Training Log Archive: revy

Nice classic ski with Courtney on my zero skis. Grip was pretty good and glide seemed fast on the dog loop. The higher trails were quite a bit slower due to a skiff of fresh wet snow.

Scott headed home early so just Brook and I today. We checked off one of the zones on my yearly "to ski" list. Every time I drive west towards Three Valley Gap I wonder if the glades I can see just off the little knob above the hotel are skiable. We used the sled to get 6km up the road then headed towards the glades. First run was a little mixed as we were figuring out the zone and visibility was terrible which given that there was a fair number of boulders was not ideal (another meter of snow would help but not absolutely necessary). Didn't love the first uptrack back to the top as a few exposed spots. The climber's left trees work fine for climbing and no exposure. Second run we connected into the skier's left glade. I think if we kept skiing fall line there is a cliff band but it might be skiable into the skier's right glade. As it was we traversed left (and I think skiing fall line from the top into the skier'd left glade also might work if you find the weakness in the cliff). This was a longer run with no boulders so skied very nicely. Kind of like skiing at the Fingers but no one there... it may also be possible to ski from the hwy without the sled climbing 200m vertical on the road and a few hundred through the forest.

Skied my new skis and they were fun though one of them needs the forward pressure increased as I was popping out on aggressive turns. Changeover is slower but that is to be expected given the skis need to come off every time.

Rich joined us today for his one tour of the year (sadly becoming a parent has decreased his skiing drastically) so with four people we decided to avoid any sled shenanigans and headed towards MacPherson. I had plans to head towards the classic summit route (at least to the top of the scree slope) but snow seemed good on the Fuzzy Knob (though there was a few hundred vertical of very crappy snow sticking to skins just after leaving the skid road...) so did the usual Fuzzy/Burnt Knob combo. The first run the snow felt funny but it might have been ice on my skis. Second run was better (and only heavy snow right above the skid road).

The initial plan for the next three days was a trip to New Denver with Brook and Scott but with the roads being in bad shape Tuesday night and hazard being high we decided to stay in Revelstoke and ski terrain I was more familiar with. Today we took the sled to Begbie Shoulder. Parking lot was pretty full (which seems to be a regular occurrence for us here) with three cars and one truck/trailer. The road seems to be getting worse every year - very bumpy. Not the best road for doubling or towing. We did one run off the south ridge through the steeper trees into the skiers right path. Snow was good but the old tracks and low coverage in the path decreased the flow of the run. Then headed to the north ridge and did two lower angle runs back to the creek. These worked out pretty well - nothing steep but still a few nice pitches and no old tracks so snow skied better. Dropping in off the ridge at the low point has one steep south facing slope. We short cut a few switchbacks on the ski out - works OK other than watching for deadfall. Didn't warm up as much as forecast and didn't see any signs of instability.

Another nice inversion day - good for nordic conditions but not great for powder... We did a tour of the lower trails today including the first 5km with the dog (Tintin is now dog friendly).

Was hoping to tour this weekend but the inversion and touchy avalanche conditions led to us changing the plan and visiting Sean and Juliann in Silver Star. Beautiful Nordic conditions with temperatures around zero. Had a very nice ski to Alder Point. Snow was much colder in the shade. Checked out the new re-route of Gold Mountain which truthfully doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Cold is getting better - tied afterwards but cough is improving.