Hiking huts to open up ‘whole new playground’

Backcountry hikers exploring Garibaldi Provincial Park near Whistler will soon have all the comforts of home as part of a multimillion-dollar plan to build three large backcountry huts with kitchens and composting toilets.

“These huts will provide access to a whole new playground for the Lower Mainland,” said Raz Peel, chairman of the Alpine Club of Canada, Vancouver section.

The Spearhead Huts Committee announced last week that the plan is proceeding after it received a $900,000 donation for the design and construction of a new backcountry hut near Russet Lake in the Spearhead and Fitzsimmons ranges of Garibaldi Provincial Park.

The donation was made by the Kees Brenninkmeyer Foundation in honour of Cornelius (Kees) Brenninkmeyer, 25, and girlfriend Claire Dixon, 27, who died in a backcountry skiing accident when their snow shelter collapsed in 2007.

The money will allow the construction of the first of three year-round backcountry huts on the 40-kilometre Spearhead ski traverse in the Spearhead and Fitzsimmons ranges behind Whistler and Blackcomb. It’s estimated that up to 7,000 people will use the huts each year.

The huts will have bunks, stor- age areas for gear, dining areas with windows for the view and self-serve kitchens with propane cooktops.

They will also have water systems and solar power.

The project, meant to diversify Whistler’s amenities by providing top backcountry accommodation, will cost $3.5 million. B.C. Parks gave its approval in February.

The initial hut — named the Kees and Claire Hut — is being designed with plans for prefabrication in late fall and on-site construction starting in late May.

Opening date is expected to be January 2018. The hut will sleep 35 to 40 people.

“Between the various stakeholders, there’s been thousands of hours put into this project,” added Peel. “It’s obviously something that the recreation community, the mountain culture within the Lower Mainland area, has asked for.”

According to a release, the huts will provide travellers with excep- tional opportunities to explore and visit some of the most picturesque and dramatic terrain in the mountains adjacent to Whistler.

“We are thrilled to have a very large share, over 70 per cent, of the funding secured for our first hut,” Spearhead Huts Committee chair Jayson Faulkner said.

Backcountry huts for long distance hikers are in many parts of the world, including Europe and New Zealand, where the famed 54-kilometre Milford Track hike has three 40-person huts that must be booked in advance.

The Alpine Club of Canada also operates an extensive network of backcountry huts in British Columbia and Canada, including the Woodbury Cabin in Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park, north of Nelson, and the Jim Haberl Hut in the Tantalus Range near Squamish that’s accessed by a 12-hour hike.

“When we first did the traverse over 50 years ago, we knew this incredible area would become more popular with skiers and hikers,” said Spearhead project supporter Karl Ricker, who was part of the first team to complete the Spearhead Traverse in 1965.

The huts will be available to hik- ers, climbers, skiers, snowboarders and snowshoers.

The nightly fees, not yet set, will cover the annual operating fees with the goal of keeping the accommodation affordable, the committee said.

According to Spearhead Huts, Lower Mainlanders searching for recreational opportunities are putting a strain on existing facilities.

Asked if the new huts might make the area too popular, Peel said that people with that concern typically don’t want things to change.

“To be frank, there’s always a risk that you’ll do something and it will not turn out the way you expect.

“But with this many people invested, you’d hope we made a good decision.”

It’s obviously something that the recreation community, the mountain culture ... has asked for.