Words by: Brent Hillier   Photos by: Eli Relke & Brent Hillier

A long time "bucket-list" goal of mine has always been to bike and ski Mount Seymour on the same day without any outside help. I pitched the idea to Eli Relke while we were ski touring this past winter and we earmarked the trip for Spring. Thanks to the MEC Rental program, we got our hands on bike trailers, loaded them up with gear and set off.

Words by: Brent Hillier   Photos by: Brent Hillier & Chad Hillier

The next trip of the week with my brother, Chad, saw us Sea Kayaking with some rentals from Deep Cove Kayak.

After a successful weekend in Whistler with my brother Chad, we woke up Easter Sunday to a wet North Shore day. The girlfriends went for a jaunt through Lynn Canyon Park and we suited up for a classic North Shore Mountain Bike ride.

Words by: Brent Hillier   Photos by: Brent Hillier & Chad Hillier

Last week my brother, Chad, came out for a visit with his girlfriend, Katie. With springtime here on the coast of British Columbia it was a great opportunity to take advantage of all the many activities that are possible. It proved to be a great reminder for myself as to just how amazing this place really is. We explored the mountains on foot, bike and skis and toured the city, taking advantage of the food, culture and beer.

Words & Photos by: Brent Hillier

When I first moved to the North Shore I went for a snowshoe up Mountain Highway. At the time there was lots of snow right down to the yellow gate, I thought nothing of it. Over the years I've come to realize that opportunity was rare. So when the chance to ski tour on Mount Fromme presented itself last week, I jumped on it.

Words by: Brent Hillier   Photos by: Brent Hillier & James Dahmer


In my article A Winter of Learning, I explained this years unique problem of a Persistent Weak Layer at the bottom of our snowpack which was buried at the end of November. Up until a Melt Freeze cycle and subsequent cold snap, this layer had continued to produced avalanches. On the coast we were dealing with a major snowpack instability, one we were managing by staying out of steep and rocky terrain. It's meant a winter, not only lacking in snow, but lacking in the ability to branch off into steep, challenging terrain.

The crust that developed during the end of January did do the job of bridging the weak layer at the bottom of our snowpack. No avalanches have been reported on that layer since. My prediction of surface faceting did take shape, what it didn't do was completely deteriorate the melt-freeze crust. So our basal layer, although still producing results in Deep Tap Tests, is now unlikely to be skier triggered.

What I did see taking shape on January 29th, as I hiked into the Keith's Hut, was some very substantial surface hoar development. Shortly after we experienced some extremely cold temperatures in the -20°C range, causing faceting. Our next avalanche problem was beginning to take shape.

Surface Hoar on the approach to the Keith's Hut on January 29, 2014

Words by: Brent Hillier   Photos by: Brent Hillier, Eli Relke & Cam Thorpe


With the cold snap last week I was left with few options for skiing, even fewer options locally here on the North Shore.

Word by: Brent Hillier   Photos by: Brent Hillier & Kelli Sherbinin

This past week I got together with the Endless Biking team for a fun lap in our backyard. It was Darren's birthday, it was sunny and the trails were prime. What other reasons do you need? Darren, Kelli, Eli and myself grabbed some bikes and went for a pedal, but the question was on my mind: With winter still not arriving this year, is this the latest bike season or the earliest? Will winter arrive or has it already gone?

Words by: Brent Hillier   Photos by: Brent Hillier & Eli Relke

With just the right amount of gear (we hoped) Eli and I set off for Part 2 of our mountain bike adventure of 2013. The plan was to start in Lions Bay and "ride" up towards the Howe Sound Crest Trail. Our goal was to access the ridge between Unnecessary Mountain and the West Lion where we would spend the night. The next morning we would begin our decent towards the Cypress Ski Area and finally to West Vancouver via the Cypress bike network.

I had managed to hook Eli on the plan pretty early. The planning stages meant the usual pre-trip stop at the North Vancouver MEC. Both of us had at different times worked there. As a result, every shopping trip proves to take five times longer than expected, as we catch up with friends and former co-workers. This visit was no different but each time we explained what we were preparing for, we would receive puzzled looks and confused inquiries. I could see Eli was starting to question my plan but I assured him that if everyone thought it was a good idea then it wouldn't really be an adventure.