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BRV / Bralorne / Gold Bridge and area updates

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COH

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For riders that live or visit the BRV (Bridge River Valley) riding area; I thought a fresh thread would be useful to update conditions, grooming reports and avalanche reports. The BRV (in my mind) includes local towns Bralorne and Gold Bridge and surrounding areas such as Tyax/Tyaughton Lake/Gun Lake/Hurley Pass.

Updates on conditions in the following areas:
  • The Hurley Pass - including the East Hurley to Bralorne
  • The Hurley Pass - through to Gold Bridge
  • Face Mountain (at the summit of the Hurley)
  • Macgillivray and Cadwallader (might have those spellings wrong)
  • Lone Goat
  • Noel Creek (including the Noel road from Bralorne and the backside access from Hope Creek - ~5-10KM north of the Hurley summit)
  • Slim Creek
  • Taylor Basin
  • and any other riding areas in the region

This is not intended to mirror the Whistler / Pemberton report.
 
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BRV area map

for those unfamiliar with the BRV, the following Map gives a pretty good idea of where we're talking - http://tinyurl.com/yk2xzyz. Think directly north of Pemberton, and directly east of Lillooet.

Update for today (November 24) I talked to a Bralorne local this morning and there's over 5 feet of snow on Kingdom Lake road
 
How long does it take to ride the hurley from the pemberton side to Goldbridge/bralorne by sled? I've been up this way in the summer months with my dirtbike and would like to do some sledding up there this winter. Is there any grooming or does it get pretty whooped?

Lookin to do a weekend, head up Friday afternoon and stage from the Pemberton side and stay Fri/sat nights in Bralorne/Goldbridge.:beer;
 
S2S_sledder said:
How long does it take to ride the hurley from the pemberton side to Goldbridge/bralorne by sled? I've been up this way in the summer months with my dirtbike and would like to do some sledding up there this winter. Is there any grooming or does it get pretty whooped?

Lookin to do a weekend, head up Friday afternoon and stage from the Pemberton side and stay Fri/sat nights in Bralorne/Goldbridge.:beer;
Click to expand...

Depends how many beers you stop for :face-icon-small-hap....it dosn't take much more than an hour if its groomed. Goldbridge hotel rules, includes breakfast, packed lunch and wicked dinner.
 
Thanks for the info, beer stops are a given:beer;

When does the grooming get started? After riding the trail in and out of brandywine last saturday I was reminded how nice a groomed trail can be :D Totally worth it though, the snow was unbelievable which has me thinking the areas off of the Hurley must be epic right now!
 
S2S_sledder said:
When does the grooming get started? After riding the trail in and out of brandywine last saturday I was reminded how nice a groomed trail can be :D Totally worth it though, the snow was unbelievable which has me thinking the areas off of the Hurley must be epic right now!
Click to expand...

We ride the Hurley regularly. Its 60K to Bralorne (there abouts). I agree with Griz on Gold Bridge having good accomodations/food but I would plan my weekend in Bralorne - for a couple reasons. First of all I think there's better access to more riding areas from Bralorne (Nole, Lone Goat, Macgillvray and Cadwallader) without having to trailer. Secondly (and this is just my opinion), the Mineshaft Pub (formerly called the Claimjumper) has better food, great service, later hours, and maybe even more fun. The Mines Motel in Bralorne (owned by the same people that own the Mineshaft pub) is clean and nice (I've stayed there every year). You can also sled around the town of Bralorne with very little gravel riding (in the even that it hasn't snowed for a while).

The grooming of the Hurley has been improving every year... on the Pemberton side (from Pemberton to the summit at Hope Creek) the road is groomed regularly (almost daily) due to the cat skiing operation at Hope Creek. The hurley north of Hope Creek to the junction of the East Hurley (the road that takes you 13KM into Bralorne) is flat and even if its not groomed, its rarely whooped at all. The Hurley to Bralorne (known as the East Hurley) is 13 kms and if it doesn't get groomed, it can get pretty haggered... The owner of the Mineshaft Pub (and the Mines Motel) recently bought a nearly new groomer and talks about keeping the East Hurley maintained... I'd just call the Mineshaft and ask them about the grooming conditions - 250-238-0150.

