Columbia Icefields

So this past weekend Michelle and I teamed up with our friends G and Jon for a fantastic few days on the wind swept expanses of the Columbia Icefields. It was Michelle and myselfs first time up on the neve and we could not have asked for better people to be up there with.


On our first day we navigated to the "trench" where people usually camp for an attempt of Mt.Columbia. We could see the monolith outlines of the peaks around us but visiblitiy was pretty limited to a few hundred metres mostly. A cold night ensued and a new stove barely worked to sputter up just enough water for dinner and soup-barely! Really nice. Above is coming up the Athabasca Icefall-Better eat pasta the night before to mach through there!


We awoke to bluebird weather and my cold that I have had for a few days escaped my mind as the thought of being out in the sunshine was overwhelming. Here is Jonny and G-Force checking GPS facts "13km from the car to the trench" I think is what they were saying.
Michelle in the tent. It was great to be up there with her, She brought smiles to the group often.
Our camp from the west side of the trench coming back from Columbia. The hot weather and new snow turned us around and back to camp. We made it out the same day at 2300 or so. Pretty dreamy skiing down the glacier in the Twilight.
Yup, thats a sledder on the Columbia Icefield and yes that Mt. Bryce in the backgroud. I dont know what to say about this other than we were all stunned. Both because of how they got up there as well as the fact that what they were doing was legal. The Icefields are on the Ab/Bc border and they were on the BC side, Barely. They shoud probably make it a UNESCO site to stop this kind of thing. Water form this area goes to every place on the continent.

Spring Tour Time-French, Haig, Robertson

Today was great. Probably the first time this spring that it has actually felt like spring touring, go figure! I loaded up the Kia, drank a whole pot of coffee and shot down the road towards the Burstall Pass parking lot, breakfast bagel and more coffee in hand and stoke in the mind. A nice tour takes you through forests and canyons before entering the toe of the french glacier which leads up to the Haig glacier and the sunshine. A good lunch of cheese, bread, chocolate and yet more coffee ensued before heading up and over the Haig to Robertson col. A stellar run takes you to the valley bottom and the plus temperatures. Big thanks to Ally, Bill, Tom and Marg for letting me tag along during the bootpack up the the col as well as the descent-good company!

Yoho Yo!

The Bootpackers, Vice President
Johnny Five is Alive! Tea candles work fine for wax


Luc is happy
The skier, the rep, the mazda 323 and their crampon
The run off the President Glacier
Lars Bachman, Skier
A Jubilant crowd
Wow! April!
So I just got back from a great trip with some good folks up at the Stanley Mitchell Hut. Our original intentions had been to open throttle over the Wapta from the Bow hut but that was thwarted by a gloomy weather forecast that was set to drop some snow down (more on that later!). Wow! The area around the hut is awsome to say the least. We enjoyed some pretty good wintery weather back there as we made our way from nice tree runs to a stellar morning/afternoon skiing up and down from the President Pass as well as the token skis off bootpack to the summit of the vice pres. Upon returning from the vice pres we found ourselves surrounded by the sign of winter goodness, huge flakes of light snow fell in mass all around us. We relaxed in the hut before we just couldnt take it anymore, out into the falling spectres we went to soak up more good turns in the treed slopes under the vice president which is a place best described as a private bow summit. Large grins entered our faces as we went up the second time to absorb the fading daylight and take in all of our surroundings. A great trip!

Masseys Waterfall

It was great to pick up the phone the other day and hear my good friend Jonsonite say that he is coming down for a bit of ice climbing. Well, thats exactly what we did. After skiing so much this year it was nice to do some classic tool swingin'. A super day out ending at the truffle pigs in Field home of the 14 inch strudle and Kicking Horse Espresso roast...mmmm

Alpine Magic

Its a great thing when you can head into the alpine with your friends and have a good day at it.


We blasted up the parkway today and arrived at the Athabasca climbers parking lot just before first light. We made our way up to the route "Shooting Gallery" in short order from the car, Drew leading us out across the glacier. A nice 200m snow cone leads you up to the interesting looking stuff, higher up in the chute towards the NE ridge of Mt. Andromeda. I set off from about halfway and just had a strange feeling about the snow in the chute, 10cm windcrust atop 20cm of low density forms. Hand sheers revealed almost no results but being up there with the snowpack bonging and breaking off in crusts under my feet was enough to turn me back to the belay and the promise of a return. Hard call for us as the climbing above the cone looked fun and asthetic to the eye and mind. We made our way down to the car doing the odd bumslide here and a posthole there where good times where had soloing around on Tangle Hill with Drew while Mike lounged in the parking lot enjoying our antics. Big thanks to the boys for another great day.

Waptacise

So on Saturday we were all excited to try the Wapta from Bow hut to Sherbrooke lake in a day. We got up to the Hut in under 2 hours and continued to the Olive/St.Nick col where we could see all the joys you could expect from being inside a golf ball. Yup, total whiteout. We walked to the top of Mt. Olive and then skied all the way back to the car for a 26km round trip. Well, another good one out there with the fellas.

Moose Mountain Climbing!

On Friday the posse assembled at the Bagel Company for a pilgrimage up to the hallows of Moose Mountain. Last week, the local french connection checked it out to discover good climbing amidst loose rock. Hearing that last part about the rock got us all fired up and in no time at all we were chasing each other up the steep trail to the cliffs where we lounged in T Shirts all day, took photos, ate and of course, pulled down on some unsuspecting classic rock routes. Thanks to Joel, Jeff, Chad and Blake for a great day!

