Ref: Aaron Cameron
and
Matt Gunn's Hikes
around Invermere & the Columbia River Valley.
Winter
access: Toby Creek Adventures operate snowmobile tours to Paradise
Mine. Their log cabin is easy to spot on the north side of Toby Creek
Road, just ahead of Panorama Ski Resort. They provide public parking at
the trailhead of the groomed service road and access to the warming
cabin
in Paradise Basin. There is a registation fee of 15$ per sled. |
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Looking up Springs
Creek drainage. |
Snowshoe trip: RT 7.0 (including Watch Peak and
side
trips); 50
minutes up from the sled. I don't know many peaks that require such
minimal effort to visit. Paradise Mine is a popular area accessed by a
high alpine road. The road climbs to an alpine basin, continues over
Paradise Ridge and descends to Bruce Creek on the north side (seldom
used in the winter). Many sledders use the ridge, often to drop off
skiers. Instead of traversing to Paradise Col, following the road as in
the summer, the sledder's uptrack leaves the road soon after the
warming cabin,
and goes straight up to the ridge. The 250 meters of height gain takes
less than a minute! If a good uptrack already exists, climbing is not
too intimidating; I was more concerned with control
issues coming
down... We parked our sleds on top of the ridge at 2,600 meters. It
only took 40 minutes to get up here, with a height gain of 1,470
meters.
Very close to our objective, we casually geared up for the
nice ridge walk ahead. Fab pulled a warm burger from his snowmobile,
I must admit that was a first! Although the sky was grey, the
temperature
was mild with no wind. The multiple layers of cloud added texture; we
liked it. The surrounding mountains are tall and
impressive, it
was thrilling to be here in the winter. Travelling on the firm
snow and scree was nice. After rounding up a highpoint,
we noticed the summit cairn which appeared to be a
person. Soon thereafter, we stood by the large inukshook with Mount
Nelson looming over us. We paused before continuing along the ridge to
Watch Peak.
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The access road
crosses this avalanche path a couple of times. |
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Climbing to the
ridge crest (picture taken on descent). |
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On the ridge in less
than an hour, Mount Villeneuve (arrow) is the hightpoint of
Paradise Ridge. |
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The north-eastern
view towards Mount Bruce.
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North-western view
with Mount Slade. |
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Looking back, our
sleds are on the highpoint. |
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Bucentaure Peak
marks the south-east end of Paradise Ridge. |
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Mount Trafalgar
(center) and impressive Mount Nelson. |
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Nearing the "person
on the ridge" with Watck Peak on the left. |
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A short stint away. |
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Looking back again. |
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Standing next to the
large inukshook. |
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Bucentaure Peak,
Panorama Ski Resort and Mount Goldie. |
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Mount Nelson, a
prize scramble in this region. |
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The connecting ridge
to Watch Peak. |
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Continue
on to Watch Peak |
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