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This page (Home) has important travel and safety information and current bulletins. Please read if you are a new visitor to Tetrahedron Provincial Park, especially when there's snow on the ground.
Want to know what conditions are like in Tetrahedron Park or on the access road (Sechelt-Gray FSR), or if folks are planning overnight stays in the cabins? Many people post info or travel intentions on Outdoor Reports at Suncoast Central. There is also a Facebook Page and a Facebook Group. The club is encouraging Tetrahedron Park users to join the Facebook Group (you don't have to be a TOC member) so they can easily share info, post photos, ask questions, communicate with the group or specific members, post outdoor gear for sale, propose trips or events. Current Bulletins about the Park, Road, Trails, or Cabins
Check links above for current information about the road. ****** ROAD CLOSURES DURING WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 19th ****** The Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations is doing a road relocation project this week and the road will be CLOSED on Tuesday, September 20th. Work is ongoing through the remainder of the week so expect crews, machinery, and possible delays. NO FIREWOOD AT EDWARDS CABIN! Sorry folks but there won't be any wood at Edwards until our firewood lift late in September or October. Steele Creek (past Edwards on the way to Steele or McNair cabins) is without a bridge but you should be able to cross it on high rocks, or by taking your boots off if the water level is high. The Chapman Creek bridge (Edwards Cabin to McNair cabin) is damaged but can be crossed with care. If you don't like the looks of it take your boots off and ford the creek (it's not deep). TRAVEL SAFETY, CONDITIONS, WEATHER
IF YOU ARE TRAVELING IN TETRAHEDRON PROVINCIAL PARK YOU SHOULD CARRY A GOOD MAP OF THE AREA, which can be found on the maps page of this website.
THERE IS NO RELIABLE CELL PHONE SERVICE IN TETRAHEDRON PROVINCIAL PARK. There is unreliable service at and above Mt. Steele cabin, and service near the bottom of Sechelt-Gray FSR. Helicopter rescue to this area is highly dependent on weather and visibility. Any emergency rescue would mostly likely be a GROUND RESCUE by volunteers of Sunshine Coast Search and Rescue and MANY hours away. YES! AVALANCHE HAZARDS EXIST IN TETRAHEDRON PROVINCIAL PARK! IF YOU INTEND TO TRAVEL TO MT. STEELE or the cabin you should know what the current avalanche conditions are and make appropriate decisions. High winds create unstable slabs and cornices all around Mt. Steele and its interconnecting ridges. A very significant avalanche hazard exists in the west-facing bowl between Mt. Steele and its lesser peak to the southwest. STICK TO MARKED ROUTES AND AVOID TRAVEL ABOVE EDWARDS CABIN WHEN AVALANCHE HAZARD RATINGS ARE SIGNIFICANT. For current avalanche info go to the Canadian Avalanche Association's website www.avalanche.ca/cac/bulletins/latest and consult the SEA-TO-SKY bulletin. If visibility is bad and you do not know where Steele cabin is do not go past Edwards cabin. Trail markers in the open rocky area above the forest may be obscured by fog or wind-driven snow, and the trail is usually covered by snow well into July. If you have not been to McNair cabin in the winter you should have a map and route-finding skills. This route is rarely taken in the winter and markers can be faint or missing, especially in the meadow and pond area above and below Chapman Lake. The cabin will not be a landmark and in many years it gets entirely buried by snow. For likely freezing levels, snow, rain, and general conditions forecast at similar elevations check out the Cypress Mountain 6-day Forecast and the Grouse Mountain webcam (at around 1000m):
WINTER ACCESS TO TETRAHEDRON PROVINCIAL PARK A generous volunteer plows the road when time and conditions permit. Sechelt-Gray FSR is a gravel Forest Service Road, 11 km long and climbing to ~2500 ft (800m) from sea-level. In the winter IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT YOUR VEHICLE HAS 4WD, OR IS A HIGHER-CLEARANCE AWD, AND YOU HAVE CHAINS AND KNOW HOW TO USE THEM. A SHOVEL COULD ALSO BE CRITICAL. The road is often icy and rutted, and is narrow and steep in places. What looks like a shoulder may just be a ditch filled with snow. GENERAL INFO ABOUT THE PARK AND LINKS TO GPS DATA BC Parks website Bivouac.com - Tetrahedron page (even if you aren't a paid member you can access GPS coordinates and other data but consider becoming a member for $25 to this GREAT Canadian resource that still has no significant ads on its site) Contour map with cabin locations and their GPS coordinates |
 Fundraising
The Tetrahedron Outdoor Club presents an annual screening of the Best of the Banff Mountain Film Festival in November as the main club fundraiser. This year's presentation was on Friday, November 27th at Elphinstone Secondary School in Gibsons. Another sold-out year, the 3rd in a row! Many, many thanks to the sponsors, volunteers, coordinators, Elphinstone students, and attendees who made this event a great success!
Tetrahedron Outdoor Club Thanks the SCRD, Town of Gibson, and the SIGD for Road Maintenance Funding
The TOC acknowledges and appreciates the funding grants received in 2015 from the Sunshine Coast Regional District, Town of Gibsons, and Sechelt Indian Government District, which allowed us to carry out road maintenance on the Sechelt-Gray Forest Service Road. Funding is used for road grading, brushing, and other maintenance work to continue to provide safe access to Mount Richardson and Tetrahedron Provincial Park. (These grants are not used for snow ploughing, or for work within the Park.) Who We Are...The club came into existence in the early 1970's, originally as The Tetrahedron Ski Club. The founding members were mostly employees of Howe Sound Pulp and Paper and began skiing the freshly logged slopes near the mill and later on Mt. Elphinstone. Four log cabins and a network of trails in what eventually would become Tetrahedron Provincial Park were built by mostly volunteer labour in 1987 through a partnership that included the club, local forest industry, and the Ministry of Forests. Today, the club continues to maintain the cabins and trails under a stewardship agreement with BC Parks. The generous work of countless volunteers allows the public to enjoy the vast playground of the Tetrahedron.
Club ExecutivePresident:
Reynold Schmidt Directors: Victor Bonaguro Marilyn Downey Danny Fleischhacker Michel Frenette Jan Schuks George Smith Phil Gaulin Administrator: Natasha Gellatly Cabin Stewards
Batchelor Cabin - Doug House
Edwards Cabin - Victor Bonaguro and George Smith Mt. Steele Cabin - Sam Preston and Bryce Rudland McNair Cabin - Steve Brewis, Danny Fleischhacker, Melissa Rayfield All executive members, cabin stewards, and the administrator can be reached via email. |
