old school ski movies

There is something to be said for old school skiing. Knees together, apres ski schnapps, skinny ski kind of stuff, you know?. For some reason, and it can't be nostalgia because I never lived through these golden days, I just love the atmosphere and feelings you can see in theses old days of skiing. Maybe it was just the 50's through the 70's mentality that made this happen.

Watch this...

A Year In Photos

Looking through photos today made me realize a few things: The importance of friends, the importance of family and the importance of doing things that are good for your soul.

Here are some photos from the last year that help me reflect on the above. I hope that you all can think about important moments from this past year and be grateful in some way, enjoy.

Hayden, my nephew. I have had the chance to spend more time with my family since this little guy was born and it has been wonderful. I love this guy.
Craig and Catherine's wedding.
Drew on the way to Mt. Gimili. This was one of favourite trips of the summer, thanks to the great company and great surroundings and of course, outstanding choice of route.
Zach, North Wapta. Zach has been my best ski partner over the last couple of years, always keen to get out and do whatever is in shape. This trip to the N. Wapta was such a trip, we had intentions on a bigger objective but with a 48 hour window of weather we headed to this familiar place. We skied off the summit of Mt. Collie and had some time to relax in camp in T shirts. This is why I like spring touring so.
The boys on the way to california. G, Jon and I went to Cali on a fantastic road trip. This was one of the best trips I have ever had, we climbed everything we wanted to do and had a lot of fun doing so. We missed our friend Mike immensely and spoke of him a lot.
Erin. We travel, eat wonderful food, have great conversations and laugh for no reason at all.
Mike was my best friend. So long brother.
In the airport in Ottawa after seeing Mike for the last time, we needed to unwind. Jon always has something that will make us all laugh.

Rogers Pass

I had the opportunity to ski at Rogers Pass with my friend Craig lately. The hazard went up the day we arrived so we blasted a few hour ascent of Bruins and enjoyed a nice whiteout run to the valley bottom before the conditions deteriorated, as we were leaving the alpine we knew we wouldn't be back that way anytime soon as the snow was coming in warm and we had to tip toe a bit to get out of there. Oh well, we will just ski powder in the tree's we thought, and we did just that..

Breaking trail up Connaught Creek, we did this every day as we were the first ones out.
At the top of Grizzly shoulder with a few hundred meters of pillows, tree lines and small cliffs below us..and of course the 60 cm of fresh snow..
Since we just parked the Rav for a couple of days, we had to dig her out of the snow at the end. She enjoyed her thermal suit while it lasted.
The one skiing shot I got all trip.
The glory and the mystery of winter is all around.
Craig on top of 8812 bowl on the one alpine day we had.

New Years Eve Ski Day

We decided to brave the current conditions (basal facets and -20) for a day of skiing on the parkway. Off we went to Crowfoot Glades with the attitude of "checking it out". Once higher, away from the valley floor, both the travel and ski quality became reasonable and we enjoyed a few laps of nice powder turns up at tree line. After a cold start, the sky smiled a bit at us and the sun warmed our cheeks as we sipped tea and ate a few snacks around mid day....

Erin at tea time..

Pretty decent turns all things considered..

Marc and Kat, good friends.
Glory.

Nice to be out when its quiet in the hills...