Ski Mountaineering Revelstoke

There hasn’t been much skimo action to blog about since we arrived in Italy on the 13th of the month.  I hadn’t realized how long it had been since I’d posted some decent skiing action.  And now that we’ve found ourselves in an area having a wicked-rough snow year, I’m regretting not posting more of the “over-the-head” action we were experiencing back home.

After spending the first couple of nights in Venice (on Valentine’s Day nonetheless), we headed up to Cortina to get the ski legs working again.  It didn’t take long to realize why the World Championship race organizers weren’t posting the course profiles, the lack of snow was staggering.  My dreams of skiing a few Dolomite couloirs before the championships were fading quickly.  With no significant snowfalls in weeks, and a weather front moving in, it didn’t look promising for any serious ski mountaineering objectives.

Yesterday, as the storm started, we headed up to the resort to ride the lifts.  What little glimpses we had of the massive rock walls, were awesome.  The highlight of the day was Julie and I skiing down the World Cup DH course.  I’d seen it many times on TV, and actually skiing the area was pretty exciting.

Today, we met up with Stano and James to get find a little bit of softer snow.  We headed towards the Passo Giaua and were quickly up into 20+cms of new snow.  The terrain is beautiful, and with the pass above 2200 m, you are up into some beautiful zones quite quickly.  After a short tour, we stopped at a refugio at the top for lunch before heading back down to do a bit of transition work.  With the “sprint” race being the first on the itinerary, it is pretty clutch to have your tranny’s dialed in.

Perhaps another day of skiing around here before we head towards Claut in the afternoon tomorrow.

Ciao!

When you live in a place like Revelstoke, your tick list can be long.  The list of inviting summits and couloirs is long, and over every new ridge there seems to be another few lines just begging to be skied.

Heading out with Darek and Tara meant an another opportunity to gather information and inspiration from one of best in the business.  With low-elevations still be a trick to work with, we opted for a tour up Glacier Crest.  Using the summer trail to avoid an alder-bash, we were on the ridge quickly and things were looking nice for the descent.

I’d always looked at the lines off Glacier Crest that dipped back towards Lookout Basin.  I knew there were several lines straight south that worked, but without the beta at hand, it wasn’t really a day to go exploring.  We skied the main gully that drops off the SW shoulder and wraps down into the bowl.  Great skiing with Alice, Julie and myself taking the direct line, and Tara and Darek wrapping around through the larger face.

With some great views of the North lines off Ravens, Jules, Alice and I skinned up the ridge to line up a stellar looking chute to bring us back into the bowl.  1hr later we were ripping skins and cutting the cornice into 1500ft of lovely.  Back around to the skied out Ravens trees and out the long Asulkan Valley.  And with that, a few mini ticks off of my list.

With the slow start in November and December, things were looking a little grim with my 2-weeks of Christmas holidays approaching.  Last season, the conditions were prime, and linking up two weeks of skiing meant I was really able to get a feel for the conditions.  I was excited for this season, but the low precip meant it was going to be interesting.

Here are a few pics from throughout the week(s).  I was hoping to get out every day, but a bit of a flu bug caught up with me and took me down for a several days right around Christmas.

Definitely a big highlight of my skiing experiences, was being able to be a part of Greg Hill‘s 2 millionth vertical foot.  A large posse of friends and family joined Greg on the Bonney moraines up Loop Brook to help celebrate this monumental accomplishment.  Congrats Greg!

photo: Tommy Chandler

It seems as though every time we get some fresh snow, followed by some sun, the SW face of Cheops highlights the drive up to the Pass.  With a splitter day on the Friday, McNab was keen to give it a shot.  He had been up on Afton the day before and was able to get a great view of the face and the exit down to the highway.

In the lot at the hotel, small groups gathered to start out their day, each quite reserved with regards to their objectives.  However, as we’d all soon find out, the ridgetop winds were picking up and reverse loading alot of the south and west facing slopes in the alpine.

We continued up to the high west ridge off Cheops, popping out small 5-10cm slabs as we pushed over the ridge crest.  It was clear that we weren’t about to head up towards the summit, so we decided to ski down the north shots off the ridge and make our way up the other side of the valley to ski something sheltered and sunny.

Bob with some creamy Video Peak turns

We toured up with the masses in Hospital Bowl and opted to add a few tracks to the skied up Video Peak.  With 13 people headed in that direction, McNab blasted out in-front to ensure he was the first one standing on top.  Julie, Bob and myself, crested with a few Golden-ites and a quick transition had us all skiing perfect powder down to the bottom of the face.

A short climb and bootpack along the ridge brought us to a pair of south facing chutes off the shoulder of Ursus Minor.  As the alpenglow started to set in, we skied great snow down through the meadow, to the tracked-out gully and back down the summer trail as the light faded.  While we didn’t get to ski our intended line, the skiing and company was second to none.

This past Saturday was forecast for clear skies after the 20 cms of low density snow that had fallen over the wind hammered alpine.  Reports of fast moving sluffs over a thin, but stable snowpack had me thinking about skiing a line that always lights up the skyline as you approach the pass from Revelstoke.  Julie, Audrey and myself, were meeting up with fellow Skimo Canada racers Billie and Stano, and we were thinking of heading up Cheops with thoughts of skiing the south face.

