The account below is one small piece of a series of posts documenting our road trip to Montana and interior British Columbia in February, 2010. Stops included Bridger, Whitefish, Fernie, Roger’s Pass, Kicking Horse, Revelstoke, Whitewater, and Red (Rossland). This unforgettable adventure was made possible by the generosity of strangers – now friends – who time and time again let us crash on their floors or in their guest rooms, and then guided us around some of the best terrain that they knew. We were lucky to have this in almost every place we stopped.

This trip reminds us that, while we have adventures in places, it’s the people as much as the place that make the adventure best. I have chosen to feature only one small part of our magical trip. But, altogether, it was the trip of a lifetime. To those of you who made this trip possible, we still owe you a huge thanks. Let’s do our part keep the backcountry skiing community generous and real!

Earlier this week, Frank and I realized that two of the best people we met on this trip have now left this Earth. While they are not featured in this particular segment, let this stand as a tribute to them. Long live the memory of Tony Saracelli and Ethan Johnson. Both of you made this world a better place!

This post was originally written March 8, 2010.

After enjoying our time at Whitefish, we continued north, crossing the border into Canada, where the mountains suddenly seemed more interesting.

The drive from Whitefish to Fernie took us less than 2 hours. We were there with plenty of time to grab some dinner and drinks.

The views of the ski area from town are stunning.

We began our day at the Fernie ski area.

We admired the ridge lines we would love to ski from afar.

But, we quickly headed out for a long slackcountry tour, guided by our Fernie friends, Rob and Adam.

Rob skinning, with the town of Fernie in the distant valley below.

Adam with his Aussie smile.

This looked enticing….

But, this looked even better. Our first line of the day!

The skin up to the chutes provided amazing views.

We were in love with the treasure of the bluebird sky!

Time for the skiing. Rob dropping in.

Me, as seen from above.

Frank.

Adam.

Second skin up another bowl.

There we found some fantastic surface hoar snow that we played on for two laps. Frank enjoying the goods.

Me.

Adam putting in a little zing.

Four backcountry runs and 7 hours later we were back at the bottom of the ski area. Thanks to our super guides, Rob and Adam, we got a delicious taste of what Fernie has to offer. Someday we’d like to come back for dessert Thanks guys!

Other Montana-Canada Road Trip Blog Posts
Road Trip Update
Itinerary
Bridger Bowl
Whitefish
Fernie
Kicking Horse
Roger’s Pass
Revelstoke
Nelson and Whitewater
Red Mountain and Rossland

The post TBT: Backcountry skiing in Fernie (2/23/2010) appeared first on 14erskiers.com.

It is my hope that these posts will at the very least offer something to the reader, as we approach another winter season.

I’ve actually written about this incident before, but with the help of a photo I took last winter, I can now explain it better than I could before. This is the area in question: The shoulder of Decker Mountain just outside Blackcomb ski area in British Columbia.

In the winter of 2002, when I was living in Whistler, things looked a little bit different. The sunlit ramp actually had a couple of rock steps in it, while the area in between the ramp and the curled cornice was actually cleaner than in this photo, more like a very skinny couloir. What you can’t see in this photo, due to the slope in the foreground, is the mellower bowl that all of this leads into.

As I said earlier, I was living in the area at the time, skiing every day. Before this slide, we had our most prolonged dry spell of the season, which meant a few days of rare sun during a highly snowy winter. With a stable coastal snowpack and a danger rating for multiple days of “low” all aspects and elevations, we had been skiing all over the place, as had everyone else. You couldn’t find even a heavy slough anywhere. That’s what made this slide so surprising.

The intended route:

I started off by the yellow arrow, but before I could get off the ramp, the slab broke free. The fracture was small- only 25′ across and only a foot deep at the deepest part. But it was a hard slab, and it broke above me (the red line is the approximate crown).

Since it was a hard slab, I couldn’t dig in. I couldn’t bail to the right, and I couldn’t make it to my exit on the left, either. So around the blue ‘X’, I made the only choice I had left- I pointed it straight, off the good-sized (60′ or so) cliff that I had no intention of hucking. But that’s what I did, landing somewhere around the orange asterisk. Thankfully there was more snow in the landing than there is in this photo, so I didn’t hit any rocks. The slide continued all around me, putting me in a washing machine of snow- but then it stopped, just as suddenly as it started. I found my gear, and skied straight to the bar.

So what were my lessons? That’s probably the most frustrating part. There were literally hundreds of tracks at the same aspect and elevation- so how could I have known that the route I was taking was a highly localized pocket of windslab? To this day, I’m not sure what I would have done differently. What I did take from the incident, however, is a heightened awareness of my place on any given slope. Every step I take, I consider where I am, what will happen if the slope gives way, and what I’ll try to do if it does.