Finally, I just want to add that the people in both towns (Gold Bridge and Bralorne) are all good people and good fun. While I might be a bit more of a Bralorne supporter, this takes nothing away from the accomodations, food, fun and sledding areas accessible from Gold Bridge. Cheers all!
 
Pictures from 12/1/2009 BRV (thanks RGM)

Just wanted to link to the post on the Whistler Pemberton thread that shows the riding conditions of the south end of the BRV (Bridge River Valley). Pictures were apparently taken on Tuesday this week (Dec 1, 2009). Thanks RGM
 
Saturday dec 5th update

Two groups sleddin up here today.
1 went up to east noel and had a bluebird day. started one small avalanche no-one got hurt
2nd group went to lord of the rings (locals favorite ,hidden) lots of powder ,Saw a moose at 6500 ft
Both groups apres Mineshaft pub in bralorne swapping stories.
good day had by all
 
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Bralorne (BRV) update from weekend of Dec 5/6

Group of 7 from the Lower Mainland went up Friday night. We drove the Fraser Canyon through Lytton and Lillooet; then highway 40 through Gold Bridge into Bralorne. Road was good and made it from Chilliwack to Bralorne in 4 hours.

We road east of Bralorne on Saturday... broke trail into the alpine and had the best bluebird day! We did see a big west facing slope slide that was easily 50 feet piled up (I would estimate that it slid on Friday Dec 4th). I've ridden that area 4 years now and never seen it slide but there's plenty of evidence that it does go.. I guess the November 400CM came a little too quickly and didn't hold up. There was also evidence of very high winds so only in the tree runs could you find the deep face-shot powder. When you found it, it was awesome! It was -6 to -10 in Bralorne and about -10 to -15 in the alpine... perfect sledding weather! The south facing slopes had awesome conditions with great climbing... and with the sun shining on them it was a perfect day.

On Sunday (Dec 6) we talked to 2 guys that were having lunch at the Mineshaft pub that had traveled over the Hurley (including the East Hurley)... they reported that it was in good condition and it was a fast smooth ride. They unloaded about 13KM up the hurley (on the Pemberton side).

We also talked to guys that had ridden the Noel on Saturday (Dec 5). The trail in from Bralorne is apparently pretty rough and a good snowfall would help alot.

Heading back up there this weekend... truly the best place to ride in Southwestern BC!
 
Is there an area for a truck camper and 3 place enclosed to park (and turn around...) in these areas?
We have never ridden here, but are considering it for mid week in December.
Thanks. :face-icon-small-coo
 
bigbrownlabrador said:
Is there an area for a truck camper and 3 place enclosed to park (and turn around...) in these areas?
We have never ridden here, but are considering it for mid week in December.
Click to expand...

If you're going to drive to Bralorne the roads in the town are fully maintained and lots of room to park trucks and trailers. If you're thinking of driving to Pemberton and riding in over the Hurley it really depends on where the parking lot is ... and the parking lot is determined by where the snow line is. By mid December it could be in down in the valley where there's heaps of room to park and turn a truck/trailer.

Maybe someone who's ridden over the Hurley recently could speak to where they're parking right now and how easily a trailer could be turned around.

I'd say you'll always be able to turn around a three place ;-)
 
the snow is just a comin down for the last 3 nights in the Bralorne area.
the locals are lovin it.
not sure as to where you can sled from on the hurley as of yet but will keep you posted. as for trailers and such just get hold of Bruce at the MINESHAFT Pub 250-238-0150 and he will find some thing to accomodate.
the motel for new years eve is almost all sold out and if you havnt tried newyears in Bralorne yet you are in for a surprise.
 
New years eve

motel all booked for new years but if you a big party then we may be able to find house rentals.thanks for the calls, good to see this thread works. no new snow for a couple days sledders are saying the hurley is in awesome shape.
 
Bralorne Bridge River Valley snow reports

For all sledders interested please subscribe to this thread and I will be posting regular snow and condition reports.
Cheers
 
Update for 26 / 27th

Up in Bralorne for 10 days... arrived Christmas day .. rode east of Bralorne yesterday and again today. Blue sunny skies and perfect conditions.. over the bars deep and sun - can you beat it? Only tracks in and only tracks out both days.
 
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