Nov. 4th Mt. Gordon in a day

After failing on Mt. Rhonda and a lack of snow anywhere else, we decided to go have a go on Mt. Gordon as a day trip. The weather was perfect and the views couldn't have been better.

The approach was scrappy and we were just barely able to skin from the parking lot. There were 25cm's fresh on the ground at the parking lot, however above treeline the winds had pretty much taken it all away. All open areas above treeline were wind hammered sastrugi. The lee zones were forming slab and we noted a class 2 on the NE side of Mt. Olive and the same on Mt. Saint Nic.

We arrived on the summit at the late hour of 4pm and enjoyed some of the best views around. Spent 15 minutes taking in the views and then off we went back towards the car. I had forgotten my ice axe near the top and didn't realize it until we were too far down. Thought I would never see it again, however, when I got back from my work hitch I had an email waiting for me with news that my ice axe was waiting for me in Revelstoke. Sweet.

The total trip took 13 hours car to car. Significant time can be shaved off if you wait for enough snow to be able to ski all the way back down through the canyon. We took the summer trail up and the canyon back down. There was still lots of open water to cross on the way down which added time. A fun trip and a very long day.

Oct. 29 failed attempt to bag Rhonda in a day

On Oct. 29 we tried to do a day trip of Mt. Rhonda on the Wapta. We were stopped and turned around by some one needing to be back in Cowtown at a certain time. Oyyy! The weather wasn't ideal anyways. We did have some nice turns back down the slope above the hut.

new video

Here's a video from September and October, more updates to come tommorrow.

Vids are getting better each time. Keep in mind this is very early pre season skiing, and as such it's more about the hunt for turns in shallow snowpack, as opposed to ripping fast lines.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzZSxImMNBA

Oct. 26 turns attempt gear hike

Went to go for laps at Rae, but with anemic looking conditions we pulled the plug and went to check out Robertson Glacier instead. We hiked the 17ish km's with our skis on our backs, and didn't really get any turns. Poor snow cover on the glacier. Followed some large grizzly tracks in the snow, and saw a crazy moose and young one in the parking lot. She wouldn't let us out of the car for about 5 minutes.

Going to head out on Friday to hunt for more turns.

Oct 22 turns...bring the snow!!

When the snow doesn't fall it's time to go to the snow, rather than sit around and wait for it to come to you.

Went up to Bow Hut for a couple days to see what conditions are like, and to get some turns in and scope out some terrain for later. 20cm on the glacier, breakable crust. Approx. 1.5cm of graupel on evening of 22nd.

Shennanigans and good times.

the colours

Temple and then some random shots in Grande Cache. I normally don't like Grande Cache, however in the fall it's quite nice.

Eiffel Peak

Plenty of snow last week, but wanted to get out on one last day trip before coming up to work. Was suprised by a grizz and 2 cubs when I came out of the outhouse. Lucky for me she didn't seem bothered by me popping out of the outhouse only a few metres away.

September 22 POWDER DAY!!! Really?

Wow...not much else to say. Winter quality powder on September 22nd while most people are still whining about summer coming to a close. Jason forgot his skins and had to bootpack on foot. With the forecast highs or 13c for the day we had to leave the house at 4:30 am in order to get the goods before things warmed up and ruined the winter quality snow. No rocks were hit as the previous snow had a supportive crust on it to smooth over the rocks.

September 9 ski day season day #1

So what to do after a fresh snowfall this early in the season? Shoulder the skis and start looking for turns of course. We didn't expect much, but ended up getting some good turns in. Much fun was had. Visibility was poor.

slacking off on the posts

I didn't take the time to update a lot of the trips for the winter so I will leave it at that as there is just too much that I did. I will start updating this blog in the fall at the start of ski season and possibly start adding conditions ect. Perhaps next year I will keep it going through the entire year to include climbs and hikes ect. Will see then.