The Overlook Bowl

Almost hidden below the southwest ridge of Eagle Peak is a narrow feature called The Overlook Bowl. We had never been there before. A little research showed that there was a route into the top of the bowl from the vicinity of the Sir Donald-Uto col. Alternatively it seemed possible to sneak into the bottom of the bowl by climbing up the Avalanche Crest trail and then cutting across the lower part of the ridge on Eagle.



We chose the Avalanche Crest option for the novelty factor. There hadn't been much new snow since the January melt down. Or maybe there had been and this was just the latest big melt down? Can't remember. That probably says a lot about this weird winter. Either way the Avalanche Crest trail was an icy gong show.

Using the map and GPS we navigated through the trees and popped out in just the right place giving us a first view into the bowl.



It was so hot it felt more like April than February.



We got high enough to scope out the entrance from the other side before calling it a day.







Back at treeline we took a leap of faith and went hard skiers left in an effort to traverse across into the Practise Slopes above the Illecillewaet. It wasn't pretty but it worked. Definitely worth another visit.

From 15.02.22.overlook

Vaux Moraines

Day two of Brenda's trip organized for the ACC. We headed up to the Vaux Moraines with a much diminished group. The first day's outing had proven to be plenty for a few folks. Despite the pre-trip screening that we do and a certain amount of group seeding it's still tough to choose a destination that's suitable for everyone. In fact we didn't get too high before it became clear that there were some very tired legs. So before exiting the trees we took break, had lunch, and called it a day.