ACC Huts - Another Way To Have Fun in the Mountains

by Dave McCormick (dave.mcc@telus.net)


Not, perhaps, in the way you had thought, but as part of a Hut Work Party.


From June 21st to 29th, the ACC ran a work project at the Conrad Kain Hut in the Bugaboos.  For those who don't know the area, it's in the Purcell Mountains south of Golden, BC.  It's a premier climbing area with many granite spires rearing up out of glaciated terrain.  The Kain hut (named after Conrad Kain) sits just below Snowpatch Spire on the edge of the Bugaboos at an elevation of 2250 meters, with views of the Bugaboo Glacier, Hound's Tooth, Marmalota, Snowpatch Spire, Eastpost Spire and other peaks in the immediate area.


I try to join one hut work party each summer season and so, on the morning of June 21st, the crew (some volunteers, some ACC staff, 11 in total) met in Radium and made the drive north to Brisco and the 50 km west to the end of the Bugaboo Forest Service Road.


A good part of day 1 was spent ferrying loads of equipment, food and people up to the hut by helicopter.  If you haven't been on a work party before, the scale of these operations is something to see, keeping in mind that every possible tool that might be needed, as well as food for a large group for 9 days and building materials for a major renovation has to be on-site.  The nearest hardware store is a bit of a hike away....


The main goals of this project were to replace the siding on the hut, including 9 windows, dig out the outhouse and get the micro-hydro system working.  The work began almost as soon as the helicopter disappeared over the mountains.


It soon became abundantly clear that winter had not relaxed it's grip on this part of the world.  It was warm enough (I don't believe it dropped below freezing the whole time we were there), but there were several meters of snow everywhere.  We also had to contend with some rain almost every day and fog, some wind, cloud, and even the odd sunny break.


We weren't able to find the hydro system under all the snow, but there was success on installing the new windows, finishing the siding, doing some painting and generally just cleaning the site up.  And there was time for a short hike up towards Snowpatch and around the hills overlooking the Hut.


These Hut renovation projects take place every summer.  Volunteers are always needed.  Occasionally we look for volunteers with certain skills, but generally, as long as you like working with others, enjoy the mountain setting as a backdrop to your (usually outdoor) workshop and are somewhat handy with tools and building materials, there could be a place for you on an upcoming project.


Pictures of this project can be seen at: https://picasaweb.google.com/dave.mcc51/ConradKainHutProject


If this interests you, drop me a note and get on the e-mail list for upcoming hut projects.