Training Log Archive: revy

Last day of the trip and another 5cm of snow overnight (only 10cm over the week). Best skiing would have been in the Attic but there wasn't much interest to go all the way over to this zone. Instead we checked out some SW facing stuff off Hellroaring Ridge and Ice Basin. First run was pretty good - second run didn't link up as well - would have been better if we were able to ski fall line but this was a crusty underneath the new snow. Then headed over to Jenga and a final good run on Shreddies before calling it a day.

Lodge pros:
- nice space, clean, good sauna and shower
- manageable terrain if high avy hazard
- nice to ski in the sun at this time of year
- high elevation
- despite being in a SW facing basin there is a lot of N facing terrain daily accessible

Cons:
- short runs and benchy on the terrain closest to lodge
- best terrain is a little cruxy to get too
- could use a better drying room
- fairly expensive vs other lodges
- heli logistics aren't great with meeting in Nelson and mid morning flight times.

A bit of a stormy day - first day with wind. We skied down to the lake then down the valley to Pit Bowl. This run didn't work out as well as I thought it might (shorter and some windslab on the roll due to wind). Most of the group headed over to Hidden Bowl next (while Brook, Kenneth and Stuart had some fund skiing the steep entrances into the bowl - much easier done with a smaller group). The rest of us had a few good runs in Hidden Bowl and the bottom of Wishbone Ridge. Buffer Zone and Make a Wish look like good runs from the ridge - we joined them part way down.

The sun finally disappeared... today's objective was the Attic which required a boot pack up a narrow ramp through the cliffs called the Trapdoor to access the bowl. Three really good runs in this zone. Reminded me of Carlyle as combo of open alpine into steep avalanche run outs with Xmas tree to keep the skiing interesting. Too bad the access to this zone is so complicated as would have considered coming back later in the Week. going down the boot pack was mainly a slide slip and the two runs getting too and from the Trapdoor were rather mellow so a fair bit of work...

Still sunny but cooling down - survived the inversion it seemed. Given that this was possibly the last day of nice weather decided to hit an alpine objective. We dropped to the lake and then climbed up the Escalator again but continued upward to Mistletoe peak. The wind affect in the alpine was facetting making skiing quit acceptable. Nice to sit on a summit in January and enjoy the warm air and lack of wind. Great panoramic views as well. The run down through the Hourglass was nice and long (950m) and through a cool gully feature. Half the group stuck around for another north face run on Blueberries (nice and steep again).

Today was supposed to be the warmest day but didn't climb above 2 degrees on the ridge top. Some steeper west aspects were getting moist but otherwise snow still holding up... low January sun certainly lacks punch. Given the air temperatures I kept expecting the snow quality to deteriorate faster but won't complain that it didn't. Some fun runs today - Cirque de Soleil and Jenga/Wishbkne ridge. Overall the runs at this lodge are fairly short but managed to combine a few runs to make them over 300m per run.

We spent an hour and a half in the morning doing an avalanche scenario then headed up to Alberta Knob. Down Shreddies across the flats to Deet Trees and then up Hawk Owl. The wind effect in the alpine was fairly significant so decided against heading to the ridge and skied back down through the trees. This was pretty good so stayed on the north side climbing the Escalator and skiing White Rabbit (nice steep line). Sunny and warm day again (though inversion meant the lake was cold). Being on the north aspect also meant the light was a little flat.