January Rogers Pass - Misery and Redemption

This trip didn't look like it was going to happen...

We had planned to camp and ski Roger's Pass with Connor months ago and David was driving out from Vancouver to meet us. Two days before departure however, Calgary was in a deep freeze. As we were getting the trailer ready, Kyle wondered aloud if we would blow it to pieces on the drive out of town in -25c. Frantically, we scoured weather forecasts and plotted driving distances to warmer ski areas. After a few phone calls back and forth, we decided to keep Rogers Pass as our destination but wimped out on the camping and secured a nice warm room at the Dreamcatcher Hostel in Golden. Are we getting soft?

Some alpine views from high on Grizzly Shoulder

Tunnel Creek Day Trip

It was a slow start to the season in Fernie this year. Over Christmas, people were downloading the Timber Chair due to low snow coverage! Fortunately, after New Years, the Griz finally brought some powder and Kyle and I were lucky enough to be in town to enjoy it. We alternated 2 days skiing pow at the resort with a day in the backcountry with Chad to find some fresh tracks.

Sun dogs in the sky over Curry Bowl

Dolomite Circuit

Planning ski trips is tricky business when you book dates months in advance. Emily and Trevor had claimed the weekend of Dec 14/15th with us in Roger's Pass almost a year ago, but we weren't able to book the hut. The plan was to camp up in the pass in our trailer which would be a good compromise. As the weekend drew closer however, plans changed yet again. Kyle was going to be away for work with his truck and I was not interested in borrowing a truck to pull the trailer up to the pass on my own. It also hadn't been snowing much in the pass so that plan went out the window. Researching Alberta snow conditions from India, Em and Trev and booked the Rampart Hostel on the Icefields Parkway instead.

Fresh off the plane after a year on the road, Emily and Trevor were ready to ski. We met at a very reasonable time at the petro-can to drive out to the mountains with their friend Scott in tow. On the drive, Emily called her dad to wish him a happy birthday. She hadn't told her parents they were home due to an elaborate plot to surprise Trevor's parents for their 60th birthdays two nights before. Suffering from jet lag and culture shock, the pair was pretty excited to forego real world activities such as unpacking and sleep for a few more days by disappearing into the wilderness.

Views from the road at Crowfoot Glades

Off-Roading in the Ghost

Sometimes driving in the Ghost is easy, and sometimes you spend all day winching yourself out of snow drifts. In early December, Kyle and I made an attempt to drive out to This House of Sky for a day of ice climbing. We left before dawn and drove out to Waiparous. It was icy and slow going. By  the time we hit the turn off, we had a feeling it might be a slow drive into the North Ghost.

Driving out to the Ghost

Urs Hole

What do you do when you find yourself very jet-lagged but unexpectedly available on a sunny Friday in November? Go ice-climbing obviously! Upon our return from overseas adventures, it didn't take us long to embrace the Canadian winter that had arrived while we were away. Urs Hole was a perfect early season objective thanks to the short approach and mellow grade (WI2). The 5 pitch route meanders its way up a deep canyon that collects the avalanche debris from Cascade Mountain's huge alpine bowls. As a result, it is only really climbed in the early season before much snow has fallen. With this years early ice formation and low snow in the alpine, it was a good opportunity to give this gem a go.

Looking up the drainage from the parking area

African Safari Part II - Chobe National Park, Botswana

From Victoria Falls, we hopped in a van to drive to the Zimbabwe/Botswana border, which was only about an hour away. Crossing into Botswana, we immediately noticed the improvement in infrastructure and that there seemed to be more going on. There were more people out working, driving or exercising and people seemed happier and friendlier than they had in Zimbabwe. This was most obvious when we arrived at our lodge. The staff greeted us with a shrill wavering sound called ululation (see/hear example here), which is used as a greeting and celebration noise. Throughout our stay, we tried to emulate the women and they tried to teach us, which usually ended in lots of laughter. The staff were cheerful, friendly and welcoming and genuinely excited to get to know us during our stay. The lodge was beautiful, situated on the bank of the Chobe River. Each couple had their own little river house and we shared a communal dining and lounge area with the other guests. The pool area was popular with lots of areas to relax between safaris, and there was even a swim cage in the river so if you wanted to go for a dip with the crocodiles, that was an option too!

Bakwena Eco Lodge near Chobe National Park

Rafting the Zambezi River in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

After our stay in Johannesburg South Africa, it was time for something completely different. We flew to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe (or was it Zambia?), where we immediately noticed the difference between the two countries. Getting through immigration was a nightmare as everyone had to fill out their immigration cards once they got off the plane, then wait in a long line for their visa which was filled out by hand. After making it through customs, we collected our luggage, another disorganized ordeal. Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) is a very poor country with significant government and economic issues throughout its turbulent past and up to present day. Their currency has undergone crisis after crisis with hyperinflation and multiple re-denominations in the 2000's. The eventual demonetization of the currency in 2015 in favour of the American Dollar occurred after it become one of the lowest valued currencies in the world where a 100 trillion dollar note was worth about 40 US cents!

Rural Zimbabwe