Training Log Archive: revy

Rainy day in town and I wasn't that motivated to get out skiing but managed to drag myself out of the house in the afternoon. It turned out that conditions were OK (better rain than snow I guess) and luckily the rain stopped for a bit.

Sentry Day 7

A surprisingly sunny day today though with moderate wind. I suggested a trip towards Sentry Mountain - potentially some sun affected snow but a new direction of travel would keep us entertained. The first descent down Excalibur was pretty good - just some crust on the lower steeper section. The section near our following uptrack also looked good for descending. We worked our way along the ridge and dropped into Sentry Glades for a short run. The snow was moist but skiable. It looked like climbing the ridge was doable but I wanted to climb the west ridge instead. This route went smoothly - there is one 50 m section on a steeper slope. Very windy on the top with soft sastrugi snow. The descent was fun with better snow quality on west facing or lower angle slopes. We climbed back to the ridge rather than do a traversing climb. The uptrack back to Rampart climbs a decent ski slope as well.

Sentry Day 6

Variable visibility forecast for today so heading down into the trees. The first run was sketchy as there were hidden ice chunks in the snow below the cliffs on the skier's right of Siege. These entrances are steep... both Neil and I had a couple falls. The back up to Archer's Lookout - our track from yesterday was much easier after about 8 cm of new snow. We skied the upper half of S2 which was great. The skier'd right opening has less Christmas trees. Partway down the small trees got quite thick and we traversed left. Our exit worked fine although still tricky side hill trail breaking due to the crust. Headed up the valley and skied a step-wise alpine pitch below Profanity. Not the best for the snowboarders but worked OK for the skiers. I went home early with Courtney and Vikki while the rest of the crew did another pitch on Plumbline.

Sentry Day 5

The first day with some poor visibility though the clouds came and went. We skied down Siege to start the day. The old tracks, low snowpack, and prominent crust meant the ski quality was worse than the alpine conditions. There are a lot of xmas trees in the skier's right side of the run...

I set a track up to Archer's Lookout. The steeper section is straightforward but the icy layer underneath and the surface facets made for some slippery bits. We skied along the shoulder and dropped a little into S2 before cutting back left. We then climbed towards Plumbline (on another tough track) and snuck in some tracks between the previous group's tracks. It looked like we could find fresh snow on the skier's left side so used the old track to climb there. I don't know why their track went all the way to the lake but I didn't feel like breaking a new one. The snow was well preserved on this side and we explored some adventurous exits through the cliff at the bottom.

Sentry Day 4

Another nice weather day - thought we'd have more cloud but didn't really happen. Climbed up to Rasta Peak via an alternative route (I wanted to check out descent options). This route works but has one steep bit that requires good stability, and is a little roundabout. From Rasta I decided that the traverse to Profanity Col was not looking too appealing (sunny and steep) so we skied the south slopes first. As long as the angle was lower the snow quality was fine. We then climbed up towards the col from the other side. Skiing the col proper was fine as the cornice was passable. The slope itself is not that long but a nice pitch. Eiri wanted to head home so Stuart and I did a detour to get her to the track home. We met the rest of the group at Rasta Pass and headed up to Little Goat Ridge to ski a left line on Battle of the Moores. Finished with a short shot on the north side of the valley from the Riders of Rohan start.

Sentry Day 3

Sunny and calm - mild inversion but snow quality on solar aspects was holding up. We started with a descent to the bottom of the Shield. The trees were rather tight. I think in the future I'd take the traverse route and cut out a little climbing (if avalanche conditions allow as this route crosses a steeper slope).

First run was off the ridge down to Tetris Lake. The back up a more direct route (probably best after having skied the slope) and down Battle of the Moores. I looked at the more direct lines we skied last time but they were rather thin or had avalanched. Better snow conditions today with warmer temperatures and faceting of the surface snow.

Climbed up SBS (partially) and skied two lines back to valley bottom, plus a line in Kashmir. I called it a day at this point and short cut the shoulder back home. In retrospect using the old track would be faster as only a couple side step sections, though still need to put skins on. Not the best route for snowboarders though.