Roadspill

It started as a normal Sunday morning.

Actually it didn't; after working until midnight and getting to sleep only at 1am -- the stage was set.

To get up at 5am.

Today I was producing the feature on a local ice climber. Cameraman X and myself headed out at 6am... destination Lillooet. A short 4 hour drive from Vancouver.

Highway 99 was good, despite there having been a 7 fatality car accident near Whistler only the day before. We had to deal with idiots trying to blast up to Whistler -- and doing things like passing on the inside. No wonder there are 7 fatality accidents on the Sea to Sky highway.

At Lillooet, we met our climber, Jeremy and his pal, Jay. We followed them to a small side road and parked. We changed into cold weather clothing -- thinking we were overdoing it a little because it was around zero degrees. We grabbed the camera gear, our extra clothes and headed up a snowy fire road that had not been plowed.

Jeremy said it would take 20 minutes. One hour and 600 vertical feet later, we were walking on the frozen base of a waterfall. We could hear the water below the ice. It was steep. It was treacherous. It is also beautiful -- tons of snow and high mountains all around. The sky is a deep blue with the occasional wisp of white cloud floating by.

It was a spectacular setting, and after getting our breath, it was time to work. We shot the interview and then Jeremy as he ascended the ice -- formed by the frozen waterfall. We'd been outside for several hours at this point, and the sweat that was created by the hike up the mountain had turned my t-shirt into something cold and damp. I was protected by some fleece and a toque, but the temperatures started to drop. And my feet began to get chilly.

And then the camera stopped working. After about an hour of trying to warm it up -- as we got colder, we gave up. Jeremy kept climbing, and then Jay followed. Huge chunks of ice fell as they attacked the ice with their ice tools. Two other friends of theirs came down -- and we decided to head back to the car.

Turning around, we could see how steep -- and how hard -- the descent would be. And carrying heavy gear was not going to be helpful. We decided to throw a rope down the steepest part -- just so we could grab onto something as we descended. At some points it was so difficult we had to slide on our asses -- which was safer than trying keep upright and balanced.

About an hour later, we were back at the truck. After a quick roadside change, we headed to town where we found a restaurant and filled up on coffee and steak sandwiches. The climbers joined us about 20 minutes later and we chatted as they ate poutine. Around 4:30pm we left.

This time we took a different route back -- along the Fraser and Thompson Rivers, eventually connecting up with the Trans-Canada. The scenery would have been stunning, except it was now dark.

4 hours later, we had driven through Lytton, Hope, Chilliwack and were cruising into Downtown Vancouver.

We checked the tape -- to make sure that at least there were some images -- and there were. Cameraman X headed off... and I grabbed a hot shower and started writing this.

I am now going to bed. Despite the camera problems -- it was a very good day. Too bad I forgot my still camera!

Cheers!

Doug