The Annual Mountaineering Camp was held this year out of the Bill Putnam Hut at Fairy Meadows, a significant step up in difficulty and logistics, but it offered the opportunity to spend a week on or near the Gothics and Granite Glaciers in the Northern Selkirks.Access was a 64 km drive up the West Columbia Forest Service Road along the west side of Kinbasket Lake (aka: Columbia River). A helicopter met us there and in under an hour we had all our gear and 19 people up at the cabin. Four flights of about 5 minutes each was a pleasant alternative to a rough 5-hour hike through the bush.
The week was spent exploring the Granite and Gothics Glaciers and some of the surrounding peaks. Some training sessions were held to discuss matters like roped glacier travel, crevasse rescue, self-arrest and such.
Our weather was stellar. Almost too stellar. It was hot and sunny the whole time we were there until the last morning as we were waiting for the helicopter to come get us. That's when the fog, cloud, rain and hail descended. It was short-lived, however, and we were flown back to our vehicles by mid-afternoon.
