Archive:2013 Ossa Mountain
Contents
Ossa Mountain
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Synopsis
You can find the message board Here
This trip can be found on the Trip Agenda Here
Note: The info and the getting there description comes from Matt Gunn book "Scrambles in Southwest British Columbia"
Motivation
Every time I go to Squamish, I look at the big spiky mountains (which are the Tantalus range) on the left side and I always tell myself one day I will go in these mountains. After a some research, I found that Ossa Mountain is not too hard to get to (unlike Lovely water where you need to cross the Squamish River using Tyrolean) and the scramble is not too technical either.
We can do this trip either in 2 days with a very long second day, or in 3 days and take our time to summit Ossa. We can decide at the pre-trip meeting.
The first day should be around 1500m elevation gain and 15-20km. It should take around 6-8 hours, maybe more. We will camp by a lake so we can have access to water. This part only involve hiking.
If we do the trip in 2 days, we will probable wake up early the next days and try to summit Ossa with a day pack. This part involve scrambling (not too hard, except right before the summit). If you attempt to summit Ossa , the second day would have around 1000m of elevation gain, around 2500m of elevation lost and 20-25km. This day will be a long day since summitting would take about 5-6 hours and going down from the camp would take an additional 4-6 hours (again, maybe more...).
If we do the trip in 3 days, we will summit Ossa the second day. The second day would have around 1000m of elevation gain/loss, and about 5km. Summiting would take about 5-6 hours, maybe more. The third day would be going down from the camp, so 1500m elevation loss, and 15-20km. It would take around 6 hours. It would overall be quite a relax trip.
To get to the summit, we will scramble on a ridge. The scramble is rated as moderate. There is a difficult and exposed section just beside the summit. Even if we don't summit Ossa (I doubt I will personally risk it, I am not a big fan of exposure), the view from the ridge would probably be awesome already.
This trip is between beginner and intermediate friendly (I don't want absolute beginner). You have to be reasonably fit (fit doesn't mean fast, I am myself not particularly fast... but you have to be able to hike for 10-12 hours a day with an overnight backpack). The route is quite long (headlamp is essential!). Scrambling experience is good to have as well if you want to summit. I don't have a lot of experience in navigation, so the route might be a bit longer than expected.
Other than normal gear for a hiking trip, we will need to bring an ice axe and a helmet. The ice axe is useful in case we need to self-arrest if we slip down a very steep slope. If you never used an ice axe, it is fine, I will teach you how to use it. We just need to find a gentle safe slope to practice. If you have the chance to do Glacier school beforehand, that would even be better. The helmet is also useful when we scramble since there are some loose rocks.
This google map is the route we will try to do. Here is the Google map link where you can find the description of the trails/placemarks. <googlemap version="0.9" lat="49.86853" lon="-123.275871" width="700" height="500" scale="yes"> https://maps.google.ca/maps/ms?authuser=0&vps=2&ie=UTF8&msa=0&output=nl&msid=217092430426380071756.0004e480bd28def365b14 </googlemap>
Dates
Trip: October 12th-13th or 12th-14th Early Saturday morning to Sunday night or Monday night, weather dependent (won't happen if it will be a white out).
Pre-trip meeting: Wednesday October 9th in the clubroom at 6:30pm. If you can't make it to the meeting let me know, and let me know if you have tent/stove, etc or get somebody to represent you at the meeting.
Getting There
All drivers please be heading over the Lions Gate Bridge with all passengers picked up at 6:30 am. Most cars will rendezvous at the Squamish Tim Hortons.
From there we'll drive together to the Sigurd Creek trailhead (find direction Here), to avoid getting lost. From Squamish drive north on highway 99. Turn left off highway 99 at the Squamish Valley Road (sign to Paradise Valley). The road forks after 3.7km, just past a bridge over the Cheakamus River. Stay left continuing along the Squamish Valley Road; the right fork heads up Paradise Valley. Continue along the Squamish River Valley past the end of the pavement roughly 22km from the highway. Turn left off the Squamish Valley Road roughly 24km from the highway onto the Ashlu Creek road and immediately cross a bridge over the Squamish River (This turnoff is marked by signs for "Buck Montain Campground" and "1 Bridge"). Cross a second bridge at 0.5km and continue straight, ignoring a fork to the right 200m past the bridge. At 2.1km cross a third bridge, which is followed immediately by a fourth bridge. At 2.3km an unmarked road leaves to the left. This is branch A-200, which leads to the Sigurd Creek Trail. Park here on the right side of the Ashlu Creek road just past the fork.
Gear
Note: There might still be snow in the mountains.
Essentials
You might not survive without them!
- sunscreen
- sun glasses
- water bottle(s) (at least 2L, unless you know yourself)
- headlamp and batteries
- sun hat
- backpack
- whistle
- Toilet Paper
- Poo bags (freezer ziplocs are usually fine)
- Slightly tougher bag/container to put your full poo bags in
Probably worth it
- map
- compass
- pocket knife
- lighter and/or waterproof matches
- first aid kit
- something to protect you from mosquitoes
- bear spray
Clothing
- waterproof boots (stiff sole prefered)
- gaiters
- warm jacket (fleece or down)
- long underwear (top and bottom)
- toque, mitts/gloves
- weatherproof jacket (goretex or coated nylon or softshell/wool if sunny)
- weatherproof pants (goretex or coated nylon or softshell/wool if sunny)
Food
Don't bring really smelly food in the summer, it attracts bears. The general rule is 1kg of dry food per day is plenty (usually this is 200g breakfast, 500g lunch, 300g dinner. If you're food comes with water-weight included [it's not dehydrated] then you'll need more).
- Lunch and snacks x3
- Breakfast x2
- Dinner x2 (shared with your food group)
Sleeping
- sleeping bag (somewhere around -10C to -3C bag should do)
- sleeping pad
- ear plugs, because somebody will snore (optional)
Shared stuff:
- tent (or space in someone else's!)
Cooking and Eating
You need these all to yourself:
- Toothbrush
- bowl, spoon
These things you can share with a friend:
- stove + fuel + fire
- pot and matching pot gripper
- water treatment
Other
The clubroom has all this stuff, you can borrow it!
- Helmets
- Ice Axe
- Ski poles
- Snowshoes
On the trip
Coming people
- Marie-Eve
- Ben
- Amin
- Anne
- Tucker
- Joakim
- Mirko
- Jack
- David
Tent/stove groups
Group 1
- Marie-Eve (2-person tent, stove)
- Anne
Group 2
- Ben (2-person tent, stove)
- Joakim
Group 3
- Mirko (3-person tent)
- Jack
- Tucker (stove)
Group 4
- Amin (tent and stove)
- David
Cars
Amin (can hold 4): 2 days trip
- Amin
- David
Tucker (can hold 4): 3 days trip
- Tucker
- Anne
- Joakim
- Marie-Eve
Jack (can hold 5): 3 days trip
- Jack
- Ben
- Mirko
