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Tetrahedron Outdoor Club

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This page has important travel and safety information and current bulletins about the road and trails, especially for travel fall-winter-spring. Please also scroll down to read TRAVEL SAFETY, CONDITIONS, WEATHER.

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? There is a Facebook Group and the club is encouraging Tetrahedron Park users to visit and/or join the Facebook Group (you don't have to be a TOC member and it's a public group so you can see the postings without joining) and this is where the most current info can be found. By joining the FB group you can easily share or ask for info, post photos, communicate with the group or specific members, post outdoor gear for sale, propose trips or events. BUT, before you head over to Facebook please read all of information in the next two sections of this page.

Download a good contour map of the Park with summer and winter trails and cabins locations.

Current Bulletins about the Park, Road, Trails, or Cabins
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The road is currently only suitable for 4WD or AWD with high clearance and chains are necessary in the winter, as is a shovel in the event you have to dig yourself out. It is an 11km FSR that is not maintained by its owners - the Province of BC - and is NOT REGULARLY PLOWED. The club does what it can to keep it from deteriorating further by hiring contractors to establish and maintain water-bars, which may prove difficult or impossible for vehicles without sufficient clearance. Use this road at your own risk.

No dogs are allowed in the park.
No tent camping in the park.
​No drones permitted in the park.

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Steele Creek (past Edwards on the way to Steele or McNair cabins) has a new bridge installed thanks to volunteers and the Sunshine Coast Community Forest. Rain-on-snow weather events early and late in the season can mean Steele Creek is running high and fast. Ensure to shovel snow before crossing.


The Chapman Creek bridge (McNair cabin trail) has been repaired but is again at a bit of an angle. It's unlikely but possible the middle support may get undermined during a high water flow event this season. Cross carefully and use the rope rail, or turn around and go back to Edwards cabin if it doesn't look safe.

The trail to McNair cabin crosses wetlands with many small waterways before and after Chapman Creek. Expect those waterways to be open if you are traveling during milder conditions in winter, or if the season has generally been mild. In all seasons the trail to McNair is the most difficult because of the boggy terrain, remote location, and regular blowdown of trees across the trail. Expect to take extra time to find safe and dry crossings and to get over logs in any season. 
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The road has seen some recent work, and will see some more in the near future. Water bars have been re-established and may prove difficult for low-clearance vehicles. The road in general requires 4WD or AWD, and you'll need good clearance to get across the narrow water bars. 

Please do not email the club to ask about the condition of the road. Check the Facebook Group for the most recent info on road conditions as reported by recent visitors.
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VANDALISM AND THEFT AT WINTER PARKING LOT
On at least 2 occasions early in 2017 vehicles parked overnight had been vandalized, or broken into and items stolen. DON'T LEAVE ANY VALUABLES IN YOUR VEHICLE!

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TRAVEL SAFETY, CONDITIONS, WEATHER

IF YOU ARE TRAVELING IN TETRAHEDRON PROVINCIAL PARK YOU SHOULD CARRY A GOOD MAP OF THE AREA, or download it to your phone. Go to the maps page of this website for the BCParks contour map. Phone-based map apps that rely on satellite connections are of limited use, and may be useless in the forested sections.

THERE IS VERY LIMITED CELL COVERAGE IN TETRAHEDRON PROVINCIAL PARK. There is usually service at and above Mt. Steele cabin, and service near the bottom of Sechelt-Gray FSR. There is spotty service at Edwards cabin.

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. The road will not be plowed in 2021/22.
YES! AVALANCHE HAZARDS EXIST IN TETRAHEDRON PROVINCIAL PARK! IF YOU INTEND TO TRAVEL TO EDWARDS, MT. STEELE, or McNAIR CABIN you should know what the current avalanche conditions are and make appropriate decisions.

For winter travel avalanche training is recommended, and that everyone travelling in avalanche terrain is carrying avalanche rescue equipment; at minimum a probe, shovel, and avalanche transceiver. There’s lots of information on the Avalanche Canada website under the Learn tab or if you are new to the mountains in winter check the Start Here tab. The online AvySavvy (https://avysavvy.avalanche.ca/) course is a great place to get an introduction to avalanche safety or refresh your knowledge.

For current avalanche info go to the Avalanche Canada website and use the South Coast forecast as your primary resource. It may be beneficial to also review the Sea-to-Sky forecast.