We met up with a friend, Dave, at the hotel and he joined us for the day.  Realizing the face might not be in shape yet, we headed up knowing we could always ski down the Cheops 5 bowl (or 6) when it came to that.

Getting up to the shoulder on Cheops was easier than usual.  A nice skin track on beautiful snow had me thinking it might be worth spinning a lap down towards Balu pass, but those thoughts faded as we crested the top with a measly 40-50cms of blower over rocks.  Always keen for adventure, Dave ventured forward up the West ridge towards the sub-summit (past the STS couloir that had been skied previously, and skied again that day…with exposed ice in the lower section…BURLY!) and to the top.

When we looked over towards the zone we wanted to hit, it looked as thin as what we had just fought our way up, and since we were all dreading that descent, we decided to turn it around and ski the north bowl and maybe have time for something else.  Since it was mostly my idea, I took the lead, and with it took the brunt of the rocks.  Using my line as a handrail, most of the others enjoyed some surprisingly good turns down to the shoulder before dropping into the north.

The skiing on the north was better, but the fatter sections were tracked, and you paid the price if you got greedy searching for fresh.  Just as I thought things were rolling nicely, I hit a rock full-force.  The impact released my heel (at 12 on the Dynafits), wrenched my ankle, and turned my stomach at the thought of the gaping axe wound that my base would have just received (props to Prior for making a base that’s better than they used to be).

A quick lap on the headwall and we were back to the truck.  I’d never hit so many rocks in a day that wasn’t October.  Definitely looking for some glaciated skiing Sunday

With a little bit of skiing in November, our first Canadian ski mountaineering race happening at COP last week-end, the Revelstoke Mountain Resort opening day today, we have officially started the 2010/2011 ski season.

After some good precipitations in the last week, we could finally enjoy powder turns and decent coverage at low elevation. The town is well covered with a white blanket and its always nice to see the big snow machinery at work!

The Vert 180, our first canadian circuit race of the season, kicked off the race series with a fun friendly atmosphere and the best showing so far for a ski mountaineering race in Canada. The organizers were thrilled to sign up close to 100 competitors, ready to sprint and lap the course for the duration of 3 hours. The race started a little after 6:00pm and finished just after 9:00pm. Some of our top guns lapped as much as 19 times the circuit.

This brings us to my main topic, our fundraiser event for our self-supported National Team heading to the World Championships in Claut, Italy in February this year. On top of our Canadian race circuit, which we all attend through the year, we send athletes overseas to represent our country through different competitions.

So come out and support our athletes next Thursday December 9th from 7:00pm at The Last Drop for a good time!

Prizes, outfits and great music from the The Rippin Rattelers,

If you’d like to check them out : http://www.rippinrattlers.com/

See you soon!

~J

I wish I controlled the winter “switch”. Not that I’m complaining about the beautiful fall weather we have been blessed with, but when there’s so much talk about an La Nina year, I kindda had my expectations built up a bit.

So far I have had 4 outings on my skis, rock skis that is, and they’ve earned their name well almost every time! McCrae has been my favorite destination and not by choice. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had some sweet turns over there but its getting to be a little like an old disc skipping.

My first couple times up McCrae were very social and fun days. Everyone was psyched to be on their skis, on snow, and getting that feeling back is priceless. It was a little thin still, but the glacier offered some decent turns. I took some Spanish friends up for their first Canadian ski turns and we had a rare encounter driving up that day, we surprised a huge male moose. I was very happy to have seen such a beautiful beast on snow.

We braved Rogers Pass last week but ended up driving back to McCrae because of the very high snow line. We had some sweet turns that day and a fun crew.

Looking at the weather forecast, the week coming up looks promising. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Since moving to Revelstoke in 2004, one location has remained a staple for the start and end to my ski seasons, Mt. McCRae.  This modest summit in the Selkirks south of Revelstoke has a high logging road and summer trail leading to the alpine that makes for easy access in the fall.  When the first real dump of the season hits, you can count on the pocket glacier and summer snowpatch giving up the first powder turns of the season.  In the spring, as the snow retreats and access returns, it’s one of the last places to go where you can still ski right to the truck.

Last weekend, Julie, myself, and colleagues, Graham and Greg, headed up for what would likely be the last turns of the year.  A couple weeks of rain had finally broken, and the cool clear night meant the re-freeze was in full effect, conditions were perfect.  With more snow lingering in the alpine than anticipated, we luckily made it to the high cut-block on the north-west shoulder before putting the skis on and starting our way up.  The snow was heavily sun-cupped and would be interesting on the way down.

We made our way up through the well spaced forest, past the alpine lakes (still very frozen) to the pocket glacier and summit ridge.  The ridge made for good bootpacking with the snow still being a bit frozen, and the soaring temps were ideal in transforming the ice into perfect corn for the descent.  The summit is a bit anti-climactic after some of the rock scrambling at the start of the ridge, but the views south down the Columbia river make this extra effort very worth the while.