Up next in part 2- a cornice fails thousands of feet above us at Thompson Pass, Alaska.

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This January my longtime girlfriend Rachel was surprised with a job offer in Cordova, Alaska. So, she took it and flew up immediately. In March I quit my job in Denver, packed my car, hooked up my snowmobile, and got the hell out of Dodge. I started with a bit of a detour to see the good people of Crested Butte and to get in a day of touring in the incredible backcountry there:

From Crested Butte I headed north towards Jackson Hole. Looking back towards Crested Butte from Delta:

Driving into Jackson always gets me pumped:

I spent four days in Jackson with my good friend Erik Mehus. We skied the resort, the amazing Granite Canyon sidecountry, and the sled skiing terrain of Phillips Canyon. Erik took advantage of one of the few moments of good light over the four days to take this cliff on Teton Pass really really deep:

From Jackson I headed for Idaho and Montana:

After repacking my car outside of Butte, the SubaLodge was born!

The next day I was through the border and into Canada.

Alberta reminded me a lot of Colorado’s Front Range – plains to the east and big mountains to the west.

At Calgary I turned west, headed for Banff and Jasper. After a beautiful night in Jasper National Park, the world’s largest dark sky preserve, I continued on the Icefields Highway. Falling snow obscured some of the views, but what I could see was beautiful.

By Jasper SubaLodge was running on fumes and I was relieved to find a gas station…it was in French…s’il vous plait???

After Jasper I drove west into British Columbia and towards the Stewart-Cassiar highway. The first day in BC was through mountain valleys shaded by tall peaks. The next day I crossed the Skeena River and turned north onto the Stewart-Cassiar highway:

Things immediately got more interesting:

I began to worry that I was going run out of gas when the “town” I had planned to fill up at turned out to be simply an intersection in the road; 100 kilometers later I found gas at Last Frontier Heliskiing.

The S-C highway is a bit wild: there is no shoulder, it’s largely unplowed, and everyone drives down the middle of the road at 50 kph over the speed limit.

This is a bit nerve racking when the visibility is usually like this:

After entering the Yukon I rejoined the ALCAN (Alaska-Canadian) Highway. In retrospect, following the ALCAN from Calgary would have been far less stressful: I wouldn’t have been constantly in fear of running out of gas and being stranded along the cold deserted highway. Also, I missed the Liard Hot Springs, which sound rad. But, the S-C highway sure was an adventure!

I continued north on the Alcan Highway; passing the Kluane Mountains which harbor the highest mountains in Canada:

Soon I was back in the US, this time in Alaska; falling asleep on the side of the highway in the SubaLodge I saw the northern lights for the first time in my life. The next day I made it to Anchorage where I met up with my good friend Lauren at 6 PM for a sunset ski in the Front Range:

From Anchorage I drove to Whittier to catch the Cordova ferry. Whittier is, to say the least, a weird place. It’s accessed via a one lane tunnel and most everyone lives together in a tower. But, the beauty of the mountains shooting straight out of the water is unparalleled.

Looking back at the tower which also houses such things as the grocery store, police department, and clinic:

The ferry ride across the Prince William Sound was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life: huge mountains, glaciers, and whales. Everyone should do it at least once! Montague Island, which separates the Prince William Sound from the Gulf of Alaska:

Cordova greeted me with a week of high pressure and beauty:

Continue on to Part 2

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At the top, a bald eagle gave us a fly-by in front of the magnificent Mt. Joffre.

Interestingly, an eagle did the same thing on my last run in BC almost 2 years ago. Both times, we remarked that it must just be our friend Jack giving us the go-ahead for a sweet run. Thanks Jack! Susan dropped in first:

The top was steep and alpine in flavor, but this quickly gave way to the hero turn section of this giant run.

Susan shows off some perfect form:

From there, the run became a gluttony of pillows, lining both sides of the run. Ski pillows, traverse, repeat. For 1,500′ or so. So fun!

We ended our day with beers at the trailhead and an amazing fog-filled sunset- a perfect capping to the day.

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As you can see from the photo, the wind had had its way with the snow in this area, so we weren’t harboring any allusions of skiing and powder. Thankfully the snow and weather were still perfect for skiing big lines, and Jon had a steep couloir in mind for our first run. She was a beauty for sure, with a steep rampy dogleg exit. Jon led the way, roped up in case the bergshrund wasn’t completely covered (it was).

The climb was steep and fun- here’s some photos:

The view from the top, looking down. The snow was a little variable, with real exposure, so we were definitely skiing slowly and deliberately.

