Tuesday, February 21, 2023

Jumbo Pass Cabin Pow Fest

Approach to the Jumbo Pass Hut
Booking a winter hut trip is a gamble. You never know if the weather will cooperate or if you will even be able to get into the hut at all. We booked the Jumbo hut months in advance after multiple failed attempts to secure a booking at any of the Columbia Valley Huts. Somehow, the stars aligned and we ended up with 5 days over the Family Day weekend. With a treacherous start to the backcountry season and a low snowpack, people were hesitant to commit, but thanks to Steve's network of cool friends we managed to put together a crew of 6 stoked skiers who were all praying for snow.

Friday, February 3, 2023

Little Sifton Traverse - Rogers Pass

Distance: 12 km
Elevation: 1400m
Time: 6hrs
A rare clear day in Rogers Pass gave us the perfect opportunity to tick off the Little Sifton Traverse
A Roger's Pass classic, the Little Sifton Traverse gets you up high in the alpine above Grizzly Shoulder and offers excellent views of Sir Donald, Illecillewaet, Asulkan and Cheops. There are options to summit Little Sifton, or ski some yo-yo laps on the way down the confusingly named Grizzly Slide Path out the the Hermit Parking Lot.

Monday, January 2, 2023

Trespass Ridge Fernie

Distance: 14km
Elevation: 1300m
Time: 4h 15min
Up the Tunnel Creek Road
Trespass Ridge is a great day trip out near Fernie! Starting at the Tunnel Creek parking area west of Fernie, we followed the road up as if we were approaching the hut. After 4km, the skin track to the hut branches off right up a drainage but if you continue to follow the road, it wraps around under Trespass Ridge. Follow the flat logging road until it starts to climb again. Take the right spur and follow it to the cut block. From here you will have a view of the ridge.

Saturday, December 17, 2022

Early Season Pow - McGill Glades (Rogers Pass)

Distance: 12km
Elevation: 1150m
Time: 5hrs
McGill Glades deliver
After a mediocre day on Bruins Ridge and Hospital Bowl the day before, I had low expectations as we started up from the Bostock Parking lot towards the McGill Glades. So low in fact that I was feeling sad we hadn't skipped out on skiing altogether to stay up for the midnight Moontricks show in Golden the night before (we are now to lame to do both apparently). The only thing that kept us on track was the fact that Kyle was in bed at 8:30 and I felt too guilty to wake him up to come to the show with me. Good thing too, because we managed to find awesome powder and explore a whole new zone!

Friday, December 16, 2022

Bruins Ridge and Hospital Gully - Rogers Pass

Distance: 14km
Elevation: 1150m
Time: 5.5h
Lots of alders in Connaught drainage this year
Mid-December in Rogers Pass is usually a safe bet for some good snow, even if the Rockies haven't seen much precipitation yet. This year was different. Driving west from Golden, there was barely any snow on the ground. Even as we arrived at the visitor centre we were shocked at how small the snowbanks were. Equipped with our rock skis, we made our way up toward Balu Pass, with a plan to ski 8812 Bowl.

Monday, December 12, 2022

December Pow at McMurdo Cabin

Starting at sunrise
Our 3rd annual December pilgrimage to the McMurdo Cabin was our first weekend of skiing for the 2022/2023 season. After horrible snow conditions the previous year and a rough start to the season, we had very low expectations for the skiing and we couldn't find anyone with a sled who wanted to come with us. Despite that, Kyle and I managed to find some decent snow and had a surprisingly fun weekend at the hut.

Friday, December 2, 2022

A Few Days of Riding in the Phoenix Area

Fun in the sun!
Between our trip to Sedona and bike packing on the Black Canyon Trail, we didn't have much time to explore the Phoenix riding scene. We were able to check out 3 different zones, each with different character and trails.