Monthly Archives: January 2012

I can’t remember a day which has passed by slower than today.  It’s not like I haven’t been busy.. Taxes, email catchup, webmaster duties for 3 sites, catching up on the Valdez snowpack so I can get back to forecasting tomorrow – it’s all very time consuming.  But the  hustle and bustle of the CAA L1 can’t be matched in intensity.

The course is now over and done and I passed with marks landing me in the top 3 of the class. I was able to gather a bunch of photos from people, make some tweaks and put together a bit of a gallery of the trip that will be posted below.  Flying out in the chopper we were rewarded with some broken skies and views of the lake terrain around our hut.  As soon as I touched down I felt a strong urge to be back home with Robyn, and drove 10 hours to get back to my folks’ place in Pendleton by that evening.

Getting spun back up on the happenings here I can’t help but look forward again. In a way it’s annoying because I find myself always so anxious for the future, but then again if we didn’t have so much cool stuff planned it might be easier to live in the now.

February has Robyn and I heading to Cordova to teach an awareness over 4 days.  That will entail a ferry ride and a new town for me which will be super cool. It will also give us a chance to ski with our buddy Hoots, the any forecaster for the city.  As soon as we get back to Valdez my backcountry ski course will begin (students permitting) and I will be taking students from PWSCC out on ski trips twice a week until March.  March is when the Idaho faithful are making the pilgrimage up to AK to sample the goods and old friends will be in and out through the middle of April – no shortage of ski partners from here on out!

Here are some pics.

Hello outside world.  B.C. Backcountry reporting live. Our days here are running together and I will be back in the Explorer headed south again by Monday morning if all goes well. We have the chance of another 25 cm of snow with high winds in the next couple days so we might even get a little natural avalanche action to check out.

Dan, Sam and one of our instructors Mike.

The paper work, homework, work sheets and observations are relentless but it feels really good to get into a solid routine. The instructors made it clear early on that our skis are for access first and foremost.  Even though we are surrounded by awesome ski lines we are most certainly there to work.  This however doesn’t mean we didn’t shred the SHIT out of a 35 cm freshie run with 2% blower pow to get to our low elevation pit location..  2% has to be up there as the best snow I have skied in a LONG time.  Pillows and slashes abound, but about 98% of the day is spent nose to the pit wall and pencils to field books.

Getting ready to hit a 2% pow run in 35 cm new.. YEEEEES

Errant shot, but a goodie.

Friday's Menu

Hanging in the bunk upstairs for a minute and I got my work done a bit ahead of time to give a quick update from Valkyr Lodge. The lodge is a beautiful three story wood lodge.  A gear room downstairs and a large drying room at the entry to the second level.  The main floor is super open with views in all directions to possible ski tours.  The upstairs hallway has small bunk rooms on either side.

Valkyr Lodge

Our heli bump was cloudy but cool nonetheless. I liked getting out of the chopper and having it buzz away in a powder cloud and let the silence sink in around my home for the week.  The instructors are knowledgeable and the curriculum is slightly more geared toward industry (which it should be) than my previous American courses.  I really like being immersed in the snow world.  There is essentially no time to do or think about anything else.  Up at 5:45AM and out the door to -5F to get morning weather obs from the study plot.  Then it’s into class till lunch and out in the field till 4:00PM and our evening weather obs.  Then more lectures, dinner and homework.  All snow all the time.  I like getting into the rhythm and feel really comfortable so far with the requirements of the course.

Getting a lift into the lodge

My crew has been great.  There is one other American (albeit from Colorado, but he is still nice), one woman, and I am the lone splitboarder.  Most are from Calgary/Canmore/Banff or Whistler area.  Cool peeps to spend the evenings with sharing tales of avys and pow days.

Today on my tour I went to take some insulin and noticed the bubbles weren’t moving.  Just as I made the observation the vial turned opaque from one end to the other.  Frozen solid.  Standing and digging pits requires me to carry my insulin closer to the core, especially when it’s -5F or lower.  Thawed it out though.  No biggy!

Test pit on NW ridge of Stoney Trees

I think we are firing up the sauna tonight.  PSYCHED! Gonna be one sweaty, stinky pile of ski bums!! Hoping to get some clear sky shots and steal some photos from others by the end of it all.

SAUNA TIME!

B.C. backcountry – over and out.

Boots has it figured out. Boots is Sparky and Bridgette’s cat that apparently “came with the house”.  That puts Boots at over 17 years old.  She sleeps under their woodstove at home in Rossland, B.C. a cool little mountain town I stopped off in for a couple days before heading to my CAA level 1 course.

Doesn't do the quaint mountain town justice but it was a grey day..

A typical Rossland home. Super cool.

Bridgette and Sparky, old friends and roommates of Pete and Sarah showed me an awesome time in Rossland.  I had a bed, great company, food and even a lift ticket to Red on Saturday thanks to the ski patrol director.

Red Mountain in the back. The bigger Granite mountain isn't in the photo. Overall the terrain was siiiiick and the snow was softer than expected!

Sparky’s daughter Sally was competing in the freeskiing comp that day and ended up winning it all in front of the home crowd.  Red mountain is minutes from Rossland and an easy XC ski to the lift.  The town has a great feel.  Steep roofed homes on hilly streets a nice downtown and a major outdoor community influence.

During my stay I also got to meet John Tweedy, a big name in avalanche forecasting that ran the avalanche program at Kootenay Pass for 30 years.  He is the avy guy in the new snowboard flick “The Art of Flight”. He was all stories and sage advice over a couple hours and a beer at the pub.

Currently I am set up in the back of the Explorer, piled with blankets and a sleeping bag trying to stay warm for the night in the staging area of my course.  In the morning a heli will pluck me and 12 other students to fly us into Valkyr Lodge in the Selkirk Mountains.

Hiking around the lake outside a tiny town named Burton. I stayed the night in the back of the Explorer in a 45 F bag... luckily I had some blankets!

Home in Valdez the faucet has finally turned off and the constant snows have given way to single digits and wind.  Under Sparky’s woodstove Boots sits warm as can be and at the moment I am quite jealous of her position.

For some reason even though I am headed to B.C. for a week long avalanche course in the heart of the legendary Selkirk Mountains my mind is still stuck in Valdez. With plans lining up for all my buddies to join me again at Tailgate Alaska this April and the epic sunny day views I had on Tuesday from Thompson Pass, it’s hard to think about riding anywhere else..

I am sure this will change as soon as the wheels land back home in Oregon where I will pack my car and drive north to B.C.  The area I am headed is one that Robyn and I have picked out as a place we would love to live.  Beautiful mountains, wilderness, small towns, great skiing and great climbing.  The lodge I am staying in for my course couldn’t be sweeter. They will pick us up in a heli on Sunday for a 7 day stay. This course may also be my meal ticket into the Avy industry in Canada, and I will meet a lot of big names in the game.  I am super excited and can’t wait to share some pictures along the way!