DATES SKIED: 4/3-4/5/26

TOTAL MILEAGE: 30 MILES

TOTAL ELEVATION GAIN: 8,100’

In early April, Sander and I climbed and skied off the summit of Mt. Garibaldi in beautiful British Columbia. It is a peak that Alex and I attempted to ski last season via Brohm Ridge, but we were turned back on that trip by incoming weather about 1,200’ below the summit (blog post here). In my trip report, I wrote that I wasn’t sure I would ever go back to attempt Garibaldi again, and if I did, I certainly would not take the Brohm Ridge approach. Well, less than a year later I did go back, but I was true to my word and did not access it via Brohm Ridge. Instead, Sander and I took the longer but, in my opinion much better, approach via Garibaldi Lake and the Rubble Creek Trailhead.

Unfortunately, in March, Alex dislocated his shoulder during a free ride camp at Mt. Hood Meadows and just like that, his season was over. When I first learned he dislocated his shoulder I thought, great just pop it back in and let’s get back out there (this is what movies taught me is standard practice). I quickly learned a shoulder dislocation is a devastating injury. He ended up needing surgery to repair his torn labrum, and is expected to have another 3-6 months of PT before he’ll be cleared to do high impact activities like skiing again. To say we were heartbroken is an understatement. The months of March through May are our busiest months as we cram in ski objective after ski objective on every fair-weather weekend. Not being able to do those trips with Alex was crushing.

Sander has been our closest ski partner since 2023 (our group chat is even called “The 3 Mouse-ski-teers”) and so he and I planned to tackle some bigger objectives during the spring as a duo. (Just not Rainier, that is the one objective we are saving to do as a trio, hopefully in 2027.)

The first weekend of April looked promising in BC. A few days of cold storms had steadily deposited over a foot of snow in the mountains with barely a wisp of wind accompanying it. This was favorable for attempting a steeper objective, and Garibaldi is steep. The headwall approaches 50 degrees at its steepest and has a notorious bergschrund to contend with, though we hoped this early in the season it would still be filled in.

We decided to make it a three day trip, allowing us a full day to get to camp, another day to summit, and a final day to exit. We considered staying in the Burton Hut, but it would put us a tad farther away from Garibaldi than we wanted to be. I also checked its registration page online and it appeared quite few people already planned to stay there. Instead, we decided to bring all our camping gear and camp in the Sentinel Valley, which would put us in a much better position for our summit day and grant us more solitude.

On Thursday evening, we made the drive from Washington and pulled into a nearly empty Rubble Creek Trailhead. There are two reasons I dislike the Brohm Ridge approach for skiing Garibaldi. The first is the road, which is still one of the gnarliest, white-knuckled forest roads I’ve ever driven up. In comparison, Rubble Creek is an easy 1.5 miles off Hwy 99. The second reason I dislike Brohm Ridge is the undulating nature of the terrain and how many transitions it requires. There is barely any fall line skiing besides the first ~1,500’ after the summit. In comparison, the approach from Garibaldi Lake requires just two transitions on the descent (and none on the approach), and we enjoyed nearly 4,000’ of fall line skiing.

As we were settling in to sleep at the trailhead, I checked the BC Parks website one last time to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. However, as I was reading over the park page again, I was horrified to find that permits were required for wilderness camping in the area even in the winter (I had been under the misguided impression it was a seasonal requirement). I started panicking when I discovered the only way to make a reservation in the winter was to call the BC Parks office during their operating hours, which was 7AM-7PM. We planned to leave the trailhead at 7AM. I went to sleep desperately hoping my one bar of service would allow me to get through to the office in the morning.

DAY 1: HIKE TO camp | 10.5 MILES | ~3,400’ OF GAIN

We woke just after 6AM and started getting our gear ready. Our packs were overflowing with stuff. We needed to bring winter camping gear, glacier travel gear, and ski mountaineering gear. All those activities required scale-topping amounts of gear on their own. Combining them makes for some eye-bulging pack weights. In total, my pack tipped the scales at 58lbs and Sander’s at 65lbs, including skis and boots. Since the snow line was a couple thousand feet above the trailhead, we decided to start in trail runners.

At 7AM on the dot I called the BC Parks. Relief washed over me as I immediately was able to speak with a ranger. Our conversation went something like this.

Me: “Hi, I’d like to make a reservation for a wilderness camping permit for Garibaldi Provincial Park, entering and exiting the Rubble Creek Trailhead.”

Agent: “Sure, I can help with that. What dates will you need that permit for?”

Me: “Today.”

Agent: A pause. “Today?”

Me: “Yes, today".

Agent: Another pause. “Alrighty, we can do that.”

Five minutes later the permit arrived in my inbox. I screenshot it, saved it to my photos, put my phone on airplane mode, and we hit the trail. I often am ribbed by friends for being such a rule follower, but I especially like to make sure I’m abiding by all rules and regulations in national parks. These places are privileges to visit and I want to respect them.

