The Spearhead Traverse in a Day
- Greg Luesink
- Apr 18
- 8 min read
Updated: Jun 26
Ben and I finally ticked a major spring ski traverse off our list - a truly epic day in Whistler! I borrowed my brother's GoPro to capture some footage of the day out, which I made into a short vlog.
A Winter of Fun
I am a little rushed to catch-up on posts, so I skipped Winter and jumped to Spring. I will perhaps write a post later on about the Coquihalla ski destinations. For now, enjoy some fun photos of the winter ski season, often through the lens of our monocular! Jas and I spent the winter getting out ski touring as often as the snow conditions allowed. We often skied with our friend Ben, and many others too! It was great to get some powder turns in, and as usual, some mashed potatoes. Regardless of conditions, there is never a bad day being out on skis!
By March, winter was winding down in the Fraser Valley. But, Ben, Jas and I did a quick trip to visit our friends Nich and Sophie in Castlegar, which proved to us that the interior has much better snow for much longer. We enjoyed some late winter turns around some cute day-huts with our friends for a few days before heading home.
April showers bring... spring ski traverses
By April, my attention turned to a traverse I'd wanted to do before I even bought backcountry skis, and one that Ben had on his list for several years - (you guessed it) - "The Spearhead." I wanted to scout it out to see if it was something that Jas and I might do in the future. Thus, a single day trip with Ben was a great opportunity to get a feel for the new terrain.
The Route
Located in Whistler, there are two options for starting: at Blackcomb Mountain, or at Whistler Mountain. We opted for the standard start from Blackcomb. The length and elevation gain of the route vary, depending on what itinerary and side-quests each party has. Generally, it seems to range from 35-45km with a minimum of 1700m elevation gain, and surpassing 3,000m for groups that add more ski lines along the way. Being our first time, we kept the bonus lines to a minimum, but also didn't plan on skipping a longer ski run if the snow was good. We had a goal to complete the traverse in under 12 hours (spoiler, we just barely did), as that seemed to be a reasonable time based on friend's trips from the year prior.
In early April, there was a mediocre weekend of weather, but thankfully we were patient and waited. Mid-April brought a perfect span of colder, clear days and we would be rewarded with bluebird conditions and (mostly) great snow.
The Gear
As with all ski touring adventures, the mandatory kit includes probe, beacon, and shovel. As with any glacier route, crevasse rescue gear is also advisable (although I presume that the FKT on the route left much of this at home...). Without the right tools, we would be in quite the pickle if an accident were to happen. Better to have a safety margin in new terrain than get too gung-ho with the Fast & Light mentality!
Gear List (click to expand)
Avalanche Gear: Beacon, probe, shovel
Glacier Gear: 30m RAD line, ice screw, microtraxion, tibloc, pulley, 3x locking biners, 1m prusik, 5m prusik, rappel device, ski harness, knife
Ski Gear: Skis (96mm underfoot), Poles, Boots (Scarpa F1 GT), skins, ski crampons.
Repair Kit: tape, glue, extra screws for boots, pliers, multi-tool knife etc. + C-splint and tensor for first aid kit.
Electronics: Phone (yes, there is service up there), InReach Mini, Rocky Talkie Mtn Radio, GoPro, Petzl NAO RL headlamp,
Nutrition: 3.5L of water with LMNT, lunch and snacks (~2700-3000 calories consumed).
Clothing: Sun Hoodie, Hat, hiking pants, Soft-shell midlayer, wind-breaker, emergency puffy, light gloves, thicker gloves, emergency mitts.
The Spearhead in a Day
Ben and I drove out from Chilliwack around 5am, and after a longer-than-desired process of acquiring the backcountry lift pass, we finally were on the gondola. After another chairlift, and a T-bar (all totalling to save us ~1,600m of gain) it was nearly 9:40 am by the time we started the traverse, skiing an icy descent. Next, an icy, mid-length climb to the col of Blackcomb Peak and The Spearhead gave us our first views of the traverse and Decker Mountain.
Another icy descent led us down to Decker Lake, frozen solid and covered in snow. We traversed just above it and transitioned to climb to the shoulder of Mt Decker. There were many skin-tracks to choose from, so we linked up with the closest one.
We did a ~200m climb to the shoulder and surveyed our options. Some tracks seemed to drop to the Torrey Glacier, but required a long climb back up to the next saddle. Being so early in the day, and not wanting to get behind schedule, we decided to circumvent the bonus ski run and traverse below Mt Torrey.
From here we did some entertaining silly-skiing as we avoided making time-consuming transitions. A short step near some cornices before Torrey required a boot-pack, but otherwise things went smoothly. Soon, we were on our way to the Pattison Col, which required another short bootpack.
We reached the top of the second boot-pack hoping for better snow on the Tremor Glacier, but instead were treated to unobstructed views of the terrain ahead of us. The snow? Still teeth-chattering and icy.
The traversing descent of the Tremor Glacier dropped us below a long grind of a climb up to the Tremor Mountain saddle. We were somewhere around 3 hours into our day at the start of this long skin-track. In the midst of filming with the GoPro (and looking like a Teletubby), I completely forgot to get any photos until we reached the Tremor saddle, which offered even more spectacular views!
