Jenny's Mountain Adventures: Daddy Cool and Puff Daddy in Rogers Pass

Does it ever stop snowing in Rogers Pass? I doubt it. I have never been up there on a clear day, its always dumping. With over 100 cm of storm snow on the ground and 70 cm in the forecast through the weekend we somehow managed to sneak in two amazing days with surprisingly stability. We took advantage of our good fortune to bang out a couple of laps in the Puff Daddy area with Heath and Alan. Jordan, you missed out big time buddy!

Stoked on the skin track

Kyle called Alan up an hour before he left for the pass and like a good ski buddy, he dropped everything and came along for the weekend. I was driving down from Red Deer and meeting the guys at the Petro Canada. When I got there I realized I had left the keys for my Thule...uh somewhere else?! Splitting time between three towns makes it difficult to keep track of things. Fortunately, the only thing I needed were my ski poles as Kyle was bringing my skis from home. Who needs poles anyways right?

Kyle surveys the drop in to Daddy Cool

It turns out, I need poles. I am still in the process of getting my new system dialed and as a result, my skins don't really fit my Gotama's. Sliding backwards down skin tracks was the name of the game until Kyle and Alan each loaned me a pole so it all worked out. They managed to tour better than me with one pole. This weekend, I was rocking my new Marker Kingpins for the first time. It was an amazing upgrade from the old Dukes I have used for years. I am so psyched on my new pow touring set-up. Its going to make touring so much more fun.

One pole in deep pow!

We skied Daddy Cool on Saturday with two german guys we met on the skin track. It was a great lap through pillows and tight Christmas Trees, but it looks really scary and committing to drop into as the terrain just keeps rolling over. Once we were into the line it wasn't as bad as it looked. The snow was excellent and we encountered only a small amount of sluff in the steep zones.

Our new german friends and their sprinter van

We camped in the Rogers Pass parking lot, our usual spot. I really hope that when the old hotel is torn down that Parks will continue to have free camping in the pass, or at least a budget option for people to stay up there. It is so nice to ski in/ski out from the trailer and much safer than driving back and forth to Golden or Revelstoke each day on snowy highways which can be more dangerous than the skiing.

Room with a view - perfect for scoping out our next lap

Not a bad way to spend the evening after enjoying the pow

We woke to about 10 cm of fresh snow and it continued to fall all day. The parking lot was empty and we were the first group on the skin track up Grizzly Shoulder towards Puff Daddy. Some very lovely people we had met the day before loaned me a pair of poles which was amazing, thanks guys! It turns out we had a few mutual friends too. Crazy small world.

Winter wonderland in Connaught Creek

We didn't end up seeing any other skiers until we were almost at the top of the skin track. Where was everyone?? Did they know something we didn't know?

Hiking up Grizzly Shoulder

The snowfall is getting heavier

Nope! Alan dug a pit on an east facing slope and found the storm layer to be light and fluffy. There was a layer about 60 cm down but we did not see any avalanche activity in the area and nothing was moving as we skied our run down Puff Daddy. The tracks from the day before were almost completely filled in and we had the place to ourselves. As the forecast had promised, it was a powder smorgasbord.