Needle Peak

January 15, 2005

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When Jason put out the call for people to star in a short film he was working on I think he got more than he bargained for. In the end, 15 people ( Jedd/Jeff, Suze, Paul, Jim, Tracy, Vlad, Eva, Paul, Chris, Claire, Gerry & his son Nick, Jason, me and my sons, Monty & Michael) turned up in hopes of fame & sunshine. After 26 straight days of rain, it looked like we were going to get some sun for a change. Needle Peak looked like the safest bet for weather so it was 15 eager, albeit sleepy souls who met at Tim Hortons in Chilliwack at 6:30am.

I had gone to bed at 3:30 so when my alarm rang at 4:30 I wasn’t exactly on top of my game. But I knew I would have a pretty slow day as I’d be going at the speed of my slowest kid so I wasn’t too worried about it. I packed our climbing gear just in case. I haven’t summited anything but Eagle Peak in 4 months so a winter ascent of Needle would have been very nice.

Surprisingly, my kids didn’t put up a fight when I told them I was dragging them up a mountain so I was cautiously optimistic. We set off from the parking lot around 9:00. I took forever to get myself & the kids ready & everyone was really patient. I should have just told them to go ahead as I knew we’d be far behind anyway. Hindsight.

It was a little tricky get across the river but soon we were all climbing through the trees. Being at the back has it’s advantages. There was a nice trail broken for us all the way up to the ridge. It took about 3 hours for the kids and I to make it up. As long as they kept moving, I didn’t nag them about the pace. They had fun knocking snow off of trees so I sneakily scoped out good trees further up the trail to keep them moving. I try hard to remind myself that the important thing is that they have fun. If they enjoy the outdoors now, they will continue to want to be there and one day they will move at a reasonable speed and carry a heavy pack. If I nag & make it miserable for them, they’ll stop coming.

We stopped for lunch up on the ridge then continued along hoping for a view of the climbing team. The wind was picking up so I hoped they were ok. The kids played in the snow & I alternated between snapping pics and warming up Michael’s hands. I have yet to perfect a mitt system that will keep his hands warm. Next time I’m just putting heat packs in.

Before long, Claire & Nick arrived on their way down. It had been extremely windy up there and Nick was ready to go down so Claire had graciously offered to take him. I told her I could take them back down if she wanted to go back up but was pleased when she said she was ready to go down. So I saddled her with two more kids and continued along the ridge on my own.

Vlad & Eva were coming down too as Eva’s back was acting up again Poor Eva has been having back trouble for months. I hope she can get it sorted out so she can keep coming out to play with us! Vlad gave me the first aid kit and I continued along, hoping to get some pics of the group higher up.

The wind was ferocious. I had to kneel down to take pictures half the time or I’d have been blown over. There was no trace of the trail as Mother Nature blew and blew, sculpting the snow into beautiful shapes & making me break trail. The clouds were whipping over the ridge higher up so I started to worry. It was bitterly cold & windy where I was so I knew they’d be much worse off up there. I knew I couldn’t safely climb very high on my own so I just slowly continued along, hoping to catch a glimpse of the group who was climbing. I scanned the route over and over again looking for them. Nothing. I zoomed my camera in and started searching. Still nothing. I was officially worried.

I had loads of extra clothes and all the first aid equipment. I hoped they didn’t need either but suspected that a couple of down jackets might come in handy. I hadn’t called on the radio for fear of messing up the video Jason was shooting but now the wind was so strong I knew they wouldn’t be filming anything so I started calling. They couldn’t hear me but I guess Vlad could so he got on the radio which got their attention. I was so happy to hear Jason’s voice. It sounded like they were ok but cold. What a relief.

The wind wasn’t nearly as bad now that I wasn’t quite so exposed so I decided to try to hook up with them. I finally spotted them descending the last steep bit. They were moving very slowly with so many people and only two ropes so I caught up with them before they got the last person down. Everyone was bundled up and trying to extract themselves from harnesses & ropes while being blasted with icy snow in the high winds. Chris looked like an alien in his bright orange jacket & shiny orange goggles… but in a totally cool way! I wished I hadn’t sent the goggles down with the kids. My sunglasses were not cutting it… especially when the arm kept breaking off.

They had made it as far as the first crux but had wisely decided to turn back at that point. Sadly, Jason didn’t get as much footage as he needed for the project he was working on. The weather really hadn’t cooperated but I was very happy to see everyone was safe.

We headed down quickly, doing our best to visit as many tree wells as possible along the way. The snow was wonderful, making for nice soft landings when we fell. We were back at the cars around 5:30.

Claire had done an amazing job of babysitting. She had glow sticks & sparklers (who brings glow sticks & sparklers on a climbing trip?) so they kids had had a blast. They had been kind enough to leave us a few Two-Bite Brownies but had polished off loads of chocolate, brownies, gummies & hot chocolate. Michael had even had a nap. I SO appreciated Claire taking such good care of them. They didn’t even complain about the 4 hours they’d had to wait for us.

A cold day out in the wind still beats the hell out of working. Thanks to everyone for another great trip. I’m sorry I couldn’t stay for dinner but the kids were sound asleep by the time we got to Chilliwack & after such an early morning we couldn’t stay out late on a school night. When are we going back to look for Gerry’s lost cam?

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