The next descent provided the first "corn" snow turns of the day, which was exceptionally exciting after so many icy turns. We ripped across the Platform Glacier before transitioning to a short climb to the saddle of Quiver and Ripsaw Peaks. Crossing the Ripsaw Glacier, we found a steep section to drop off the ridge to the Naden Glacier, so we carefully side-slid down to the easier slope. A short boot-pack to the saddle of Couloir Ridge provided us with a grand spectacle. Once again, I didn't get many photos, too focused on GoPro footage. Thankfully, Ben captured a spectacular shot as we crested the saddle below Couloir Ridge.
We enjoyed another amazing descent of corn snow, and dropping skier's left over a ridge, we descended to the Iago Glacier, one of the steepest sections of the trip. On the proceeding climb, I had good enough cell service to call Jas. We chatted on the phone for a bit and I wished that she could be there to ski the amazing corn snow... but perhaps not the chunky ice we'd done earlier on.
It was another long climb up the Iago Glacier, but we were getting very close to completing the "U-turn" of the route. At this point, we were about 6 hours into our day, having covered 17.5 km.
We looked down on the Diavolo Glacier, and the vast expanse of coastal mountains and glaciers to the East. They seemed to never end, caked in white, jutting out into the blue sky. Mount Sir Richard and the surrounding glaciers beckoned to be skied. In fact, there is a McBride Traverse that splits off from Naden Glacier towards Mt Sir Richard, continuing to exit via Garibaldi Lake (85km, 6,000m).
After a steep descent, we crossed the Diavolo glacier to the last major climb of the day, up to Benvolio saddel and then on to Mount Overlord summit. Out of curiosity, I tried Ben's lighter skis, but he quickly and adamantly expressed his disdain for my skis and wanted his back... I can't blame him! We reached the summit of Overlord at 5:30 pm, 8 hours in, and having covered 21km so far, with most of the elevation gain finished. Up next we had a long ridge to cover in the next 4 hours if we want to go sub-12.
After a quick phone call to update Jas, we clicked into our skis and chattered down the icy shoulder of Overlord. I was a little disappointed about snow conditions, but we made some fun turns nonetheless. Up next was the single rappel of the traverse, which I'd seen on a recent trip and many other reports. As we neared the cliff, we spotted tracks heading off skier's right and decided to explore. And man-alive are we glad we did!
Turns out doing the rappel skips perhaps the longest and best skiing of the entire traverse, a steep and engaging slope on perfect corn snow.
We had lucked out with our timing and made incredibly exhilarating turns down the slope, bypassing the unnecessary rappel. Unfortunately, while I was filming, the GoPro kept shutting off on it's own and I missed basically all of the best turns, including Ben's epic crash as he got a little much speed. I guess it will just have to live on in my memory...
The extra long descent was totally worth a small extra climb up the Overlord Glacier, and we trudged across it to the saddle of Whirlwind and Fissile Peaks.
From there we were basically home-free, with a long stretch of undulating ridge past the Kees and Claire hut all the way to Whistler Mountain.
On the way to Kees and Claire, we stayed as high as possible to conserve our potential energy, and only boot-packed a short section up to the "hut" (more like an alpine mansion), which is the first of three proposed huts long the Spearhead Traverse. These would increase safety margins for skiers while also mitigating the impact of human travel by having set stops along the way rather than infinite camping options (i.e., less human waste etc). If they ever get around to building all three, it would be a pretty neat experience to go back and spend more time skiing extra lines along the way with a more relaxed itinerary (while not having to carry a tent!).
After cresting the hill, we set off on a superbly fun descent to Singing Pass. Instead of descending the Singing Pass trail (due to reported poor snow coverage), we continued on to climb up Oboe Summit, Flute Summit, and out the Whistler green run to the base. Aside from Ben getting a little too excited and going the wrong way down a ski run (requiring a short bootpack back to the main groomer), the rest of the descent went smoothly. We arrived at the bus stop 6 minutes under our 12 hour goal!
All in, we covered ~43km with ~2,700m of elevation gain and ~4,300m of loss, and finished the traverse in under 12 hours (not counting the time spent in the gondola). Aside from just an epic day out with Ben, it was also a successful scouting mission for a future trip to the area with Jas. Perhaps we will stay at the Kees and Claire hut and a fun ski-exploration around Overlord.
Overall, as an intermediate skier and beginner ski-traverser, I found the route to be very simple in terms of navigation (just follow the yellow-brick skin-track). It suited my ski abilities, not scary, but some of the steeper slopes that I've skied in my two seasons. In April, we didn't end up roping up for any of the glacier crossings, as all of the crevasses were still covered. This is not to say that a rope is not necessary, just because we didn't fall into a crevasse doesn't mean it isn't a possibility. Later in the season would likely be recommended. As for fitness, Ben and I are used to even longer days in the mountains, so this wasn't a concern for us (although being in ski boots for 12 hours was plenty). Compared to a single day trip, a multi-day itinerary would simultaneously be more strenuous, but would also allow for more exploring (albeit with a 30+ lb pack for most of the skiing...). Check out the Vlog below to experience the sub-12 hr day in sub-12 minutes.
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