December in photos

The last month or so has held splendid times in the mountains with friends, a really great Christmas was had too with food, family and pals. Yesterday was spent in the decorated halls of the Alpine where I got the chance to join some good friends on a traverse of Little Sifton in Rogers Pass. I have wanted to do this trip for years but everyone I know has done it already and being the relative "Pass" newcomer that I am I was tickled pink to venture up high on a wonderful spring like day in december to soak up the scenery, smell the warm pine trees and ski stellar powder slopes to the highway for 1200m.

Little Sifton Traverse magic. I must say that I am really excited for spring skiing already, the feeling of warm winter sun in the mountains and endless possibilities for big traverses keep me going day after day.
Chris Haywood in the NRC zone. GNP.
Zach and Chief. Crowfoot frontside.
Hermit Alpine, Jeff Mac putting on a clinic. Always a great day skiing with this guy.
Can't say where this is but its good!
Descending into the clouds, Sifton traverse.
Grizzly shoulder ascent, bring your 4X4.
The one and only Tobi freezing her butt off on the parkway at my request.
We will ski that.

Merry Christmas from Rogers Pass

With Chief around these days its not often I get the chance to head west to Rogers Pass where at the sight of dogs, they issue tickets and bad bad vibes. Jeff, Neil and I saddled up and hit the road in the donut ensuing Subaru and made our way, coffee in hand to ski the fabled slopes of quite possibly, the best ski touring zone around.

We had heard they opened Christiana Ridge between Mt. Fidelity and Mt. McGill again and this was the first days plan.
Neil Contemplating the descent through the trees, Christiana Ridge offers some of the best tree skiing I have seen and we fired a long up track to near the alpine in the 40cm of new snow, which fell atop 60cm from the last few days, this all of course hit us in the face on the way down.
Although we couldn't stay at the best hotel in Revelstoke "the ol frontier", we did head there for breakfast. As usual they treated us very well and scared us for life with the pancake they served Jeff.
Hermit Alpine, Day 2.
Nice, Deep December powder turns.

Schnarbus for the Restofus - Surprise Pass

So when that festive season approaches it is time to celebrate the non-traditional holiday called "The Schnarbus for the Restofus". This holiday can be enjoyed by all in the form of glorious powder shots or just the opposite, gnarly gnarly crust and edge deep slime. Either way it is time to give thanks and be with friends in the mountains, the cornerstone of the Schnarbus holiday. We were gracious to find a such an experience in that classic Lake Louise tour, Surprise Pass. Stable conditions and a chance to get outside after days and days of arctic temperatures made for a happy and content group.

Enjoy the film and Happy Holidays!

Bow Peak Couloir - A Tasty Treat

Yesterday I teamed up with friends Mike, EJ and Rob for a little couloir skiing on the back 40. We were getting a bit hungry during the approach and it was a blessing to discover this tasty treat, the "Mostly Hidden Chute" on Bow Peak to cure our belly aches and deliver a good dose of joy to the group.

Here we see Rob O demonstrating that with enough coffee, even climbers can throw down the buisness.
Again, Mr O demonstrating perfect jump turns in the chute al la Scott Schmidt
Near the bottom and ready to ascend
Uptrack
Approach.

Afterwords we just kept on skiing as we lapped the fan below the couloir until it looked like Mike Weigle was there with a 212 and 10 hungry guests. A really great and hilarious day with the boys.

Haunted By Ice

So today was a great day indeed in that great ice climbing mecca the ghost river valley, Alberta. Drew and I got the early start and drove in via the very new and improved "I can take my Vespa in" road, excited at the prospect of swinging the old hatchets around. The day dawned great for said climbing and soon enough we were ascending the frozen scapes.

Drew on top of "Anorexia Nervosa", a bad name for a good climb.
At this point, after doing the last pitch and belaying in the glorious sunshine, the wind picked up and flew me vertically for a few seconds, it was not enjoyable for either mind or body.
The route, a good one indeed.
Drew getting the final sticks, thanks buddy for a great day. Looking forward to some climbing and skiing after my next trip to the coast leaving Sunday.

Oh wow..Its deja Vu

Well today was a great day in the local backcountry visiting the winter simulator. Neil, Jeff and I were thankful for the winter tires as we broke trail in the 40cm on the highway with the Korean car, KIA. As we left Canmore, rains fell down and sprinkled our ambitions and made us think about our future. We thought we would "take a drive to check it out" and at the very worst have tea in a parking lot somewhere. Well the drive paid off and we enjoyed excellent early season powder conditions that were reminiscent of the, dare I say it 06/07 year. This is the year that climbers became skiers, people quit there jobs and the rockies turned into a mini version of the Selkirks where things were skied and mentioned after that they may never be skied again......Its on...sorta...maybe...hopefully!

Here we see Neil entering the white room for a little R and R.
Here we see Jeff and Neil digging in the snow trying to find reactive layers. Besides the storm snow instabilities we found the October rain crust at the very bottom. Note that there is over 100cm here and it is Nov 17! I will look more into this very interesting situation later this week.

