Category: Strathcona Regional District

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Nine Peaks

June 21, 2025

~ submitted by Matthew Lettington

The Trip: Nine Peaks

I’ve been to Nine Peaks before. It’s a relatively straightforward third-class scramble — if you’re on route and the environment cooperates. But when I picked this location months ago, I had no idea what conditions we’d face. I chose the longest day of the year and planned a four-day itinerary to give everyone a fair shot at summiting. In the days leading up to departure, I nervously checked four different forecast models twice a day, trying to build a reliable picture of what we’d face. Even as we departed, I was still holding my breath.

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Septimus X-Gully

May 31, 2025

~ submitted by Evan Martin

Three Ramblers headed out from Bedwell Lake trailhead towards mount Septimus.  We drove through torrential rain from Victoria, feeling pretty pessimistic about the forecast.  However, the forecast was true to its word, and we departed the trailhead at 12:30 with clear sky’s.  We began to encounter snow just prior to Baby Bedwell.  It was patchy and generally supportive, but we had to be extra careful getting on and off staircases, crossing small streams, etc.  the snow disappeared again as we crested and started descending into Bedwell Lake, but we reentered it again prior to arriving at the Bedwell Lake campsite at 3:30.

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Ball Lake Snowshoe

March 29, 2025

~ submitted by Matthew Lettington

Throughout Paradise Meadows, signs of winter’s slow demise are everywhere. Though over two meters of snow still blankets much of the landscape, evidence of the coming summer is undeniable. Patches of open water are appearing along the edges of the lakes, and in some places, we could see water nearly twelve inches below the snow’s surface.

This was my first time tackling this route in winter. Typically, snowshoers take a direct path across the frozen lakes, but with the increasing melt, we opted to follow the shoreline instead. It was the safer choice.

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Mount Becher Novice Ski Trip

March 30, 2025

~ submitted by Evan Martin

This winter, Evan W is stepping into the world of backcountry skiing with big ambitions—he’s eager to take on longer ski tours as his skills grow. While I’ve done my fair share of backcountry skiing, my experience has been limited to the mainland, making this my first year exploring the island’s terrain. Motivated by the opportunity to ski with Evan, I brought my gear over and planned a trip to Mount Becher, hoping to invite other Ramblers and share the experience while rebuilding the backcountry ski culture within the Ramblers. After our previous attempt to organize a trip to Mount Cokely fell flat, we were pleasantly surprised by the high level of interest this time. In the end, we had six people in the group, with a range of experience from first-timers to seasoned skiers, which made for an exciting and diverse adventure.

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Mount Drabble

February 8, 2025

~ submitted by Sarah Duncan

We changed our destination due to Snow levels and avalanche risk and comfort of the group. We met at the base of Mount Washington Parkway at 815 and convoy drove to the trialhead.

The weather was cold and mostly clear. 

We walked (carried the snow shoes) about 7 KM along the beautifully snow covered road to the trailhead where we donned our snowhoes and took turns breaking trail for awhile until we landed on some snowmobile tracks which we followed to where we opted to turn around just a shortish distance from the summit. 

We opted to turn around a bit early based on time of day, distance and energy level of the group.  The snow was lovely, the views were lovely and the company was awesome. 

We hiked for just over 8 hours (breaks included in that time) and about 20KM with an elevation gain of over 800 meters. 

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Mountain Improv with Island Alpine Guides

June 1, 2024

~ submitted by Su Castle

7 of us met Jan Neuspiel, owner of Island Alpine Guides at the Comox Lake crags for our day of instruction.

He ensured we all got what the course promised to deliver at a follow-able pace. Additional knowledge was shared as response to our many questions! Jan was friendly and incredibly knowledgeable. We had a mix of theory and hands on practice. The instructor was able to deliver to the different levels of experience within the group.

Minimizing risk in the mountains was emphasized with many relevant examples and stories. Participants were actively involved and I think we all got what we wanted/needed from the course.  It was a lot of information and we were encouraged to practice and contact IAG with any questions in the future. So worthwhile!

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Mount Becher via Boston Ridge

February 4, 2024
~ submitted by Pete Hrkac

Solid, consolidated snow made for easy travel. Traction was very useful for ascending and descending the steeper sections. Although we brought axes, we only used them once, briefly during the descent from Boston Ridge toward Mt. Becher.

It was a great loop, easy route-finding.

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Mount Becher New Years Day Celebration

January 1st, 2024
~ submitted by Greg Deabler

Our New Year’s Day stroll up Becher was thoroughly enjoyed by seven Ramblers: It was +2 at the trailhead with slight traces of snow along the plowlines of the road up and no snow at the parking lot.

Given that there had been rain during the previous week and little fresh snow, we made the decision to leave the snowshoes behind and trust our microspikes. A good decision, the snow was hard and supportive all the way to the summit. No wind and and lots of fog as we ascended and came down served to negate most of the views but made for perfect hiking comfort conditions for the day.

A lingering lunch on top, a few photo shoots involving an igloo constructed by a group who had spent the night, as well as the resident and persistent whiskey jacks made for a nice stop. Headed down at a good pace and arrived back at the cars by 2:15 pm.

A great day with even better company!