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Journeyman Lodge
Journeyman Lodge is a full service backcountry chalet situated in the Callaghan Valley in the Coast Range about 15 miles northwest of Whistler at an elevation of 4,500ft. Callaghan Country, the company operating the l…
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At a Glance
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Distance
4 miles
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Elevation Gain
2,000 ft
landscape
High Point
7,600 ft
backpack
Activity
Ski tour
Photo Highlights · February 2024
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Why Go
Journeyman Lodge is a full service backcountry chalet situated in the Callaghan Valley in the Coast Range about 15 miles northwest of Whistler at an elevation of 4,500ft. Callaghan Country, the company operating the lodge, has a special use sole permit for the valley, and provides mechanized transport (snowmobile, side by side or snowcat) to the lodge. Guests can also reach the lodge by skinning 8.3 miles of nordic trails.
Callaghan Country and Journeyman Lodge are popular with nordic skiers, but it's also a great destination for ski touring with a large north facing massif that includes Journeyman Peak and Cal Pow. There is ample pillowed tree skiing above the lodge for low visibility days, and numerous alpine lines on the upper sections of the massif, including the Solitude glacier. With other objectives in the area as well, including Callaghan and Hidden Peak, there is and has enough terrain to keep one busy exploring for a week.
Callaghan Country and Journeyman Lodge are popular with nordic skiers, but it's also a great destination for ski touring with a large north facing massif that includes Journeyman Peak and Cal Pow. There is ample pillowed tree skiing above the lodge for low visibility days, and numerous alpine lines on the upper sections of the massif, including the Solitude glacier. With other objectives in the area as well, including Callaghan and Hidden Peak, there is and has enough terrain to keep one busy exploring for a week.
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Route & Map
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Getting There
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Directions
The base facility, the Alexander Falls Touring Centre, is located 8.5km up Callaghan Valley Rd, off Hwy 99 and is where you will park your car. Mechanized transport can be arranged to lodge.
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Parking
Parking at the Alexander Falls Touring Centre is included with a stay at the lodge.
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Field Notes · Personal Trip Report
5
Trip Reports
I've hiked Journeyman Lodge 5 times — pick a visit to read its full report.
Cloud Cover Exit
On our final morning, I pushed through five days of accumulated fatigue and limited visibility to carve out one last tour through Shade Glade's forested slopes before heading back.
calendar_today February 20, 2024
straighten 4.3 miles, round trip · 1,620 ft gain
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On our last day, we had the morning to ski tour and had to be back at the lodge a little before 2pm. The clouds had come in, and this was our worst weather day so far, although it wasn't particularly bad. Energy levels were not high - the rest of the group were continuing their skiing adventures in elsewhere in BC, and while I didn't have any more days of skiing, I was definitely feeling the effects of 5 consecutive days.
With two in the group, opting to stay back and rest in the lodge, the rest of us hit the nordic trails and made our way over to the skin track. Given the limited visibility and time constraints, the plan was to stick to the trees and try and find some less skied out areas on the lookers left hand side in Shade Glade.
Trevor opted to cut a new skin track up through the trees, as the old one we took a couple of days ago was worse for the wear. Once above the trees, we headed up into the alpine high enough to be able to ski over to our run.
Heading up
The ski down was actually pretty good. Visibility was better than expected, and the snow was fairly consistent. I had forgotten my boot inserts, and felt like I was in the backseat on the ski down, it may have more been my tired legs.
Fun ski
Upon reaching the trees, Trevor realized we were above some very steep terrain that wasn't skiable right now. We made our way over skiers right and then descended through the trees to the bottom. Unfortunately, this area had been skied prior, and the snow was quite chopped up. With steep treed slopes, choppy snow and tired legs, it was survival skiing.
Bottom ski
At the bottom, we had to skin back north along the river to reach the only standing snow bridge. Sounds like in a normal year, there would have been other options to cross the river and take a more direct approach back to the lodge.
Skin back to lodge
Had some fun skiing in the top part, and I'm glad I got out for the final day, even though it was short and not as fun as the preceding days. The trip was great, and I highly recommend checking out the lodge - lots of fun terrain, and the accommodations were great for a backcountry lodge.
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on this trip report · Feb 2024
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