Jumbo Pass - Wild and Deep
Our intrepid crew spent January 18 to 22, 2016, skiing our butts off and staying in the comfortable Jumbo Cabin located at Jumbo Pass, British Columbia. The pass lies at the heart of the Purcell Mountain Range, dividing the East Kootenays from the West Kootenays between Invermere and Argenta.
Drying the skis after a few days skiing. The stove is toasty.
While most groups access the cabin from the east via Invermere just beyond Panorama Resort, our group hails from the West Kootenays and we opted to access from the west via Glacier Creek forest service road. We rode snowmobiles, with toboggans in tow, approximately 25k to the forest service trail head that leads to the cabin. After four and a half arduous hours of breaking trail in deep snow, the six of us arrived at the cabin just before nightfall.
The snow parts for a glimpse of the cabin and Horseshoe Glacier behind.
We enjoyed four comfortable nights at the Jumbo Cabin. With single mats for four in the upstairs loft and two double mats on the main floor, the cabin can comfortably sleep six or accommodate 8 should two couples be willing to cozy up for the night. The cabin does require reservations for $15 per night per person or $50 for the whole cabin. Reservations can be made with the Columbia Valley Hut Society (http://www.cvhsinfo.org/).
In deep with Jumbo Mountain standing tall behind.
The cabin is heated by wood stove and has propane stoves for the cooking and lanterns for illumination. It is not spacious but it is functional in design. All the basic amenities for cooking and eating are available, and the newer outhouse offers a smart system for changing the waste barrel should you be the unfortunate ones that need to take care of the nasty.
Laps from the cabin mean warm lunches, fingers and toes.
Jumbo Mountain and its glacier in British Columbia reportedly earned its name from a mining claim that was named after P.T. Barnum’s famous performing elephant, the first giant African Elephant to arrive in North America. And while the mine may have never achieved such a status, the surrounding 3000+ metre mountains are worthy of the title “Jumbo.”
The area around Jumbo Cabin offers excellent skiing of all types, from bold alpine aspirations to sub-alpine bowls, steep trees and everything in between. Despite some clearing skies the first night and morning, it snowed incessantly and we enjoyed knee- to waist-deep powder at sub-alpine elevations the entire trip.
Snow stability was reasonable for the first several days, with pit tests showing moderate releases on a preserved stellar layer approximately 60cm down. Ski cuts had no results for the first part of our trip. However, on our last day of skiing the snow dragons began to awake with milder temperatures and a storm snow slab beginning to form due to moderate winds. By mid-day were were ski-cutting size one storm-slab/sluff avalanches on convexities on 30-35 degree slopes. On our way out on the 22nd there were signs of natural avalanches in prominent slide paths. It was no surprise when we made our way back to the trucks to hear of special avalanche warnings on the radio.
It is worth noting that the Jumbo Pass cabin lies just south of the controversial Jumbo Glacier Resort proposal, which has been raging for decades. For an excellent and entertaining understanding of the history of the Jumbo Glacier proposal, watch the documentary Jumbo Wild by Patagonia and Sweetgrass Productions. We prefer it precisely the way it is, wild.
Powder charriot.