Saturday, February 25, 2012

the scalding cold.


Just back from a week in the Qua range near Nelson, BC - Immersed, sans technology at one of the lightly equipped and quite rustic, Ymir Yurts. We had 3 days in the Yurt, touring around, laughing, eating and enjoying the stark beauty of this oh so unique area.

Two days ago, things changed.

Jon, Guillermo, Ryan, Zach and myself were enjoying a great day, touring up the benched and wonderfully rimed terrain of Seaman peak - eventually arriving at the summit and taking it all in, at one point G made his way to the shoulder of the summit and looked off towards mecca. I snapped a photo, a perfect moment.

We clicked in and discussed the descent. We would need to ski conservatively and avoid the convexities in the terrain - a very weak surface hoar layer was below 50-60 cm of storm snow and had the set the stage for our week - safe terrain, low angles and low consequence skiing was in order from day 1. At the second regroup zone I stopped and waited for my friends. G was first and I could see his trademark red cloudveil softshell sailing through the trees. At speed he came through a gap and slammed into a tree.

I yelled out and got nothing, yelled again and nothing still. Shuffling over I saw nothing but bad. A seemingly major head wound, an unconscious Guillermo and lots of blood. I looked a the tree, an old fir with no remorse, a pale grey branch covered in blood. I thought the worst, cranial fracture and a good friend with minutes to live. I love this man in front of me like a second father. His wife, his step son, the people in his life - all I could say was 'oh fuck'.

Ryan came down and started to organize the first aid treatment, the tree branch did not make it through the scull and G's breathing started to become more consistent. I tripped my SPOT unit to SOS and got back to helping, giving gauze to Ryan and starting to build a bed for G to spend hours...days?

In 15 min G had regained consciousness and was starting to show signs of focused thought, my relief was almost overwhelming. A likely shoulder dislocation, spinal/neck injuries and of course the massive head wound started to make their way into G's vocabulary as we tried to keep him warm - taking turns laying beside him. I radioed the cat ski operation nearby and asked for assistance, "full stretcher case, head wound, need heli support".

Zach and I straight-lined the 550 m run in 8 min to the hut, grabbed two sleeping bags, clothes and kept moving - getting back to the group as fast as we could just as the chopper arrived to drop off a very capable team to assist and take over the operation. At 230pm, G was stable, in a stretcher and aboard the chopper, Nelson Hospital bound.

We packed up and started the process of getting ourselves out of the area and back to the cat that was inbound to get us so that we could visit our friend that night. G is seemingly going to be ok and is actually en route to home today through the very snowy BC roads of the moment.

I am left with a feeling of admiration towards my friends for being so stoic during the ordeal.

Jons thoughts : http://jonsonitechronicles.blogspot.com/2012/02/love-of-friends.html

Saturday, February 18, 2012

off the grid.

Tomorrow I go off the grid for a week. No phone. No computer. lots of skiing with best friends.

!!

Wednesday, February 08, 2012

doing lines before work

In case you haven't had the chance to get outside over the last few days, let me tell you the conditions are all time right now in these beloved Rockies of ours. I had a chance to get a few nice days in lately, ski great lines and enjoy good company of friends before a full day of work. This usually involves 4:30 wake ups, 2-4 espresso shots and a 12m/p min up-track pace will leave us sweating in our baggie pants and going through liquids while trying hard to beat the sunshine, fast approaching.

Observation Peak - Backside
Craig, Ivo and Zach after skiing a nice E facing line on the back of Observation. We regrouped at the bottom, looked across valley and saw another tasty-tasty shot we needed to visit. A quick bootpack, some easy ridge climbing and so stellar views brought us to our next shot - a nice mini-couloir.

Ridge and the magic of the alpine.

Getting ready to drop into it..
3-2-1 dropping! There were some Wolverine tracks coming across valley and down this couloir which Craig felt was a very solid indicator of stability. We have followed Wolverine tracks in whiteouts, over 10,000 foot passes and over tricky forested terrain - they ALWAYS pick the best place to go..those smart wolverines.

After this wonderful thing, we shot NE and up a 450m S facing bowl to reveal a 1000m shot down to the forest and soon after, the highway. Nice to log about 1460 M in the alpine and enjoy the truly exceptional conditions right now.

Bow Peak Couloir - AKA Granddaddy AKA Mostly Hidden Chute AKA ER 8

Had a great morning hiking to the top (cornice) of this local classic 'couly' with friends. We found it to be in good shape with a slough track all the way to the top making for good travel. We found an excellent supportive and progressive mid-pack, we also found rugged ski conditions due to the choppy debris. As usual, skiing the fan was a dreamy affair.
Zach and Ivo coming across the fan, amazing to feel comfortable on this slope in Feb.

Nearing the top..
Looking down, some nice turns here before things got choppy and one had to impose decisive action in the form of jump turns.




Nothing can be done without partners and I have some great ones. Thanks to Zach, Ivo and Craig.

Enjoy, ski friends!