The Happenings Random

Well the last couple of weeks have been really good. We had 2 good days in Rogers Pass with our good friend J mac. Then we teamed up with Heather, Jeff,Tobi and Chris for a great day skiing up to rockbound lake on Saturday for a good time out with friends and of course, Merlin the dog. Jason, Mike, MA and I let loose on the Pass once again this past few days to find kinda scary snow conditions and minimal visibility.....Its ok though because we found large objects to fling our bodys off of landing in perfect powder every time-Still good I must say!

Visibility Unlimited- A snorkel-less Rogers Pass Viewpoint

People are asking us if we are sick of driving to Rogers Pass each week to go ski touring. The truth is that the more you go to Rogers pass, the shorter the drive seems and with a Coffee from Jitas cafe you are soon taking that final right turn from the long ascent from Golden where the peaks strike upwards into the early morning sky and the promise of something outstanding to do wiht skis is in the air. I am always stoked to get back....





On thursday and friday last week I joined up with Jeff MacPherson and Michelle for a great trip up the Tupper traverse and over to Lookout mountain the next day, high on the Illicilewat glacier. We really did have a great time in the warm t-shirt temperatures on Thursday as well as the beauty views both days as we could look out in all directions visibilty un hindered and excitement boiling up for the descent back down to valley bottom and of course, Timmy Hortens....

Rogers Pass Jackpot

What do you do when you arrive at Rogers Pass only to find that the roads going east and west will be closed till 4pm? Well, you've hit the Rogers Pass Jackpot and its time to ski! Thats right! Nick, Jason, Tys and I were overjoyed to discover that it was time to cash in on our jackpot and enjoy some good tidings. We started on the Hourglass, made our way over to teddy bear trees and finally the best for last, mind blowing powder runs down Grizzly shoulder to our cars and Jays Ice cold brews in the trunk. I really must thank the boys for such a great day out in the mountians as usual and Tys who is always up for a long day trip with only a Timmy Ho's to go and some Philosophy Podcasts.



Here we can see Nick trying to figure out where his snorkel went.



Here we can see a snow yeti. Copyright Nicholas Rapaich.

Musings a la MA

Some things/thoughts from the last few days in a MA style...

-Marinade can take many forms. Dont stress, meat can sit in anything and taste great.

-Health is a blessing, dont take it for granted.

-When there is one day to ski-It might be time to go west, even if it takes 11 hours in the car.

-House plants need to be moved around sometimes, they get tired of neighbors, just like humanoids.

-I dont need the new pack or jacket, old friends are like wine.

Ski Drama

Ive been going through the ski paces this year thats for sure. I ordered some beauty BD Stigma 183cm's in October and mounted them up only to discover that they are stiffer than a 4 ounce sambuca shot at 3am. I was whipped around like a towel and givin my ski technique of barley follwing my friends down the slopes I was in need of new sticks. Enter the Rossignol B3 176. Medium Stiff, Medium Fat and all round-Perfect. Had 6 good days on those babys until last week, skiing in Utah during outdoor retailer when I heard the sound of crunching corn flakes. My ski had delaminated from tip to tail and were rendered useless. Luckilly my friend John at the movement ski booth loaned my some nice thunder 177's to finish the day and my legs as we skiied the 22 inches (yes inches) from the day before. My new pair is an updated B3 for '08 and they are being mounted as we speek. Cant wait to ski em!

Asulkan Heli Days

Just arrived home last night from two great days of skiing in Rogers Pass. With M-A, Jeff and J Billing we loaded up the car, stuffed everything inside and pointed west towards deep powder and better snow stability. We followed the well used track up to the Asulkan hut which is recomended for every timber framers apprentice. After some tea and Landjaegers it was time to follow the glaciers and shadows to Asulkan pass where we found calm skys and enormous views. It was time to go down-we followed each other in pairs and laughed all the way to the hut, reveling in the perfect fast skiing and views. After skiing most off the way down to valley bottom and bouncing off pillows in the rolling trees, we made our way back to the hut and enjoyed a good meal and flowing scotch. The next day we got to do it all over again and as we skiined our way to the alpine near Saphirre col, we could take it all in- Great views, great skiing and good time with good friends. Another good weekend in Rogers Pass.

3 Dog Days

Hey All,

Just arrived home from three great days of ski touring
with Jeff MacPherson, Marc-Andre Cousineau and Chris
Haywood.


Day 1 we fired a 1000m up-track towards the col above
Emerald Lake slidepath, noses out and ears perked,
waiting for signs of instability. The conditions and
snow were oddly silent and after digging around we
found a pretty decent pack with about 180cm at around
2160m, no major reactive layers either...hmmm. We
ripped the skins off and let the skis run. Cranking
the first turn the snow hit the knees, the second and
third turns blew our minds as perfect rocky mountain
powder eventually hit our waists and caused enormous
smiles to span our shiny faces. Steak and scotch
awaited us at the Hostel, as well as enormous talk for
the upcoming days.

Day 2 we ventured to the "snow zone", a line of peaks
just east of the south wapta that seems to trap absurd
amounts of snow. Last year for instance, we found 2+m
of snow there in December, perfect untracked dream
runs and bowls noboday seems to go to. Deep and
perfect snow awaited as we went back up tp the sunny
summit of one of the peaks as many times as we could,
trying to soak it all in and revel at some of the
deepest and best snow we had seen-anywhere. With the
fading light, we shot back to the trees and made our
way to the highway and to the huge meal and sauna we
knew was waiting.

Day 3 we awoke tired and content from skiing dark to
dark days in a row and a relaxing pace was in order.
We skied up the frozen creek and canyons leading to a
valley south of Observation peak in the bow summit
area. A weak snowpack and highwinds kept us from
venturing too high but allowed us a few nice runs in
the trees as well as another great day in the
mountains with good company. We could smell the dark
roast coffee and pastries at Laggans so we did the
luge run out to the road and answered the call in
short order, reflective and happy.

A stellar few days!