SPEARHEADING THE FUTURE

Those who love to recreate in Whistler’s backcountry rejoiced last winter at the news that B.C. Parks approved a Park Use Permit for three backcountry huts known collectively as the Spearhead Huts Project. Once completed, the huts — at Russet Lake, Mount Pattison and Mount Macbeth — will make completing the 35-kilometre route known as the Spearhead Traverse in Garibaldi Provincial Park safer and easier. They will also help reduce the environmental impact of recreational activity in winter and summer. First completed in 1964, The Spearhead Traverse currently attracts about 5,000 visitors annually. The first hut, at Russet Lake, will replace aging Himmelsbach Hut. New huts will be built at Mount Pattison and Mount Macbeth, with all funding raised through donations. Site investigations have been done at Russet Lake and construction is planned for summer 2017, with completion by the spring of 2018, says Jayson Faulkner, chair of the Spearhead Huts Committee. The plan is for the Alpine Club of Canada’s Whistler and Vancouver section to oversee operation and maintenance of the huts. About $3 million still needs to be raised for the Mount Pattison and Mount Macbeth huts, Faulkner says. “Our goal was always to build them in subsequent order.” He continues, “Volunteers have put in thousands of hours over the years to make this happen.” spearheadhuts.org