Summer 2025 Recap
Kees and Claire Hut in early August. Photo by Francoise Thibault.
With summer winding down, the Kees and Claire Hut is preparing for upgrades this fall, while the SHS looks back on a productive season that included a successful August camp at the future Macbeth Hut site.
From June through September, the Kees and Claire Hut had nearly 1,900 confirmed bookings. Based on current reservations, total visits are expected to reach about 2,350 before the hut closes in late October. The season was steady despite an early-July wildlife closure and a short maintenance closure in September.
The summer volunteer program also grew, with about 50 members this summer compared to 35 last year. Increased custodian coverage helped keep operations running smoothly and supported a positive guest experience during the busiest weeks.
BCMC members Cecil Poulin, Jovanna Lord, Meredith Pavlick and Alison Sydor with club President Greg Hamilton, pictured in front of the Fitzsimmons Icefall at the Macbeth Camp. Photo by Cecil Poulin.
Macbeth Summer Camp recap
As planning for the Macbeth Hut continues, the SHS marked a step forward by establishing a three-week camp at the build site in August, laying the groundwork for a full work camp next summer.
The Society completed key fieldwork for the Macbeth Hut, including land surveying and the hut’s environmental impact assessment.
The camp was made up of four wooden tent platforms and a small wooden bridge over the outflow of Macbeth Lake. Mountain Equipment Company supported the project with a donation of tents for volunteers to occupy while on site.
Between August 5 and 26, we hosted more than 20 volunteers at the build site.
One of the camp’s volunteers was BC Mountaineering Club (BCMC) President Greg Hamilton, who led a four day trip to the site with a team of BCMC volunteers.
Hamilton said he’s looking forward to the mountaineering and glacier access the future Macbeth Hut will provide. “When groups get in there and start crossing glaciers, there will be new route development that goes on,” Hamilton said. “So definitely, next year, I’m going back.”
The Macbeth Hut is the second of three huts planned along the Spearhead Traverse. Located near the midpoint of the route, it will serve as a refuge for visitors to access remote ski terrain, mountaineering routes and hikes.
The Kees and Claire water well being drilled in fall 2024. Photo by Iain Sherriff-Scott.
Water well and flight deck extension
In September, the SHS re-started work on developing the water well drilled at Kees and Claire in fall 2024. The well underwent test pumping and is slated to be completed in mid-September.
The completion of the water well will reduce the hut’s reliance on propane to melt snow in winter, and eliminates the need for guests to carry water up from Russet Lake in summer. After the well is complete, the hut will be outfitted with plumbing fixtures, including faucets for the kitchen sinks, and the tooth-brushing station on the bunk level.
The water well is also the final major capital project planned for the Kees and Claire Hut, after the SHS installed a large solar array on the hut’s East and South-facing walls in 2024.
Finally, the hut’s flight service deck, where supplies are landed by helicopter, is being extended by ten feet to improve the safety and efficiency of supply drops. The extension project will be completed this fall.