Moving uphill, under the immense weight of all my gear, was a shock to my system. It had been so long since I had carried that much weight (likely not since Glacier Peak in 2023), and for the past year most of my objectives had been light and fast, not slow and plodding. But, plod we did. We actually moved faster than I thought we would, clocking about 1,200’ in the first hour. It just hurt more than most 1,200’ hurt.

We hit consistent snow at 3,600’ after 1.5 hours of hiking. We un-shouldered our packs, stashed our trail runners in the trees (a mistake we would come to find later), and started skinning. Losing about 12 pounds from my pack and changing the mode of travel made a world of difference in my mood and our pace.

At 10:40AM, we made it to Garibaldi Lake and took a long break before embarking on the infamous lake crossing. While standing on the shore of the frozen lake, it didn’t look like it was too far to the other side, but looks are deceiving. The lake crossing was 3.5 miles. Garibaldi Lake has a reputation for wearing one down mentally on a good day, and when we arrived it was lightly snowing. Snow had been in the forecast for Friday, but skinning on an endless white lake in an endless white cloud was going to be an undertaking.

Eventually, we mustered the willpower to start the journey. The crossing lived up to its notorious reputation. It felt like I was taking so many steps and yet the opposite shore stubbornly stayed in place. We were making no discernible progress. Sander and I fell into our own paces as we crossed the lake, him slowly drifting farther ahead of me. While it was frustrating to feel like I wasn’t making progress, it felt meditative in a way. The snow muffled all sounds besides my breath and the rhythmic swoosh-swoosh of my skins gliding on the snow. Eventually, our progress became more evident. The far shore was drawing nearer.

After two hours, we completed the crossing. My hip flexors ached from repeating the same exact motion over and over without any variation or pause, but the day was nearly over. We just needed to head up the valley and find a nice sheltered area to camp.

6.5 hours after we left the trailhead, we found camp. We were exhausted, but so elated to finally be done with the approach. The wind whipped and the cold cut through my layers so we didn’t waste any time unpacking and setting up. I then threw on all my layers, and settled into my sleeping bag.

DAY 2: garibaldi Summit Day | 9 MILES | ~4,500’ OF GAIN

Since we were positioned in a nice spot for summit day (only about 4 miles and 4,000’ away), we didn’t feel the need for an alpine start. We woke with the sun and slowly started moving, making coffee and cooking breakfast at a leisurely pace. The day had dawned clear. This was in the forecast, but there’s always a part of me that worries the skies won’t clear when I go to bed in a cloud. Thankfully they did, and all the ridges and peaks that had been buried in clouds the previous day were standing out starkly against the bright blue sky.

We left camp just after 8AM, skinning farther and higher into the gut of the valley. Our route up was essentially the exit route of the Garibaldi-Neve Traverse, but since it had been snowing the previous few days, we broke trail.

As we gained elevation above the lake, the views immensely improved. Low hanging pools of clouds gathered in the valleys overnight, creating a white sea underneath the peaks.

We got our first views of Garibaldi at the pass under Glacier Peaks and my heart sank. The NE face looked like a sheer wall. Immediately voices of doubt started to crept in, there is no way you can get yourself up and down that face, I thought. It was far too steep, far too consequential. But, I didn’t say that out loud, not wanting to speak my fears to the universe lest the universe hear and make them true. I also knew that mountains tend to “lay back” as you get closer and I hoped that would be the case with Garibaldi.

Mixed with my trepidation and anxiety about the climb was a feeling of awe. The views of Garibaldi from this vantage were spectacular. The imposing face was softened by a blanket of snow and glaciers, made even more beautiful by clouds nestled below. We could also easily see that the bergschrund was filled in. That was a big win.

We glided toward a low point in the Warren Glacier still on our skins and then roped up. The Warren Glacier is heavily crevassed, and while late March to early April is usually deepest a snowpack will be for the season, we still wanted to minimize any risk. Plus, it was nice to get the weight of the glacier gear and rope off our backs.

It turns out, this approach to Garibaldi is also wildly scenic. The summit left our view as we made our way up and past the Sharkfin and crossed onto the North Pitt Glacier, but to the north and east massive mountains extended endlessly toward the horizon.

As we rounded the Sharkfin, the summit came into view again, and I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that it had indeed “laid back”. It appeared more manageable from this new perspective. It still looked steep, but now it resembled a slope more than a wall. And, as further relief, we saw two skiers approaching from Brohm Ridge already making their way up and setting a skin track.

We continued to gain elevation and other ski parties continued to show up. Another group of three came from Brohm Ridge and filed in ahead of us, and below us a duo followed in our skin track. It appeared we weren’t so alone after all!