Tom Runcie, making his way down the NJG Couloir:

Nothing like a whippet in the photo to make it look more core:

Jon:

Tom:

Jon:

We geared back up and made our way to the second run of the day. The line we skied is dead center.

The second line of the day had a short steep rollover at the top, but quickly mellowed out and was sheltered enough to harbor some nice snow that escaped the wind. Tom:

We were definitely on a glacier at this point, occasionally skiing over cracks that were mostly covered crevasses- that gets your heart skipping a beat or two. Even more interesting, though, were the seracs that we began to ski by.

Obviously, we had been surrounded by spectacular scenery all day. We have lots of scenic shots from the day, but here’s just one, of Whitecap:

The final gentle skin of the day:

The third run of the day would count as a nice run here in CO, but on this day it was more like the icing on the cake, despite being a nice slope with a lot of vert left at the end of the day. It even had some tracks on it- from heli skiers.

Just another great day in the Coast Mountains. Thanks Jon!

Need a new rando rope for your next adventure on glaciated terrain? Beal makes some great ones:

The post Escape From Colorad-atraz. Part 2. NJG Couloir and Serac Skipping appeared first on 14erskiers.com.

We had a late flight and by the time we got over the border, it was clear we weren’t going to get a whole lot of sleep. We crashed for about 3 hours in Squamish and then headed to Blackcomb for a day of inbounds. It hadn’t snowed here in a little while, either, but just skiing steep snow off Spanky’s and Chainsaw was enough for us. The snow was excellent- it’s been a cold year in Whistler, so the snow was quite chalky and carveable rather than glazed over like it can sometimes be after a dry spell in the Coast range.

We didn’t really take any pictures inbounds, but we did do a short tour to end the day. At this time of year, the lifts shut down pretty early- 2:30, so it’s worth it to do a quick hike even if conditions aren’t ideal. We chose DOA, since it’s the most aesthetic classic in the sidecountry of Blackcomb.

The entrance was a bit thin and skied out, but once past that, it was pretty nice. Tom:

Our local friend Susan, who was skiing with us for the day:

Here’s a shot of the line from near the 7th Heaven lift:

Celebrating our escape from Colorad-atraz in the parking lot:

Liftopia isn’t a bad place to plan your own escape and save some money:

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The only change that had occurred in the previous two days was a bunch of ski tracks on the 20 degree “drag race hill”- apparently left by heli skiers. I can’t imagine getting dropped off a heli to ski flat terrain with snowmobile tracks on it while being surrounded by steep spines and faces everywhere. Maybe some day I’ll have top secret information and I’ll be tortured in this manner- I’ll give up my secrets pretty quickly to get on the good stuff.

The only regret of my trip? That the stars never quite aligned in a way for me to get on the big lines like this one:

Next time. I wasn’t exactly crying about the lines we were about to ski. I don’t think my photos (and certainly not my POV) do it much justice, but it qualifies as “steep n deep”. Lisa:

Lon:

Chris, straight killing it off the top:

We got 3 runs on this spine wall before we decided to switch it up and ski a nearby steep face. I only got a couple of runs in on the helmet cam, but that’s probably enough anyway. I used “Back in Black” by AC/DC because to this day every time I hear that song, I think of Jack Hannan and a competition run he had at Kirkwood 10 years ago. He was way back in about 20th place and had the best comp run I’ve ever seen to move all the way into 2nd place. This video also features “Jackass Pass”, a crazy snowmobile line between a wind drift and the mountain which somehow goes cleanly:

Dope Creek Spines 3-7-11 from 14erskiers on Vimeo.

The last line we skied in this zone was one I had looked at a lot on a poster made for Jack after the avalanche last year. We got to the top and clicked in, and at that moment a bald eagle flew by, maybe twenty feet away. Lisa was the first to yell out “Yeah Jack!” as we watched him fly across the valley. I came to Pemberton to ski, but I also came to feel some connection to Jack, and this moment was one of many that qualified. It’s hard to believe it’s been almost a year since he passed away. I know the eagle is hard to see, but he’s on the left in front of the cliffs.

I guess that’s about it. The skiing in Crested Butte has been pretty amazing for the past 3 weeks, so I haven’t felt like I was missing out on too much since getting back. Tomorrow, March 31st, will be the one-year anniversary of Jack’s accident on Mount Currie, so I hope everyone shreds a line or tips a glass in his honor. “Jack’s got My Back”

More Road Trip 2011 Posts:
Stevens Pass
No Sleep Spines
O Face
Pemby BC
Luna Creek
Trandem Trees
Whistler/Vancouver
Down Days and thoughts on snomo skiing
Dope Creek 1
Dope Creek 2

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