Alpine Sliding in Real Time

So on Sunday I saddled up with Marc-Andre and Chris for a day of early season ski exploring. What a good thing to feel the stick of the skins on the snow and the familiar movement of the up-track again. Winter is my favorite season and It is upon us. We enjoyed some pretty decent snow conditions on a south aspect which was missing the Oct crust that is reeking havoc on north facing terrain. The biggest threat today was a hitting rocks which we avoided at all costs by tapping into the chi of the mountain. Chi is not like chai which is a pleasant spiced drink but is the energy of the universe emitted by all things....

Marc is an excellent skier in this photo, moments before he went "down periscope" and had a very good look at the early season snowpack.
A nice lunch break in the sun. There is almost nothing better than being in the hills with friends? Chris is in fact playing the air-ski here.
Once again, Marc enjoying the early season conditions in the Rockies. After putting in a few runs on this slope we ventured back to the car as the temperatures hiked and the hazard went up. Its nice to ski south facing areas so early in the winter without fearing for your life and ski bases. I must say at this point that it is Nov 16th and I feel like we got away with robbery!

The Moment Accelerate

What a ride its been these last few months! First and probably biggest was my transition from retail man to rep man. After 5 years on the floor as a buyer and manager I took a Job as a sales representative with my friend Rob Owens for a number of focused outdoor companies namely Patagonia, Petzl, Ambler, Sea to summit, orthsoles, Oboz, Julbo and Adventure Medical Kits. So far its been great and the learning is sure to not stop for a long, long time. I have been on the road, coffee and big grimace on hand as of late, here is a glimpse....

Lately I have really gotten the ice bug and every chance I get I have been trying to get out there and swing the tools a bit.

Early Season Louise Falls with Drew "MIB" Henman.

Grotto Mtn, Playground. The very wholesome Jen Olsen putting the rope up for Mike and I.
While in Ventura,CA for patagonia sales meetings I got the chance to head out to the fabled desert scapes that is Joshua Tree. We dodged the sun, climbed a few classics, drank some nice grapes and enjoyed great company in that desert we did. Like all S.cal climbing zones I felt like I was climbing for the first time and It was a blast to get royaly spanked on routes that Royal Robbins probably soloed in 63' with pocketed hands...soo nice!
We did stumble upon quite a scene atop of one of the formations in that O' so glorious mecca of JTree. An annual meet for San Diego climbers was taking place on the summit of intersection rock. There is something to be said for topping out on left ski track only to be met by a rag tag and rather jovial assortment of characters, I am just not sure what it is? Either way I enjoyed the candy that roller girl was handing out even though the general feel of the place gave me a feeling I have not had since all night dance parties when I was 16.

J tree is a special place, full of special people.

Mt. Victoria

So this past weekend I got the chance to join two of my great friends for a climb of Mt. Victoria.

With a perfect weather forecast we set off to Abbot hut where we ate a great dinner of peanut stirfry and enjoyed a stellar selection of spirits while enjoying the ambience of the hut and the intense windstorm outside. Mt. Victoria is a classic in mountaineering and it was great to be up there in the crisp fall air. I remember reading once that the route is mostly walking, but its fancy walking.

Jon just past the sickle about to get back on the rock. The route is mostly a scramble with a few steps of easy rock climbing and some short sections of steeper snow.
Just after the sickle.
Once again, you guessed it- The Sickle. We had a late start because we thought it would be a quick out and back to the summit but we actually had to turn around just shy as to not miss our bus ride out!
Jonson tellin' it like it is.
The infamous scree slope on the way up (pictures in reverse order). A great trip!

Craig Crag

On Saturday I got the chance to Join Marc, Michelle and Craig to a new crag being developed in a secret location known only to few people, most of which havent been heard from in a while. We had a great day dodging and soaking of the sun rays as well as climbing some great routes.

Craig on an unnamed 12+
Marc on Into the Frey 11b.

After a couple of climbs I fixed a rope and took photos for an hour or so and when returning to the ground I was basically spent! A hot day in the mountains takes its toll!!

Devils Right Hand- Yamnuska

On Friday once again we took advantage of the Autumn weather and blasted up to Yam for an ascent of the route, Devils Right Hand. I remember seeing it from a route close by and it looked just awesome. After hearing 50/50 reports about the quality, Pat and I went to have a closer look.

Pat being pensive at the belay stance.
Nice corner crack leading to the roof and soon after, the top of the cliff.
Pat on the 4th pitch.
Sea of grey stone. 
Pat starting up the third pitch.

Another stellar day on Yam. Despite some negative feedback on the route, we thought it was pretty great:good stone, safe and nice climbing. 

The Diving Board- Yamnuska

Well last week I got the chance to team up with my good friend Jason for a good route on Yamnuska.  The route Diving Board ascends a steep wall on the east side of the mountain and is one of Andy's newer routes. As usual we followed the rack instructions and brought a good size collection of gear which turned out to be a good idea because we were placing a lot of it!

Looking down from top of second pitch.
Stoked as always..
Roof on third pitch.
Jason starting up the first pitch.

The route was awesome and even had a few token hands in crack climbing sections! One of my favorites yet.

Brazeau Icefield

So on the Edmonton friends annual climbing trip the plan was hatched yet again to journey to the hallowed steeps of Mt. Robson. Given our usual luck with the conditions and weather with that route, a second plan was organized to journey up high to the Brazeau Icefield to sample some wonderful glaciated terrain and climbing.

The first day was great. Perfect temps and weather allowed us to reach a high camp at 9500 feet.
Oh oh, the weather came in and we were tentbound!