Perfect spring skiing awaited us.  We were all super excited to be out skiing, and all very surprised at how good the conditions were.  The glacier ski was outstanding and the broken rocks down to the lakes were equally good.  Even skiing through the trees and sun-cupped crap wasn’t that half bad.  Back in town by 2:00 and sitting at La Baguette enjoying some tasty espresso beverages and planning out the rest of the day…life doesn’t get much better.

Since my first hike in the Valley of the Ten Peaks back in 2002, I’ve always remembered the couloir above the lake.  Every time I walked past a “Canadian Rockies” souvenir calendar stand, the 3-3 and a half screams to be skied.  I’d never really done much skiing in the Rockies, and after having my first real ski mountaineering experience, I’m definitely going to return.

I had been talking to fellow skimo racer Ian Gale about the good-looking weather we were having, and when he knew there were other people stoked on skiing, all of his spring ideas started coming out.  Not really knowing much one way or the other, it was decided we’d head to the Neil Colgan Hut up on the edge of the Fay glacier, spend the night and hit up the north facing lines off Mt. Quadra and Mt. Fay.

We had some good beta 0n the routes since a pair from Revelstoke had been up on Fay earlier in the week, and just as we were finalizing our plans, Mr. Greg Hill was sending the exact route we had our sights set on.

Highest habitable location in Canada

We arrived in Lake Louise later in the afternoon on Friday, May 14th, met up with an old friend and waited for our fourth man, Ian Jackson, to finish up work down in Kootenay Crossing and make his way up.  Some final discussions and we were driving up Moraine Lake road in what was some perfect timing since it was the first day the road was open and therefore eliminated a long bike ride in.

Skinning up to the 3.5

Snow at the edge of Moraine lake was pretty isothermic and we were just hoping things in the 3.5 weren’t quite so heated up.  After making our way to the base of the couloir, we decided the hazard of something coming down was pretty low and we started the 1000m bootpack to the top.  Cresting just before dark, we were fortunate to spot the hut in the high col between Mt. Little and Mt. Bowlen, and we cruised into the comfort zone by headlamp just after 10pm.

Clear skies the next morning had us all quite excited.  However, the warm weather outside had us concerned since it hadn’t really cooled off as much as we’d hoped.  It wasn’t going to affect the morning objective of Quadra, but it might affect our ability to get up Fay as well since we were hoping to get back down the 3.5 before things really got warm.

Quadra

On the Glacier

Heading down

Booting up Quadra

Quadra sub-summit

Skiing down around Little was fast and fun.  In no time we were throwing the crampons on to boot up to the Fay-Quadra col and glide down for our first view of the north side.  Things looked good.  We quickly booted up the chute and hammered on as the three of us boys tried to keep up to Julie on the bootpack.  On the top, Ian scoped out a nice entrance that didn’t involve sliding in over rocks, and we leapfrogged our way down a great steep run that will be a highlight for years to come.

Neil Colgan Hut area

Looking down 3.5 to Moraine Lk

Retracing our route from the morning, we headed back to the Colgan hut for some lunch and to pack our things to head out.  Slides roaring down most of the east, south-east and south faces, had us anxious to make our way back out.         Arriving at the 3.5, I only imagined what a line such as this would ski like in powder.  The turns of the top weren’t too bad at all, but you knew that we’d be getting into some much more variable snow, and it was just a matter of when.  Soon after, we were fighting our way through the runneled snow before exiting onto the lower fan and some serious schmoo.  A quick jaunt across the lake and we were back at the truck.

Such a beautiful place.  I keep looking at the weather hoping that they’ll be another good forecast, but it’s not looking too good for this weekend.  Might have to hit something local…hmmm.

Low angle schmoo

Lower 3.5

Quadra line

Like Krista pointed out this morning, “there is something special about being on snow when its warm and sunny”. It might be really nice here in town but out there in the mountains, its magnificent! Its the best type of traveling, believe me!

Today I hit a 100 days of touring for the season, pretty cool.

Having light fast gear is ideal this time of year, especially if you’re skiing with Miki, Stano’s Slovak buddy. They called me last night to meet up at the Pass for a quick ski. Miki is a strong and fine skier who’s taking his full guide exam in July, in a place like no other, Chamonix, France. It was great to see Stano back from Europe and Miki on his short visit to Canada.

As we headed out Balu Pass towards Cheops 5, we couldn’t help noticing the quiet and untracked terrain, with the exception of one snowshoer’s tracks. After skinning and a little boot packing along with lots of chatting, we made it up Cheops 5 and took a short break. The only time we had a cloud over our heads was at the top when we stopped.

We took a few pics, and started our descent. The snow was surprisingly good on the first pitch, a south west facing slope. We continued to get decent turns and eventually skied over some debris to finally ski fast corn snow on our way out.

Met up with the boys afterward for some eats at the Modern, I probably initiated the idea with my panini earlier on….I enjoyed their company before their long drive back to the coast and got myself a shot of espresso on top of a white chocolate scoop of gelato from a new place in town called La Baguette, to finish off this awesome day!

Thanks Stano & Miki!