Elfin Lakes Ski Tour: Garibaldi Provincial Park BC

With forecasts calling for increasing snow levels and rain in the Cascades, my friend Eric and I decided to head up to the British Columbia coast range to do some exploring in the Garibaldi Provincial Park. Forecast were calling for slightly lower freezing levels and high pressure building throughout the day Saturday with just moderate avalanche danger, so we were optimistic in finding some great touring conditions. Upon reaching the trail head at 3,000 ft. we were greeted with an empty parking lot, wind driven snow and temperatures hovering at the freezing mark. We both smiled at each other knowing that we had made the right decision. The trail head above Squamish, B.C. leads up into a hut system created for back country use in the Elfin Lakes area of the Garibaldi Provincial Park. The trek in was wet, but otherwise uneventful. We cruised the 2500 ft. elevation gain and roughly 7 miles in no time and found ourselves enjoying the heated cabin, resting ourselves for the long day ahead. Although heated the cabin was still cold and the new men's Cats Meow kept me very warm throughout the night.

In the morning we were greeted with blue skies and views of the surrounding coast mountains that we missed on the way in. The vistas were breathtaking as the sun rose over Garibaldi and Diamond head peaks. Our objective for the day was a 5 mile jaunt up Diamond Head peak and then all the way out to the car. Excited to get going we pushed up and over Columnar Gargoyle col and into the Diamond Head region very quickly. The snow from the night before was light and fluffy at 7000 ft and skied incredibly well. All in all it was another incredible trip into the mountains.

Jeff Schomaker

TNF Seattle