Pump Peak

BOU AVENUE
Pump Peak

Kicking off the New Year, Shaun Luong, Zosia Zgolak and I skied up Pump Peak in the North Shore Mountains of Vancouver, British Columbia on 1 January 2017. Pump Peak, also known as First Pump Peak, is a sub-peak of Mount Seymour (Third Pump Peak) and is considered a relatively easy and safe ski ascent during the winter. I had climbed Mount Seymour in September 2002 and likely would have hiked over both First and Second Pump Peaks along the way, but my recollections of that trip are admittedly vague now. Although the Mount Seymour ski resort website does not explicitly forbid uphill skinning on the resort's ski runs, a small blurb on their trail map says, "A Valid Area Pass is required to be in the Controlled Recreation Area". As with our ascent of Hollyburn Mountain the previous day, we were relegated to skinning up alongside snowshoers on the BC Parks trail which lies just outside the western boundary of the ski resort. This trail goes up over a minor bump known as Brockton Point near the top of the ski resort and then dips slightly before climbing steeply up the east side of Pump Peak. Like Hollyburn Mountain, marker wands along the trail make route-finding easy, and we had no serious problems reaching the plateau just below the north side of the summit. We boot-packed the final few metres to the summit but stayed only long enough to snap a few photos as a relentless gale threatened to blow us completely off the mountain. Had the weather been a bit calmer, we might have considered extending our ski tour perhaps to Second Pump Peak, but instead, we opted to get out of the wind and ski down the open southwest slopes of First Pump Peak. Some of the terrain here is terrifyingly steep especially to skier's left, but we also had to be careful not to stray too far to skier's right where there is the potential to get suckered into a drainage that leads well away from the ski resort. We managed to avoid that pitfall and eventually muddled our way back to Brockton Point. From there, we skied a short distance down the BC Parks Trail before sneaking onto the ski resort for an easy run back to the parking lot.

	Shaun and Sonny gear up beside Sonny's car. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Shaun and Zosia have to ski for about a kilometre just to get to the ski resort's base area and the trailhead for Pump Peak. Fortunately, the ski resort provides this cat track along the road for easier access.
	The ski resort is finally within sight. Pump Peak is also visible left of centre.
	Zosia and Shaun begin skinning up the BC Parks backcountry access trail.
	Trail wands make route-finding easy. Photo courtesy of Shaun Luong
	Pump Peak is visible in the distance as Zosia stops to take a few photographs.
	Some sections along the trail are roped off to prevent backcountry users from funneling into areas from which they may have a hard time getting out.

The wind was bitterly cold here!

Zosia arrives at Brockton Point.

	Past Brockton Point, the route drops down into a hollow (out of view to the left).
	Shaun and Zosia approach the eastern aspect of Pump Peak.
	The final climb to the summit is steep. Note the marker wand at upper left.
	The wind picks up in intensity as Zosia and Sonny climb higher. Photo courtesy of Shaun Luong
	The summit block is visible beyond this snow-plastered tree.
	Shaun and Zosia arrive at the plateau on the north side of the summit.
	Second Pump Peak looks enticing to the north. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Zosia boot-packs to the top of Pump Peak.
	Zosia is greeted by a ferocious wind at the summit of Pump Peak.
	Shaun hangs on for dear life on the summit of Pump Peak (1422 metres).
	It is Sonny's turn to pose on the summit of Pump Peak. Photo courtesy of Shaun Luong

Here's your chance to show off your skiing to 2.5 million people!

Zosia and Shaun ski down the southwest slopes of Pump Peak.

	After making a few turns, Shaun waits for Zosia to follow him down this steep slope.
	Sonny works his way to skier's left to try and regain his up-track. Photo courtesy of Shaun Luong
	Shaun and Zosia follow Sonny's tracks across another steep slope.
	Sonny, Zosia and Shaun finally pose for a group photo after returning to the BC Parks trail. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Sonny goes off-trail to do a little fall line skiing. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Shaun and Zosia sneak onto the wide and nicely groomed runs of the ski resort.
	Total Distance: 9.3 kilometres Round-Trip Time: 4 hours 14 minutes Net Elevation Gain: 453 metres GPX Data