Joffre

The first time I saw the Joffre I was 13 driving over the Duffy Lake road with my mom headed to the Westbeach classic. I was on my way to a pipe contest, and the drive over the 'duffy' seemed to take forever. There was a lot of dirt stretches still and I was in high anticipation of the contest we were headed to. Needless to say though, driving over the duffy that clear afternoon, there was no way that I could miss seeing the massive 'main' couloir that splits Joffre down the center. It is simply the most impressive peak on the Duffy Lake Road, towering beyond the Duffy lake when you approach from the east, and inspired awe in me a as a kid to see that there was a rideable line through its towering cliffs right from the summit. I think that Pehota and Trevor probably skied the first descent of it sometime around when I first saw it, but I wouldn't learn that till many years later.
Helicopters, snowmobiles, and the bright lights of being a 'professional' snowboarder stole my attention away from many things, the main couloir on Joffre being one of them.
This was the second time I've gone up it now (the first was last year). Both times were with friends, and though we tried to shoot some sort of evidence of it, it doesn't lend itself well to photos or video. It never gets sun, and is simply too steep for too long to ride in any sort of 'charging' manner. That said, there is almost nowhere in the world(that I've stood) more impressive that at the top of the Joffre main. You are at the height of all the adjacent mountains at the base of the couloir itself. It feels like you can see to Lilloet from the top of that thing!