The Vancouver 100

Hi, due to injury I am available to pace from the 50k point tomorrow, it was planned to run the second half around 9 hour pace, I am however flexible.  If you would like some pacing let me know what time you plan to be at Nelson Canyon park and I will be there.  Otherwise I will be there from 1pm ready for action.

Cheers,

James

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone lives near the Cleaveland Dam that I could catch a ride on Saturday monring to the Start in Deep Cove.  I am leaving my car at the Cleavland Dam for self-serve aid station and you are more than welcome to use my car for your aid at that point.  if anyone can please call me on my cell 778-837-9244.  

Thank you

Sammy

Completed Cypress Bowl parking lot to Eagle Bluffs and back today. Very little blow down. Lots of well worn tracks in the snow. Some bare ground showing. Very little postholing. I would say the lowest snow year yet for the Vancouver 100. It was cloudy but not raining yay so no view at the bluffs for us (Dave, Deb, me, the persistent whisky jack and the indomitable raven). A good time was had by all especially on the brisk snow run back down to the bowl. Can't wait for the big day(s)... so ready! Good luck to all and a big thanks in advance to all the crews, pacers and other helpers.

went out and did a nelson to cypress lodge return trip today. the trail along that section is all in decent shape. a few downed trees here and there and that's about it. the snow starts just past the part after eagle bluff where you head back into the trees. the section from there that heads to the top of black isn't too bad. the snow is wet but i wasn't postholing and flagging/markers are visible. the snow is low enough that you can even see the tops of the sign posts. the rocks at the top of black are just starting to peek through the snow.

oh, and i flagged the junction near horseshoe bay that splits off and heads to nelson canyon. i know that tripped some people up last year. besides, it's easy to miss it when you're cruising down that nice downhill. orange and yellow tape will tell you where to go.

Five of us were out on the upper Hollyburn section of the BP today for clearing and marking. In addition to what Andy said earlier about his outing with Sean, we've now flagged the entire route with green, pink, and black striped pink tape. If you can't find your way it will only be if someone removes the tape or you have your eyes closed. But watch out for the creek crossings and postholing because the snow is melting quickly and is still very unpredictable in spots.

Thanks for the update Andy. It looks like it will be a modest snow year after all.

Sean and I headed out from the Cypress parking area today to scope out the state of the forested area up until the cross country trails. There's still plenty of snow but it's melting fast. Unlike the Hollyburn Chute, downed trees aren't much of a problem through here, it's the uneven, postholey surface that will give you misery. The creek crossings, of course, were probably the toughest bits to navigate. I took a couple pictures of the crossings to give you an idea of how things are looking. Bringing poles along would be a good idea through this section, I didn't have mine and Sean with his poles had me green with envy.

Just for fun, we went and bagged Hollyburn. The cross country trails are pretty much runnable.

And since we were there already, we went and bagged Black as well. The trail up Black, although still covered in wet snow, is in fine shape.

(Apparently I'm some kind of idiot and I can't figure out how to post photos. Click the link if you want to see some creek crossings... http://www.flickr.com/photos/78144420@N04/sets/72157633499609335/detail/ )

I finished cleaning branches from blow downs to the top of Hollyburn Chute today. It's still messy but the extra flagging I put in near the top will help us find our way. I counted 60 trees down on the Chute alone. The snow is still quite heavy on the upper portion.

Andrew Wong and I are planning a BP trail clearing day on Saturday May 18. We're meeting at 9:00 am at the Cypress Bowl parking lot by the downhill ski runs and working on the upper Hollyburn forest area. If you're interested in joining us feel free and let me know if you need a ride. I figure we'll be out several hours so come prepared. If you have a chainsaw it would be welcome.

Photo is by the cutoff to the Blue Gentian trail on the Hollyburn Chute. Taken May 15, 2013.

started from cleveland yesterday with the intention of making it to the turn-off towards cypress from the cross country section. andy mentioned that the upper part of hollyburn chute was in pretty rough shape- yep, downed trees everywhere. the snow also starts a fair bit lower down than last year. i didn't even make it out onto the cross country section because i got lost. ended up following some tracks in the snow that took me to gentian. gave up on trying to navigate my way up a little further and headed back. maybe 3 weeks will be enough time to melt a fair bit of that snow? it was actually quite warm up there.

Only 4 1/2 months to go..... :)

it is the pure Baden Powell Trail, rather than the Kneeknacker Route, right?

 Sammy and I parked at Cypress and took the BP over Black and down most of the way to Nelson's Creek on Wednesday. There is still bamboo course marking on the way to the top of the ski area, which is simple to follow. There is heavy snow all the way from the parking lot up. The snow was not bad to run in on Wednesday - no bad postholing and soft enough to get some traction. No telling what yesterday's rains and the warmer temperatures might do to the snow for Saturday, however. There are BP markings that can be spotted for most of the way and a couple sets of footprints, so route finding shouldn't be too hard. Certainly it is runnable-skidable downhill, but there is a lot of sliding. Kind of fun, in fact. 

It will be an interesting and beautiful day tomorrow!

 I was planning on running the 50K, and was curious what the best option is for getting back to the start.  Figured I would leave the car at Deep Cove.  Any suggestions?  Carpool interests.  Would be willing to follow someone out to Nelson Canyon in the morning and shuttle back to the start.  Or is there enough people out doing the 50K that I should be able to thumb a ride back?

For the 100km people, please remember that I need you to sign up well before the event so we can all be organized. If you're in the mood for something less than 100km you're also welcome to sign up and you can even wait until the last day to do so. I'm expecting less snow than usual on the course this year but you won't know unless you join us for the fun!