Sigurd Trail is a seven km mountain access trail in the north Tantalus Range built and maintained by B.C. Mountaineering Club. The trail was recently incorporated into Este-tiwilh/Sigurd Creek Conservancy. The conservancy is managed by BC Parks in cooperation with Squamish First Nation. The strategy in the current managment plan for the conservancy is to "encourage trail maintenance with local stewardship groups". The trail continues to be managed and maintained by BCMC and other volunteers. With the exception of the Ashlu roads, all lands in the Ashlu valley and conservancy are zoned for non-motorized recreation.

The trail is receiving increased use as it appears in several guidebooks and is frequently mentioned in Internet forums such as ClubTread and Bivouac. It is the main access route for hikers and climbers appoaching the Tantalus Range from the north. There is a plan to connect Sigurd Trail with Jim Haberl hut and trails at Lake Lovely Water in the next ten years. Within the next year or two, it will connect with a trail currently under construction up Pokosha Creek. The purpose of these developments is to improve ski touring access and provide an alternative non-mechanized access to Jim Haberl hut that does not require a dangerous canoe crossing of Squamish River.

The trail starts off Ashlu Main at the lower Ashlu Creek bridge. It is on the north side of Sigurd Creek until Km 6 where it crosses the creek to approach Pelion and Ossa Mountains. The original crossing was a convenient log that lay across the creek. It washed away in 1999 when an ice dam from avalanche breached and the flood surge swept away everything in its path. In 2000, volunteers felled an 18-inch diameter tree to a large flat rock 20 meters downstream of the original crossing. The tree was secured with steel cable on each end and a second short footbridge placed from the rock to the south bank. This footbridge still exists but the main log broke in the middle in 2011 due to snow load. It is now a safety issue and the footbridge requires replacement. The footbridge replacement project is to reestablish the crossing using either a new 30-inch diameter log or zip line.

The project funding being requested is for purchase of materials and transportation of materials and tools via helicopter to/from the work site. The BCMC is contributing up to $1000 and volunteers likely will be funding their own air travel. It will be desirable for workers to access the site by helicopter as the fastest one way time to the project site is between two and three hours. It would not be possible to carry heavy tools and materials as there is an elevation gain of 900 meters over rough trail at times.

Further information and photos may be found at these web sites:

Maps, bulletins and history: http://bivouac.com/RoadxPg.asp?RoadxId=412

Photos, technical analysis, recent site survey: http://www.clubtread.com/sforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=44218

Update on the project for Brian Wood of FMCBC grant committee.

Depending on receiving the grant from FMCBC, option #4 (long line) is currently the preferred option.

I spoke with Darren at Black Tusk Helicopters. Flight time from Squamish airport to Sigurd Creek is 10 minutes each way. Flight time to staging area on the Ashlu is 6 minutes each way.

Helicopter rates and loads

• The A-Star five person chopper is $2,257/hour including HST. It has a lift capacity of 1,400 pounds.
• The Bell three person chopper is $1,260/hour inclusive of HST. It's lift is 600 pounds.

Regarding option #3 - wire rope
Aesthetically, this is the least desirable. Interestingly, I spoke with Christian Veenstra of the VOC. I picked up a rock drill from him last night. The VOC put in a wire rope crossing last fall of the outlet of Long Lake leading to the Brian Waddington hut. They used 3/4 inch rock hangers. They sheared off this spring. It was a possibility no one foresaw. It looks like an ice dam must have formed against the cable snapping it. I am also concerned that we would have to anchor the wire across Sigurd Creek to trees. That could be damaging to the trees and also may not be sufficiently sturdy. We had a wire rope hand rail on the footbridge around 2001 but it did not last through the first winter. So, at this point I am not in favor of a wire rope crossing.

If we receive the FMCBC grant, our total grant monies will be $4500. This is how we propose to allocate it.

There will be two heli-assisted work parties over two separate weekends in August 2012. We are ready to go with the first work party on the August long weekend, once we receive confirmation of the grant monies.

First work party
Purpose of the first work party is to:

• Prepare the bridge abutments for the log
• Measure and cut the log stringer(s) for the crossing
• Time permitting, construct the shorter crossing from the south bank to the rock.

Fly in from Squamish in the Bell 3-person chopper. Three persons on the flight with the following tools:

• 20" Stihl chainsaw
• 16" Mac 10-10 chainsaw as backup
• fuel and oil
• Mikata rock drill
• rock anchors and hangers
• additional battery packs for rock drill
• nails and spikes to 12 inches
• 100 feet of 5/8" hemp rope for pulling logs for abutments
• wire rope for anchoring bridge abutments (length and diameter TBD)
• wire rope cable clamps
• wire rope cable cutter
• sledge hammer
• buckets for carrying rip rap material
• wet suit or hip waders for crossing Sigurd Creek
• come-a-long
• jack
• pry bar(s)
• bent shovels
• shovels
• mattocks
• approx. forty 2- to 3-foot long rebar drifts
• hand drill and bits for rebar
• axe
• hand saws
• loppers
• long measuring tape
• hi-viz vests
• first aid kit including bone splints
• two-way radios

Publish the trip on the BCMC schedule to get additional volunteers. Volunteers can walk in from Ashlu Main or arrange individual flights from Ashlu staging area, flight cost to be borne by individuals.

Second work party
Purpose of the second work party is to:

• Long line the prepared log stringer(s) into place
• Anchor the log to abutment

Fly in from Squamish in the A-Star 5-person chopper. Five persons on the flight with the following tools:

• 20" Stihl chainsaw
• fuel and oil
• chicken wire to surface the log
• Adze to level the log

The A-Star will take out all tools from the first work party that are no longer required.

Publish the trip on the BCMC schedule to get additional volunteers. Volunteers can walk in from Ashlu Main or arrange individual flights from Ashlu staging area, flight cost to be borne by individuals.

If the project doesn't get the necessary full amount from the club's executive and FMCBC, how about also applying to the MEC:

http://www.mec.ca/AST/ContentPrimary/Su ... utions.jsp

(I guess, this would delay it until next year)