Dec 31st
Dan, Vince
The planning and research for this project began back in the summer… Hiking into new zones and hunting for new lines. But this trip didn't occur as a possibility until just last week. Eager to get the ball rolling on the project, and with favourable conditions across the board, we decided to make this the first trip.
Full disclosure, of all of the ideas that we have for this project, this particular line is probably the one which is most likely to have seen previous descents… But you never know… and why not start of easy.
Vantage Peak gets climbed a lot. Like a lot a lot. Its one of the easiest day trips from Keith's hut, which is one of the busiest backcountry areas in BC. So how could we possibly think that this line may not have been skied before? There are a number of factors. Firstly, you cannot see the line from Keith's hut, as it faces the other way. There is also a big convex at the top, so when you stand on the summit, it is not obvious at all that the line is ski-able. Where you can see the line from is the basin to the north west of Mt Duke. Which is where I was when I spotted this a few weeks ago. However Mt Duke is a slightly off the beaten track kind of place… When I was there last week, there was less than 10 new entries in the hut's guest book from when I was previously there 3 years ago. And when people do come to Mt Duke, they usually want to ski the huge North facing bowels, Gnarly North couloir, or killer glades and pillows. This obscure, convex line of the summit may have been over looked….
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