本周日dayhiking---Zupjok-Llama-Alpaca- @ Coquihalla@6:30am

poker007
lulu, 帮一个朋友Jacqueline报名，需要carpool, 慢队...

thanks...

Spring-time avalanche danger could range from Low to High with rapidly changing conditions. Travel early in the day to minimize risk.

PanShiBo
From previous day from Keith's Hut I saw there was a huge cornice hanging above the North side, but obviously underestimated how big it was. After climbing the Aussie we had only 20 m left to the peak, supposedly just a "simple ridge walk". I used my ice axe to probe the path for holes in front of me, so every step would give it a number of hard blows. The last blow was the hardest, and all looked good so I prepared to make a step when suddenly a violent woof of air pushed me to the right - a what seemed to be a part of the ridge just next to me disappeared. Just like that - it was there and then it was not. No sound. The air rushed to fill temporary vacuum in place of now gone huge mass of ice and I was almost made to be part of that replacement. For a few seconds there was no sound and only then we heard the fallen cornice breaking into pieces way down below in the Central Couloir. I stood for a moment not moving, looking at Vera. Then asked her "Did you see that?".

Photo: The Cornice that would collapse. Above Central Couloir of Joffre Peak


Moments after if was gone.

敏
经不住诱惑，报一个，搭车。准备飞机上睡大觉！

Directions
Drive north from Hope on Highway 5 (Coquihalla Highway) to the Zopkios Ridge rest area (exit #217). Park at the rest area.

Details
Starting at the rest area, walk south along the highway. Near the point where the rest area on-ramp meets the highway is a creek and a culvert. After walking past the creek, turn right and head across a clearing/gravel area towards the forest. The start of the overgrown Ottomite Mountain Road is located here. You'll know you're on the right track when you see a large sign on a tree warning about unexploded avalanche control shells.

Follow the road as it makes it's way towards the shoulder of a ridge leading up to Zupjok Peak. From here you will need to do a bit of route-finding. Head off-trail and follow the ridge up through the dense forest, making sure you don't veer to far to the right as it will get pretty steep in a hurry. The route was fairly well flagged as of May 2006 (and Spring, 2011) - look for flagging and you should be okay.

It takes a couple hours to reach Zupjok Peak, but once at this peak, the ridge beyond towards Llama and Alpaca is straightforward. The route is quite densely forested until just before Zupjok Summit, and after that it's quite open and heavily corniced (usually on ascender's right) in the winter. The ridge is wide and the cornices can be easily avoided.

Continuing on via snowshoe to Llama and Alpaca is straightforward with only a few steeper, non-technical sections (possible avy risk in winter). There's a good place to winter camp in a pass between Zupjok and Llama that's fairly protected.

The route is definitely recommended for it's scenery. Make sure you tell someone about your plans before you leave - the area is not traveled very often and Search and Rescue may assume that you've gone up the more popular Needle Peak on the opposite side of the highway.