(post written by Mike Ellis)
“Sleep deprivation is a great ingredient for an adventure.” Proven true once again on Stefan’s
Big Day Out. The Big Day Out involved a traverse from the summit of 5040 to the summit of Adder, ski down as far as possible, and then ride bikes back to the vehicles at the 6km trailhead on Marion Main. Stefan and Huib have played this game before and were well prepared for the 3AM start. James and I were less prepared, arriving at the trailhead at 2AM. Despite this we were moving at 3.15 on 45 minutes sleep.
All was well once the sun rose on the summit of 5040. It turns out some of us deal with sleep deprivation better than others. A selection of ski crampons, boot crampons, ice axes, and caffeinated treats got all members of the part to the summit (just), at which point the quality of the objective revealed itself as the ridge led the way north to Adder in the morning light. The first ski down was scratchy but fun. This was followed by gradually reducing use of ski crampons, improving ski quality, lots of snacks, many transitions, one creek crossing (only one soaked ski boot), and summit views all the way along the ridge until we finally reached the summit of Adder. Rain briefly threatened on the ski out, but it didn’t last long.
Unfortunately, the island snowpack was not up to its normal spring depth, and we made one more transition to boots before arriving at the logging road. The snow on the logging road was short lived providing a 2km walk down to the snow patch which had stopped the trucks the night before. Tired legs and sore feet were resolved by changing out of ski boots and getting onto bicycles. The mountain bikes proved much more appropriate than a gravel bike down the Adder Road before rolling down the highway and eventually dropping our skis and backpacks at the start of Marion Main and pedalling our way back to the trucks at the 6km trailhead 16 hours after leaving that morning.
Stefan and Huib headed home that evening, those of us with less rest the previous night chose
another night on the logging road and a big breakfast in Port Alberni the next day. I’d rate this as
an excellent human powered island adventure. Many thanks to Stefan for the inspiration.