The Neve Traverse is a 26-mile ski tour across several glaciers in Garibaldi Provincial Park of British Columbia’s Coast Mountains. From tracing my fingers across a map of this stretch of glaciated terrain in 2023 to watching the weather every day for the past few months, this trip had been a long time in the making, and I am still on cloud nine that it all came together this past weekend.
Like most good things in life, this trip came at the sacrifice of a couple of toenails and too many blisters, but it was oh so worth it. Catch me in cushy socks and sandals for the foreseeable future!
Route, Maps & Logistics
Below is our track from the Neve Traverse. See more details on our route in Gaia here.
Beta
- Dates: April 2-4, 2025. Note on timing, on this first weekend of April, the trail to Rubble Creek Trailhead was melted out about 3 miles before the trail. However, right about at the barrier, the trail became quite icy and steep, and was much easier to bootpack with crampons than survival ski.
- Route: Neve Traverse from Elfin Lakes Trailhead to Rubble Creeks Trailhead
- Hazards: The primary concerns for this route are avalanche danger, particularly below the Gargoyles, and crevasses on the glacier travel portion.
- Weather: Used mountain forecast of Round Mountain and Avalanche Canada as resources to determine a good weather and low avy danger window.
- Other notes: The first day from Elfin Lakes Trailhead to the Tent area on the glacier is long and has substantially sidehilling through avalanche paths underneath the Gargoyles. We started on the trail at 7am the first morning and found ourselves wishing we had started earlier, given the amount of time it took to navigate this terrain and the significant avalanche debris under Gargoyles.
