Vancouver Island Alpine Guide
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Welcome to the Vancouver Island Alpine Guide (VIAG). This site is dedicated to supplying detailed route information to mountaineers and backcountry explorers.

Vancouver Island Mountains? Yes, there are mountains here. Admittedly the peaks not as high as in other areas, but in most cases this is compensated by having to start the climb at sea level. The proximity of the mountains to the sea is what makes Vancouver Island Mountains so special. Where else can you be on top of a peak looking out out over the Pacific Ociean to the west and to east scan the panorama of the Coast Mountains?

Why a web guide? One of the main reasons is that I don't have the time, or the personal knowledge, to write a definitive guide book. Also the information in a traditional guide book is obsolete the day it is printed: people put up new routes, build trails, better access routes are discovered, and logging roads wash out. Another problem is that after the guide is printed, there is no way to correct a bad route description. With a web guide it is easy to update it. I suspect that VIAG will always be Under Construction .

There is also the financial aspect. In a popular area there is a large enough market to justify printing several thousand guides (a minimal print run). For example guide books to rock climbing at Squamish can be successfully published and the author might even make a few dollars. The potential market for VIAG is extremely small, at best several hundred copies. This makes it is hard for an author to justify the time to write the guide, or a publisher the investment to print it. The web; however, allows an altruistic webmaster to publish at minimal cost.

Disclaimer - Please Read

WARNING!: Mountaineering is, by its very nature, a potentially hazardous activity. The core of the climbing experience is expressed in decision making; the holds to use, the routes you are capable of climbing, and the information you can trust. This compilation of material is not intended to be the only source of information for those wishing to pursue the sport of mountaineering. Prior and competent knowledge in the use of various safety devices is assumed. While every attempt is made to insure that the information provided here is correct and safe, it is never a substitute for your better judgement. Always check information with other sources and your own common sense before trusting your life to it! By use of the provided information, the reader hereby releases the authors and providers of said information from liability for any injury, including death, that might result.

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