The Hurley Rohr Traverse – August and Sept 2017

August

Skitouring in the Duffey Lake area gives you a lot of time to stare at ridgelines and wonder – what do they look like in summer? And how would you access them. Many months pouring over maps, scoping out terrain and looking for the most instagrammable drone-selfie spots finally resulted in a route that looked like it would work.

Armed with fully-charged cell phones, Herschel backpacks, the latest enduro kit and grim determination I managed to talk Andy F into coming with me on a pleasant ramble to check out the approach to the ridgeline connecting Rohr Ridge in the westtern Duffey to the Hurley Silver Mine in the central Duffey. Up we went up slidepath 63.1 banking on the well-known fact that slide alder is the easiest way to manage uphiill terrain and on the pleasant green foliage of devils club and Lil’wat Stinging Nettles bordering the forested lower trails

Unfortunately a local fire started by someone’s drone getting shot in #blessed #joffrelakes made for smoky skies. The orange hued tints did make for wonderful views and showed us a taste of the alpine. After meadering around getting more Instas and figuring out the alpine we then worked our way back downhill.

September

The weather cleared up wonderfully. Armed with more cameras and more motivation for banger #Instalife selfie potential we decided to approach the route from the Hurley Silver Mine road. The hike-a-bike is still bracingly wonderful but is a tad less committed. The alpine meandering is just as rewarding. The downhills of the Rohr Chutes is also fantastic for enduro poo-stance practice.

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More information on this incredibly scenic and bikeable traverse can be found here

Almost all of the ridgeline is rideable. The terrain is striated with rock forming catchment for lakes with bands of protection through which one can meadner up and down. The potential for enduro is limited as there isn’t that much sustained downhill but the views are magnificently instagrammable.

Once you get to the Rohr slidepath downhills you’ll know it. Get into poo-stance and arm your Strava for the steeps.