Green,

Lower

Lower Green, BC

Lower Green, BC
Photo of Jerry Jascomb, Ligon by Alex Harvey taken 1187064000 @ Good

River Description

Another, though lesser-known, Whistler classic, the lower Green drops about 800 feet in five miles, making it a longer day than some of the other runs in the area. There are lots of IV-V rapids though not really BC class V. A striking characteristic of the river is that many of the rapids consist of a plurality of drops in quick succession. Intense fun but watch out because there is one hard class V that deserves attention and several wood portages. The class V was marked by a cliff on river left and a large boulder jumble on the right; get out on the right to scout/portage. The first drop was total chaos and led into a massive hole or an ugly sieve/pin spot, depending on your trajectory. Immediately below was another long multi-drop rapid that is fun. As of August 07 there were 3 wood portages that were obvious and a final portage in an easier section of river where the river narrowed up and plunged into some strainers. This last portage could sneak up on you so, as is always the case in BC, maintain vigilance.

The putin is about 2.7 miles downstream from the end of Green Lake on Hwy 99. Look for a large gravel pull off to the right. As of summer 2007 there was road construction at the putin so access may have changed since then. A convenient takeout is at the motocross park, just scurry across quickly between the packs of bikes. The turn off for the motocross park is about 5.2 miles down Hwy 99. You may want to scout out the takeout point on the river as it is not obvious and it is a real pain to take out at the confluence with the Soo.

There is a shorter takeout for the Green according to www.bc-ww.com, the approximate coordinates are N50.20599 W122.86903, though quite a bit of action is missed by taking out early.

The run goes during the summer, best may be late July, early August. Nearest internet guage is the Cheakamus River above Millar Creek. Cheakamus was running between 2.4 and 2.8 meters when the Green was at a good medium level. The link is: http://scitech.pyr.ec.gc.ca/waterweb/fullgraph.asp?lang=0&stnID=08GA072