The Blanket Epic
By Marty Schaffer | Blanket Glacier Chalet
Blanket Glacier Chalet is known for its snow. With an average spring snowpack of 5 meters, backcountry skiers have been enjoying the terrain for over 30 years.
Growing up at the lodge, I know every square inch of the area like the back of my hand….every tree, cliff and secret glade. But I have only spent this time with the area blanketed in snow. It was always a pipe dream to bring my mountain bike up in the summer to explore the area I call home every winter. Access has always been the limiting factor. We’ve tried hiking in before…successful 2 out of 3 times after 12-16 hours straight of bushwhacking or crossing big complex glaciers. The reality is that the only access for both summer and winter is by helicopter ride from Revelstoke.
I’ve spent years contemplating flying my bike in to see what it would be like to ride around the Chalet. Then came the pipe dream of actually riding my bike out of the Chalet to Revelstoke.. Laughing over the idea with good friend and long-time adventure buddy Chris Rubens, we thought we had to give it a go…but quickly second-guessed ourselves if we should. Even the night before we flew in, we had doubts about even bringing the bikes. The trip consisted of two days; on the first day, we would fly in, ride the area, and then develop a plan for next summer’s infrastructure upgrades. The second day, we rode our bikes out to Revelstoke via the northern section of the Gold Range Traverse. It is a multi-day ski mountaineering traverse that has grown in popularity and requires perfect springtime conditions for its technical route finding and glacier travel. I completed the traverse only twice, several years ago. Nervously reviewing terrain photos from years past and closely zooming into Google Earth terrain features, we figured we’d give it a shot. In the worst-case scenario, we would have to tie our bikes to our backs and slog out….or just call for a helicopter pick up.
We had two good weather days, so we decided to go for it. The night before was spent strategically packing our camel packs with glacier travel gear and sizing out mountain bike shoes with crampons. We met at 5 am to break our bikes down to fit into the small Jet Ranger. At first light, we took off from the Glacier Helicopters hangar. A lightning storm to the west was going off as we landed on the summit of Castor Peak. As the heli took off to the east back to Revelstoke, we stood silent, watching the sun break through the clouds for an incredible sunrise. After our bikes were put back together, we rode the 800m vertical down towards the Chalet. We linked up one rock slab to the next as we descended. What an incredible experience to be riding our bikes down terrain we thought we knew so well. It was that same feeling of stoke as if we were skiing that blower powder, hooting and hollering over every roll.
The rest of the day was spent filled with youthful adventure. Freedom, like the first time you learned to ride a bike with you and your best friend. A backyard filled with a new adventure around every corner. We would spot a cool terrain feature and giggle our way over to ride our bikes on it. From riding off a summit to connecting the most interesting rock features right up against a mighty glacier, we were ecstatic that this silly adventure wasn’t just working…but might be the best mountain biking of our lives! There was no need for a trail or to even follow each other. As far as the eye could see was solid rock that we could free-ride to wherever we wanted to go. We would ride past an alpine lake, drop the bikes and jump in fully taking our breath away. Or find a half pipe of rock to follow each other down. As the day drew to a close, it was time to head back to the chalet to take the measurements we needed to plan for next summer’s building. Exhausted by covering more terrain than we would on an average ski touring day, we fell asleep early, nervous for the next day of travel back to Revelstoke. Thoughts of impassable crevasses or loose rock along ridge features limiting us from making it home dwelled on us.
The next morning started early. We made it to the col between Castor and Pollex Peak after fooling around on the longest and steepest rock ride we’ve ever ridden. We jumped on our bikes from the col to ride the small pocket glacier losing elevation. Easily steering clear of the crevasses, we giggled at the thought of never riding our bikes on such a feature before. From the toe, it was quickly evident that our previous very rideable terrain was now over. Moving over broken rock and snow, we found ourselves at the bottom of the Big Apple Glacier. With very little firn snow left we put our bikes on our backs and crampons on our feet. On the steep ice, we were stoked to have the crampons. From the summit of the Big Apple or Mulvahil was our first major route decision. Try and cross the heavy, crevassed, and steep Mulvahil glacier, or attempt the ridge scramble with our bikes on our backs. The gaping hopes on the glacier easily steered our eyes to the ridge…which wasn’t much of a gimmie.
The more we put our bikes on our backs the more we developed efficient systems of strapping them to our backs. While scrambling along the knife edge ridge, we had our frames and one wheel strapped to our backs. One wheel was used as a walking object, and the other to find handholds to pull us up and across exposed sections. From the summit of this subpeak, it hit us as to how much ground we still had to cover and just how little riding appeared ahead of us. The terrain eventually mellowed out, and we jumped on the bottom half of our last glacier to ride straight down, covering distance quickly…we couldn’t believe how it actually worked out.
After crossing the Begbie Lakes we were taking much longer than expected. By the time we had made it to the base of Mount Begbie, it was getting late, and fatigue was setting in. An hour-long large boulder scree walk below the Begbie Glacier found us at the top of the traditional hiking route climbers take to get to the Begbie summit. We laughed and were stoked that we could ride our bikes again. Following the rock cairns, we rode into the Begbie campsite. The last remaining power gels were pounded, and we started the steep switchbacks down. STOKED to finally be riding without hiking, we hit the road before dark. Rolling down the highway home never felt so good. It was dark when we cheered our beers at the Big Eddy pub.
There was no doubt in our mind that we would be back to ride the rock around the Blanket Glacier Chalet. But the ride-out does not have to be done again. This summer of 2017 marks the first time that the Blanket Glacier Chalet will offer short 3 and 4-day mountain biking trips to the area with access by helicopter. All programs will be guided by certified ACMG guides consisting of small groups. Guiding will ensure respectful and low impact alpine travel on this ecosystem. With such a sensitive alpine ecosystem, riders will be riding their bikes on routes consisting primarily of rock. We will incorporate minor glacier travel using ropes and ice axes on some of our glaciated terrain to access certain terrain features. When guests are not mountain biking, the Chalet area has 3 lakes filled with rainbow trout, with a canoe and a couple of for use. And if the conditions permit, we will ski on the Blanket Glacier, just as they did in the early 80s, using a rope tow to maximize laps.
Keep an eye on the Blanket Glacier Chalet and the BLBCA website for upcoming details on these exciting and adventurous trips!
