Atlin Juneau Itinerary
April 06: Evening flight from Vancouver on Airnorth, a 2 hr flight, stay in Whitehorse, or come on the morning flight on the 7th.
April 07: Arrive in Whitehorse on the morning flight drive to Atlin staying at the Kirkwoods Cottages in Atlin with a view over the Atlin Lake.These cabins are perfect for spreading out and organize gear. Then meet with the guides to discuss the morning departure, get a weather update, study maps and get to know each other in the Famous Atlin Inn bar!
April 08 – Day #1 Prepare for departure from Atlin in one of three ways depending on weather and Atlin Lake crossing conditions.
- A. Beaver ski plane from Atlin to Llewellyn Ice Field with all gear
- B. Hagglunds snow cat with snow machine accompany, all gear one load.
- C. Snow machine access only with skimmers, and each group of two guests riding a snow mobile with a gear skimmer.
Ski tour to the first base camp on the Llewellyn Ice Field, this is approximately a 4-5 hr ski, conditions ranging. This is quite a substantial base camp set up in advance to give our guests a maximum level of comfort while we wait for the window to cross the divide over the icefield.
April 09 – Day #2 If the weather forecast is good we will take the next step straight south to the Glacial camp YAH #2 that is a set group of very comfortable Igloo style ice caves. This camp is located on the divide and is about a 5-6 hr easy flat glacial ski.
Alternatively, we will ski tour gorgeous glacial Nunataks, viewing wild life like goats, wolves and wolverine who have all been sited on these glacial Islands.
This day will be spent typical expedition style, lots of tea, soup, cards (?) and just enough physical activity to keep everyone limber.
For those with extra energy we have a series of mountains flanking each side of the Llewellyn Ice Field to provide nice skiing opportunities within a few kilometers off our route.
April 10 Day #3 Weather permitting we will leave this camp. Keep in mind that you are on ice, 1.5 km thick at this point and there is a reason why the Juneau Ice Filed is one of the healthiest glaciers in the world, in fact, the Taku Arm is one of the few advancing ice fields. Be prepared for a snow fall experience that will amaze you… 1 meter in 24 hrs is not uncommon!
Last year Julie, Pete and their dog Gilligan were stuck in the divide camp for 48 hrs with an amazing 1.5 meters of powder to slug through. The dog was not seen all day, except for a little black tail tip wiggling above the snow surface!
We will depart straight south towards Juneau and the Taku. Your guides will make a directional decision as to which pick up we will use; ski plane, helicopter or boat from the Taku. The level of adventurous ability of our guests has been determined at this point and we can decide what route south to take.
April 11 – Day #4: Ski tour down to Juneau Ice Field to YAH Camp #3. This is a spike camp, where we will set up 3-man North Face VE-25 expedition tents using igloo wall camp defense set ups, with an ice out-house, all to be built as a guest and guide team effort. Now you will be on the real expedition Canadaina style, no sherpas, we are a team and we all pitch in to set up this camp as part of the experience. This day will be a short travel day 4-5 hrs to the camp set up.
April 12 – Day #5: Ski south to Lemon Glacier or Taku inlet for Ski Plane pick up or the Hughs 500 hundred amazing little mountain machines we use based in Juneau. This is a once in a life time chance to fly in these excellent unusual helicopter from Temsco helicopters based at the Juneau airport.
This pick up will be around 3-4 pm of course weather dependent
TERMS AND CONDITIONS:
Duration: 12 ski touring and traveling days
Whitehorse, British Columbia - Whitehorse, British Columbia
- – trip planning, gear and food preparation
- – 12 days of Alpine Guiding
Included: All permits, Guiding fees, , Meals while camping, climbing and trekking, All park fees. Group climbing and camping equipment.
Not Included: meals in restaurants, alcohol and bottled water, gifts, visas, departure taxes, personal equipment, personal insurance, personal climbing gear (helmet, harness, belay device, 2 long slings, 2 short slings, 3 locking-biners, 1 daisy/chain, 2x 5m 7mm thick cords, rock shoes, ice axe, technical tools, crampons)
Gear: We recommend that you use your personal gear, which will be based on some your pre-trip experiences.
Special Notes: All the participation must have a valid passports and visas for US, All the climbs are weather permitting. Alpine region has very unpredictable weather patterns which include high winds and sudden weather changes.
Terms and Payments:
- –50 % deposit is required to reserve trip dates.
- –Remainder is due 15 days before departure date.
Cancellation policy:
- –If the trip is cancelled 30 days or more before the start of the trip, we will reimburse you half of the deposit paid, less the cost of the 3 summer climbing days (350cad$ per day per person, a total of 1.050 cad$ per person)
- –If the trip is cancelled less than 30 days before the start of the trip, no refund will be issued
- –Credit can be used towards (re-booking), future trips with Climbthepeaks.com.
