positive effects of CBD oil use for athletes which is why I decided to try it myself. I have been loving and using it for over 3 years now. Canadian-based CBD oil, even better I thought! Use the code RSLV-ALENKIS for a discount!
Read more: Early Season Stoke In Squamish
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More about Alenka
My name is Alenka and I’m a Squamish-based photographer and a freeride snowboarder. I love using my medium to capture sports, adventures, underwater shots, adventures in the mountains, and days on snow! Very simply put, I’m one stoked girl, ready to get up at 2 in the morning and hike for sunrise, go to the airport and take a random flight…you name it!
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