Training Log Archive: revy

Last day at the lodge - helicopter was coming after lunch so time to get a morning ski in. Blue skies again but cold and some wind (though not as bad as a few days ago). I wanted to explore somewhere new so risked leaving known good snow for the unknown of Camelot Bowl. Acceptable conditions and nice and warm in the sun. Looks like lots of mini-golf lines heading into the basin to the north. Getting to the bowl itself was fine on the right side. A little exposure to shorter slopes. Left side is steeper. Getting to the ridge didn't seem crazy - nor would dropping off the summit. Got close but didn't bag Seeman.

Snowed through the evening... about 25cm on the storm board. Mainly cloudy today with the occasional flurry and the occasional sunny break.

The really good skiing in the basin to the east was tempting however I was keen to check out some of the terrain towards qua delights. We had skied here many years ago however my recollection was a little bit vague. To avoid an extra couple of transitions we simply traversed down into a hidden bowl and then climbed up to the col. The visibility didn't allow us to drop into Long Qua so went to plan B which was dropping directly into Qua Delights from the peak as we had trees from the top. This is a great steep line into open glades though there was some firm wind affected snow under the new stuff. This whole bowl was surprisingly wind affected from the last wind event. Also lost half the group part way down... cutting right does lead to a nice open talus slope. Found an old up-track climbers left of the old avy path - probably day trippers from Whitewater. This was a much better spot for the uptrack than in the middle of the basin (which is where we put it years ago). The trees in the avy path are getting bigger... could use another climax slide. Would still be a good ski but as the wind affect underneath was still present I suggested we drop into the west facing slopes from the top. This was a good choice as the snow was much better - one of the best runs of the trip. Back up the valley to rejoin the previous track and then the group split with some heading back for another run and the rest heading back to the lodge with two short south facing runs along the way.

Back towards Wildhorse Peak today. It turned out that the snow on the side had remained fairly unaffected by the wind and we got a little bit of fresh overnight and through the day. From the ridge we dropped directly into morning glory fitting our tracks between some of the previous group's tracks. 5 cm or so of fresh new snow meant that we had the occasional face shot. We re-used the up track from two days ago to do a run through the trees and then headed over to the north ridge of Wildhorse. Only one tricky part of that up-track and there is a nice left to right ramp that can be used to gain a lot of the elevation. Interestingly there is an old cat road on the ridge. Next run was a two parter... after the flat spot both right and left traverses lead to good skiing. I had been eyeing up a longer NE facing treed pitch and we hit this next. Proved to be a popular run - not a lot of super open trees but open enough with good snow and pitch. Then back up the valley with a last run off Wildhorse. Legs were getting tired at this point... set an up-track to the higher ridge drop in. Probably worthwhile to traverse as low as possible to get into the nicer slopes for setting a track.

Super windy overnight and through the day. We headed up the ridge with plan to drop ito Hidden bowl. Man was it windy up there. Quite unpleasant. The slope I wanted to use appeared to have a thin windslab on it. The slabs weren't very reactive but we decided against risking it and dropped down the ridge to a safer entrance. Lots of wind affect in this bowl so changed plans and dropped to the creek. Checked out the avy path on the south side which was also a bit variable so instead of a couple runs here we headed even further south into Baba Yaga. Nice trees here though some sun crust on the steeper slopes. Skiers right would be steeper and drop you into the lower portion of the run better. Can find a few cliffs there though... even further right may be a nice gully. The couloir directly south of our transition spot looked appealing... actually lots of potential skiing here. Back to the ridge and skied down to Qua Creek. A few of us checked out one more zone (fun trees though tight in the middle of the run) while the rest had an adventure finding the correct track back to the lodge... I believe this is the day someone in the group had a rice dong for lunch:)

Headed east today over the ridge. There is a good ramp about 50m above the low point on the pass and then can traverse onto the east side to climb higher. First run took us into some bigger xmas trees at the bottom but the upper 250m were good. I had plans to head further towards Clearwater but got sidetracked by an appealing slope on the lookers left of Morning Glory. Reasonable uptick through a tree patch (one steep roll). Snow had not been touched by the wind here and ranked up there with one of the best runs of the year. Worth going up a second time. Then headed over to Widlhorse as the east slopes became shady (still quite cold though bluebird today) and I wanted to stay warm in the sun. Nice to check out a new basin as well - there appears to be a few nice mellow 300m lines on SW and SE aspects here. Also access to a steep run into Wildhorse bowl from the southernmost portion of the ridge. Skied back into Seeman bowl (at least 3-4 lines in this bowl depending on entrance) and then back to the lodge. Quite the heated discussion in the evening about whether a sheet is needed under a duvet that already has a washable cover. I voted no...

First day at Ymir Lodge. Trip participants were Courtney, Mike, Liz, Derek, Jordan, Tom, Stuart, Heather, Anna, Russ and Vikki. I had visited this operation over ten years ago when it was still a yurt. Wasn't sure what to expect as the owner of this lodge is known for doing things kind of cowboy style. The previous yurts were not the nicest but the price was cheap and the skiing was good. The skiing is still good but the price has gone up due to helicopter access and new building. Can't say I was super impressed with the lodge building itself as many things were still in a half-finished state. Certainly nicer than the yurts but it lacks any sort of character. Kind of reminded me of some tea houses in Nepal.

Today we flew in and went out for an afternoon tour to check out the conditions. Quite cold and windy - some nice snow in sheltered aspects but lots of wind in Qua bowl. Headed over towards Hidden Bowl to see if the wind had made it there yet. The trees below Hidden Bowl can be skied all the way to the creek though some solar effect due to aspect.

Nice skate ski with Courtney and Jordan.