Spearhead: Pushing the Boundaries of BC's Backcountry

Nestled between Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains in British Columbia, the Spearhead Traverse is a classic winter route renowned for its incredible terrain. 'Spearhead: Pushing the Boundaries of BC's Backcountry' celebrates the history of the route, first skied in 1964, while asking how do we manage the impact on these spaces as they gain popularity.

Directed by: Seth Gillis
Produced by: Origin

[hebs]

In my opinion, these huts do not need Kickstarter money - they are an obvious benefit to Vail Resorts. Vail (Whistler) Resorts can afford the huts and the tourists coming to this will inevitably stay in Whistler at least 1 night and will buy lift passes to access the huts. Plus, (I hope this is already the case), but most of the money generated by the huts should be going to BC Parks and increased parking access to Singing Pass - Whistler benefits greatly from Garibaldi Park as their backyard and yet pays nothing towards our (BC's) underfunded and overburdened park system. PS Beautiful shots of one of my favourite places!

[JonRawlinson]

truly extraordinary. Seth you are a genius! Stunning cinematography and storytelling!!!

[vincentdessureault]

Thanks guys for making our playground safer and more comfortable for everyone, cant wait to get out there!

[miketraslin]

Stoked Maelle and Joris dad is mentioned.... My brother Andy and I grew up skiing at Whistler and the local North Vancouver mountains. We recognize many of those ski lines. At one point in the 90s my brother Andy almost lived on Decker he skied it at least 50 times. We have skied the traverse over 50 times combined on its own. Skied countless lines over a twenty plus period of time. We were not so into hitting the bars after to let people know what we were doing. By chance we were both Elite mountain bike racers in cross country and downhill so were were able to carry over that fitness into the mountains. Walk, climb, skin, repeat. Inspired by Trevor and Eric because they were ripping skiers. You guys need to follow skateboarding surfing history in California....Dogtown.... where they do there best to find the originals of the area that were getting it done. You interview the same people again and again and again. Many more characters made it happen.

[bigpapajayshouse]

great little flick! Stoked to see Matt Gunn, an old childhood friend

[MagnumoftheMountains]

I think people are being a little too gloom and doom here. Notice how the "crowds" we see are right at the access points, ie, the places in the backcountry that are less than ~5 miles from the gates. Even with the advent of better backcountry equipment, 99% of backcountry users aren't venturing to lines and mountains that take some legitimate work to get to. I saw mention in the comments about how this is Vail Resort's fault. I live in Vail Colorado and can confirm that yes, the easiest backcountry stuff to get to now in my town does get tracked out and impacted––but the harder mountains to get to, the places that are deeper in the backcountry, that really take skill and planning and knowledge to access, are still often hidden gems. If you really take issue with more people skiing these wild places, don't have children––it's population growth more than anything that is making our world smaller and more crowded. Get creative and explore more ranges, or deeper into the ones you already know. And fight climate change––climate change will do far more damage to the snowpack of the mountains we love than a few more people knowing of places due to Instagram.

[ralphwerner]

That was a Great Video Thanks :) The 8 people that did not like this video, , , , Probably want the Back Country to be left alone :(

[bridgerlambert]

Some are saying that by making this video that it just advertises spearhead. It does do that but part of the video is to inform people of the problems that are occurring and ways they are trying to prevent it. A single video isn't going to make spearhead super busy when there is plenty of info on the area all over the internet

[coywolfoutdoor]

I was invited by my friend and his Dad to come to BC for a week, 2 summers ago and we hiked up whistler and his day would not stop talking about this route. It cool to see what he was talking about

[johnmcdonald]

Did anyone catch that the photo at 4:11 is actually the legendary mountain guide Conrad Kain back in the 20's?

[brettandrewclarke]

Absolutely superb video. If someone happens to know... Can you share the opening piece of music. It’s right on the tip of my tongue. But I can’t quite recall.

[ariz]

we want to bring people up to these amazing places but responsibly .

[FWCaptain-kvsm]

Did it back forth many times in the 80’s before Whistler became infested. Never saw anyone out there.

[DinoCism]

"Do you wanna not bring people out to these amazing places?"

Depends what that means. I think a parking lot and a Tims would make it a fraction as amazing as it is now.

[ericb.]

I can't imagine using the 1950s skis, climbing and camping gear. Those boys had BIG balls. I must be a wuss with my silnylon winter tent, -20 F. down fill bag. MSR white gas stove, great skis and boots, etc.
NO SKIIER should be permitted to ski the Spearhesd Traverse without at least an Avalanche 1 certification plus, low course, beacon, shovel, and probe(s) PLUS and avalung and an avalanche airbag pack.

[rudimatt]

One way to manage the impact is to not advertise, too late.

[SlicedSlappy]

Wait…people wear Arc’teryx outside of West 4th Ave?

[FaithandActiondotnet]

Well, me & the rest of the world are on our way.

[bradmacdonald]

The backcountry is a dangerous place, and you're right, Shovel, Probe, Beacon, aren't enough; ecological impact of increased usage is a reasonable concern; But if we look at the data, the back country skiing death rate in the last ten years in Canada hasn't increased in direct proportion to the increase rate of back country usage, has it?

[jamesswain]

I love the videos about the snow. But I’m 64 and logged over 500 miles self substained in the back-country using Arc’Teryx outerwear with little or no snow. How about some videos in the brush or mountains with thick underbrush. BTW I won’t wear anything else for my rain gear.