Avalanche hazard areas:
  • There is an avalanche hazard along the last section of the old logging road past Victor's Landing on the way to Edwards lake/cabin: it's a short slope but if it slides - and it can during constant-loading storm cycles and freeze-thaw conditions - it could carry you down into the trees below. Stay safe on this section during extreme conditions by spacing yourselves out, or avoid it by using the Gilbert Lake route from the upper parking lot.
  • 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. AVOID TRAVEL ABOVE EDWARDS CABIN WHEN AVALANCHE HAZARD RATINGS ARE SIGNIFICANT.
General low-visibility concerns: 
  • If you are unfamiliar with the trails and are visiting during or just after a blizzard you should expect the trail markers to be obscured by snow and tracks to be covered.
  • Mt. Steele cabin: you should have a map and route-finding skills. 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.
  • McNair cabin: in the winter you should have a map and route-finding skills. 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.
MAPS
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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.

FREEZING LEVELS, SNOW, RAIN, WIND AND GENERAL CONDITIONS FORECASTS:
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Cypress Mountain 6-day Forecast
NEW weather station in the Tetrahedron with hourly data on temps, snow, rain, wind, etc. 
Mt. Strachan weather station (Cypress, 1420m)
  • lower (winter) parking lot 820 m (2690 ft)
  • upper (4wd summer) parking lot 940 m (3084 ft)
  • Batchelor cabin 1010 m (3314 ft)
  • Edwards cabin 1130 m (3707 ft)
  • McNair cabin 975 m (3199 ft)
  • Mt. Steele cabin 1500 m (4921 ft)

​GENERAL INFO ABOUT THE PARK AND LINKS TO GPS DATA
BC Parks website
Maps page



BANFF Centre Mountain Film Festival


The Tetrahedron Outdoor Club proudly presents an annual screening of the Banff Mountain Film Festival as the clubs main fundraiser. Our last event was a sell out on Friday February 3rd, 2023.

Please get in touch with toc.bmff (@) gmail.com if you would like to sponsor or volunteer for the 2024 festival.
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A special THANK YOU to our 2023 BMFF local sponsors:
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91.7 Coast FM
Alpha Adventures - Outdoor Adventure Store
Behind the Screens Marketing
Beyond Consignment
Circle Balance Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine
Claytons
Coast Reporter
Ebs Ice Cream
Elphinstone Cycles LTD
GM Fitness
High Beam Dreams
KFrancis cedar
Mountain FM 2022
One Tree Wellness
PaceSetter Athletic Footwear
Real Mushrooms
Simon Haiduk Studios
Soundwerks
Strait Up Climbing
Summerhill Fine Homes
Sunday Cider
Sunshine Coast Community Forest
Sunshine Coast Credit Union
Sunshine Coast Regional District
Tapworks Brewing Co
Terra Verde Cleaning Company
Trail Bay Source for Sports
Trudene and Bill Longman
Wellington-Altus Private Wealth

And to volunteers and helpers who help make this community event a great success every year including Elphinstone Secondary School Interact Club members.
THANK YOU this would not be possible without you.
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For more information visit our Facebook Event Page here and Instagram Event Page here.

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Tetrahedron Outdoor Club Thanks
Sunshine Coast Community Forest
for Bridge and Road Maintenance Grants


The Tetrahedron Outdoor Club is grateful for major infrastructure grants from the Sunshine Coast Community Forest (SCCF) that have allowed us to complete the bridge crossing over Steele Creek and that will go towards snow plowing of the Sechelt-Grey FSR. Thank you SCCF!

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Cabin Reservation System - Survey Results


Results of the member survey on a reservation system for the cabins can be found here.

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Who We Are
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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, later on Mt. Elphinstone, and then finally in the Tetrahedron Plateau. Four log cabins and a network of trails in what eventually would become Tetrahedron Provincial Park were built by mostly volunteer labour in 1987 - close to 300 people - 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 playground of the Tetrahedron.
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Club Executive


President:
Gerry Marcotte
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Directors:
Reece Armstrong
Marilyn Downey
Danny Fleischhacker

Michel Frenette
​Ray Hemple

Ryan Matthews
Melissa Rayfield
Bryce Rudland
Michael Wilson
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TOC Administrator and Banff Mountain Film Festival 2023 Coordinator:  Hayley Kershaw
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Cabin Stewards


Batchelor Cabin - Gerry and Ellen Marcotte

Edwards Cabin - Sue Duxbury, Ian Martin,
and the SC SAR Team

Mt. Steele Cabin - Bryce Rudland and Alex Aegeter
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McNair Cabin - Danny Fleischhacker and Melissa Rayfield

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Contacts


All executive members, cabin stewards, and the administrator can be reached via email tetoutdoor (at) gmail.com
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