I watched as the group of two in the lead found the bergschrund crossing, put their skis on their packs, and began booting up a short, steep chute leading to the summit ridge. Right before they booted out of view, they called back to the group of three who were nearing the transition point and said to watch out for a couple holes near the bergschrund. As the group of three were putting their crampons on their feet and skis on their back, we arrived to the transition point, and the other party of two arrived shortly after us. It was so interesting that four different groups, from three different approaches, all arrived at the same time. I guess you could say we all nailed our timing.

It was our turn to boot to the summit ridge. Sander went first and I gave him a little space before following. As I crossed the bergschrund, I looked down. Sure enough, on either side of me were two deep holes. I didn’t dare linger long at such a precarious point, so I hurried over the bergschrund and traversed toward the entrance of the chute. Already Sander was high above me—the chute was steep. Thankfully, six people had packed down some nice steps and I confidently climbed. But as the slope approached its steepest, the snow became less supportive. I tried to kick steps into the slope, but the snow broke away, revealing a much firmer surface underneath. I felt panic rise from my belly. I looked up at Sander and could see he was already past the steepest section. From where he stood, it looked like an easy walk to the ridge. I ignored my instinct to look down, knowing that seeing an airy slope beneath me would not do anything to help my situation. I focused solely on kicking solid steps, and plunging my axe into the slope. A few minutes later I was on ridge. All we had left to do was walk to the summit.

The view from Garibaldi is one of the prettiest summit views I’ve ever seen. From there, you can see straight to Howe Sound to the west and the spiny Atwell Peak, obscured by the summit ridge for the entire approach, dominates your field of view. A sea of glaciated peaks spans all the other horizons. Finally making it to the summit after turning back last year felt like such a win, but I couldn’t celebrate quite yet, because we still had to ski the NE face!

As the summit crowded with nine skiers, the two who arrived first started to ski. It turned out they had already skied Garibaldi seven times! The first few turns off the top sounded a little scrape-y. One of the skiers even called out, “that snow sucks!” But just below the wind-scoured summit, the snow softened.

The group of three followed them, and then Sander made his first turns off the summit. He stopped at a safe spot on a ledge and radioed up that the snow was better than it looked and sounded. Finally, it was my turn to ski. My first few turns were abundantly cautious as I assessed the snow. There was definitely a crust underneath the fresh snow, but after a few turns I felt more comfortable. The snow was chunky, but it held, and I no longer felt like I was at risk of peeling off the face. Crossing the bergschrund on the way down was also a breeze as we just cruised right over it.

And just like that we were past the crux. We regrouped just below the bergschrund, and got ready to ski what looked like some incredible snow. Sander went down first, making huge arcing turns, gleefully whooping as he skied. He stopped at the bottom and radioed up, “that might have been the best run of my life.” I couldn’t wait. After a few turns, it was clear this was the type of snow you dream about. I’m not sure if it was the adrenaline still coursing through my body, the high of having summited Garibaldi, or some combo of the two, but I felt like I was soaring down the mountain. It was just an 800’ run, but it might have been the best 800’ I’ve ever skied.

But, the great skiing wasn’t over! We still had about 3,000’ to ski until we were back at camp, and we milked those feet for all they were worth. Enjoying the snow, the views, and the joy of a phenomenal day in the mountains.

We had to transition to skinning just once, as we made our way a couple hundred feet up to the pass beneath Glacier Peaks. From there it was one final joy-filled ski back to camp.

DAY 3: exit To Trailhead | 10.5 MILES | ~200’ OF GAIN

After carrying a relatively light pack for summit day, I was not looking forward to carrying my heavy overnight pack again, nor was I looking forward to the lake crossing, but at 7:30AM we left camp.

We were speedier on the exit crossing than we were on the approach crossing, our fresh legs making quicker work of it. The sun was also shining, and views that were covered in clouds on our entrance were now out in their full glory, buoying our spirits.

We kept our skis on for as long as we could in the forest but we were surprised to see just how much snow had melted during the previous three days. We needed to stop and take our skis off a couple switchbacks above where we put them on. This wouldn’t have been an issue if our shoes (and microspikes) weren’t stashed under a log a couple hundred feet below us. We were forced to hike the slick trail in our ski boots until we hit our shoe stash. From there, it was another hour of trail walking back to the car. We arrived to a packed parking lot and a blazing sun. What a difference a few days can make!

*****

My ski goal this season was to work my way up to skiing more committing lines in the backcountry. Lines that scared me a little but not too much, lines I knew I had the skills to ski but would still expand my comfort zone in the process. I was looking for the delicate balance of feeling excited and nervy when thinking about the objective, and Garibaldi’s NE face was Goldilocks. Even though Alex and I turned around last year due to weather, I don’t think I would have had the skills to climb up or descend on that day. However, after another ski season, some bigger objectives, and the Jackson Hole Steep ‘n Deep Camp, I felt ready to tackle this line. It was so rewarding to see some of my hard work and perseverance pay off, and to prove to myself I am capable of more than I realize. This trip was the highlight of the season for me!

Garibaldi Redemption