July 2022
MISSION COMPLETED
Summary
The Sea to Sky Infinity Loop is dreamt up by the Outdoor Adventurers Club Founders Mark Sky and Malin Ek to be the most ambitious and nearly impossible expedition connecting the wildest places in the Sea to Sky.
The Infinity Loop is 100% human-powered and includes climbing all the iconic mountains, scrambling all the famous traverses, packrafting the most wild rivers, running through the most beautiful provincial parks, mountain biking the Sea to Sky Trail and paddling a fjord off the Pacific Ocean.
Goal
Raise & Donate
$10,000
BC Parks Ambassador Program
Educating and protecting the Sea to Sky trails, mountains, rivers, lakes and provincial parks for future generations..
DONATIONS BELOW
TIMELINE
Start: July 29, 2022
Finish: August 15-20, 2022
DISTANCE & LENGTH
Approximately 550-600km
Approximately 25,000m (82,000ft) vertical gain
16-20 Days
LOCATION
Sea to Sky Region
Vancouver, Squamish, Whistler, Pemberton
British Columbia, Canada
Provincial Parks
Cypress Provincial Park
Indian Arm Provincial Park
Porteau Cove Provincial Park
Stawamus Chief Provincial Park
Garibaldi Provincial Park
Tantalus Provincial Park
Brandywine Falls Provincial Park
Blackcomb Glacier Provincial Park
Brackendale Eagles Provincial Park
Famous Rivers, Lakes + Ocean
Iconic Mountains
Indian Arm Fjord
Howe Sound
Pacific Ocean
Elfin Lakes
Garibaldi Lake
Cheakamus Lake
Wedgemount Lake
Green Lake
Lake Lovely Water
Squamish River
Russet Lake
West Lion
Sky Pilot
Garibaldi
Black Tusk
Whistler
Blackcomb
Wedge
Cook
Weart
Currie
Tantalus
Iconic Traverses
Howe Sound Crest Trail
Garibaldi Neve Traverse
Spearhead Traverse
Armchair Traverse
Sea to Sky Super Traverse
Tantalus Traverse
Expedition Summary
1. Mountain bike from our home in Squamish to the north end of the Indian Arm with our packrafts and paddling gear.
2. Paddle to Deep Cove with bikes on top of packrafts.
3. Bike to Cypress Ski Resort.
4. Hike/Run Howe Sound Crest Trail to Porteau Cove.
• Climb West Lion
5. Hike/Run up trail to Mountain Lake Hut. Scramble through the alpine, over Sky Pilot and back to our house in Squamish.
• Climb Sky Pilot
6. Bike from home to Elfin Lakes parking lot.
7. Hike with all mountaineering gear following a famous winter backcountry ski route called the 'Garibaldi Neve Traverse'. This includes traveling past Elfin Lakes and traversing glaciers to summit Mt. Garibaldi. Followed by a bushwhacking adventure around Table Mountain to the Garibaldi Lake Campground.
• Climb Mt. Garibaldi
• Garibaldi Neve Traverse
8. Summit Black Tusk then run to Whistler.
• Climb Black Tusk
9. Climb Whistler Mountain. Hike/Run the infamous ski route that is rarely completed in the summer: Spearhead Traverse. Climb Blackcomb at the end of the traverse and hike/run down to Upper Village area of Whistler.
• Climb Whistler Mountain
• Climb Blackcomb Mountain
• Spearhead Traverse
10. Hike/Run and buswhack our way until we summit Wedge Mountain - the tallest mountain in the Sea to Sky. Hike down to Wedgemount Lake.
• Climb Mt. Wedge
11. Climb up and summit Mt. Cook and scramble the Armchair Traverse to the summit of Mt. Weart.
• Climb Mt. Cook
• Climb. Mt. Weart
• Armchair Traverse
12. Hike over the glaciers past Mt. Moe and make our way through this mysterious area that is very rarely travelled to the summit of Mt. Currie. This completes the Sea to Sky Super Traverse but we are attempting the full Sea to Sky Infinity Loop…so the show goes on.
• Climb Mt. Currie
13. Hike down and bike the Sea to Sky Trail to the Paradise Valley Campground.
14. Packraft the Class 3 Whitewater section of the Cheakamus River (with our bikes on top of our packrafts) until we reach Fergie’s Café/Squamish Valley Road.
15. Bike to Sigurd Creek Trail, dropping our packrafts on route near the 'Tantalus Cable Crossing' for later in the mission.
16. Finally, it’s time to tackle the hardest traverse in the Sea to Sky. Hike, scramble and climb the infamous Tantalus Traverse before descending past Lake Lovely Water, down to Squamish River.
• Climb Mt. Tantalus
• Tantalus Traverse
17. Cross the cables across the Squamish River. Inflate packrafts and paddle the entire Squamish River until we reach downtown Squamish.
18. Deflate our packrafts for the final time – throw all our gear on our backs – and walk back home to close out the Sea to Sky Infinity Loop!
And sleep for a solid week! …
Before we begin "Expedition Squagua", which is a 24,000km human-powered expedition from home to the summit of Mt. Aconcagua (Argentina) - the tallest mountain in the Americas.
Details can be found on our website: Expedition Squagua
Our Official and Amazing Partners
Arc'teryx
The VIMFF Coast Mountain Adventure Grant presented by Arc'teryx will award a total of $3000 CAD to local adventurers who have exploratory and human powered objectives in the Coast Mountains of the Pacific North West.
Smartwool
Smartwool wants to empower wellness for all through access to a healthy planet. Protecting the future of the outdoors is one of our goal and focusing on social impact and conservation is one way of achieving this.
By supporting the Sea to Sky Infinity loop project, we continue our journey toward this goal while supporting one of our local communities.
Escape Route
The Escape Route and our customers appreciate the beauty of our Provincial parks. This playground needs to be protected and supported so that it can continue to provide the soul nourishing experiences we all love.
This is our home, by protecting this place we also make the world better. That is why we are supporting the Sea to Sky Infinity Project in such a substantial way.
VIMFF
VIMFF Coast Mountain Adventure Grant presented by Arc’teryx: a grant to enable local explorers and adventurers to undertake their dream expeditions.
Our aim is to support Canadian adventures in our own backyard, while promoting a multitude of outdoor pursuits and bringing the resulting story to the VIMFF stage for our community to enjoy.
'Mark and Malin will share a presentation of the Sea to Sky Infinity Loop to a live audience at the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival - February 2023.'
