We had one final day after our love fest in the Valhalla mountains but sadly the snow and fog returned so while there was deep powder everywhere, we could only access the runs close to the lodge that we had been doing for days. Now don’t get me wrong, these were still great runs – steep shots with lots of fresh snow – but after getting a taste of what the surrounding mountains had to offer we were all hoping to experience a little more of the nearby terrain.
Ah, the memories
All in all it was a great trip. I always love to check out new terrain and what better way to do it than with a helicopter at your service. In the end we only really got to go exploring on 3 of the 7 days, but even the close in stuff provided tons of excellent riding.
My kind of run
This trip also reminded me once again how lucky and spoiled rotten I am about powder skiing. There were a couple of first timers on the trip who were raving about what was at best a marginal heli day, which is still of course much better than almost any day on a ski hill. But once you’ve tasted the kind, all you want is a little more. Fortunately, the day we spent in the Valhallas was pretty much worth the whole trip by itself as I will not be forgetting those runs and that scenery till my brain cells totally deteriorate.
What's not to smile about?
I would also be totally remiss if I did not thank everyone at Snowwater for doing everything possible to make our trip a great time. The guides and pilots went above and beyond the call of duty trying to get us out in very difficult conditions and the staff treated us like kings at every turn. Patric and Mariah were tremendous hosts – it felt like one week long party with good friends that just happened to be at a heli resort. I will definitely be returning some day to check out the rest of their terrain and give Patric another chance to level me with an infraction (it’s a long story). Till then, I’ll be checking the weather and dreaming about O Canada…
We finally won the weather battle yesterday. No fog, snow or wind – instead we got blue skies and cold temps – just what the doctor ordered. This meant we could go exploring – and like the Norse gods of old we headed to Valhalla.
First stop on the Valhalla tour
Patric Maloney, the owner of Snowwater has a saying – A day in Valhalla, a customer for life. Today we got to find out if this claim was true. The Vahalla range is one of three in Snowwater’s tenure and a little bit of a haul to get to but it very quickly became apparent that it was well worth the effort. The scenery alone was quite spectacular – massive granite peaks towering over beautiful valleys filled with old growth trees. But we weren’t really there to sightsee, we were itching for some big mountain skiing after days of fighting the weather around the lodge and Valhalla definitely delivered.
Keith airing it out
When people think of heliskiing they often see a picture of perfectly spaced parallel tracks down wide open glaciers. While that has its’ allure it’s not why we go to British Columbia. We go for the natural terrain park that nature provides us. Big rocks and cliffs, pillows and mushroom caps, nicely spaced old growth trees – you name it, they’ve got it.
Love those old growth trees
It was one of those days that makes all the time I spend chasing powder worthwhile. Run after run of steep varied terrain with unlimited opportunities for airtime. The guides call them “gigglers” because as you reach the bottom of the run you’re as giddy as a kid at your own birthday party. For one day at least we were all in heli heaven.
We’ve been battling the weather all week but it’s finally starting to turn in our favor. Still fighting the fog but on the first run today we discovered that foot of fresh snow had fallen overnight and while not champagne powder it was a far cry from the Sierra Cement we have previously been dealing with. So while we were still having to play and hide and seek with the helicopter, when we did get to land the riding was fabulous and only got better as the day progressed.
Kevin in the pow
One of the advantages of the heli operation at Snowwater is that they have a cat backup in bad weather. So after lunch we jumped into the cat to ski some close in terrain. Now while on Monday, this terrain was a little more tracked than I would prefer, today all the snow had refreshed the runs and provided us with some very sweet powder laden steeps. After a couple of cat runs it was back in the heli and while we couldn’t go far, the snow conditions were now moving into the superb category making for some very happy clients.
Fellow members of the Snowwater 12 step powder program
Sadly, two thirds of the original 12 folks had to leave today. I can thank the gods, Ian McTavish and my support system back home for allowing me to stay for another three days (I was originally supposed to leave today). This evening 8 folks from Rossignol including pro athletes are coming in for some photo shoots so it should be an interesting rest of the trip. We also get all new guides tomorrow which brings a tear to the eye as besides being tremendously hard working and excellent route finders, were also great fun to ride with. I felt particularly blessed as our guide Scott Newsome is the only certified guide in Canada that uses a snowboard to guide with so for once I was led around the mountain by one of my own kind – loved the lines he chose as well as his guiding philosophy.
Snowwater's fearless leader
As I write this it is dumping once again so have high hopes for tomorrow. Either way it’s been a fabulous trip so far as the staff at Snowwater led by the highly entertaining Patric Maloney and his lovely and talented wife Mariah Grant make sure everyone’s having a good time all the time. Been to a lot of heli and cat ops but can safely say that none have as lively or as an engaging an atmosphere as the one that permeates every aspect of the Snowwater operation. As my favorite roommate and staff photographer Kevin Edwards just said to me – “this place has the soul of skiing”. Party on dude!
Day 3 of our Snowwater adventure. Finally got away from the lodge and started to explore the Bonningtons, one of the three mountain ranges Snowwater’s tenure covers. Didn’t take us long to discover that while there was good snow up high, we needed to avoid going too low if we wanted to have our legs last all day. After some good but thigh burning runs we landed in an area called Tropicana. Now I’ve been drinking Tropicana since I was a wee lad, but it never tasted better than it did today. A 2500 foot consistently pitched slope with widely spaced trees allowed for high speed rippers that would warm the cockles of any snowrider. The persistent fog that has been haunting us for days chased us away for awhile but dissipated in the afternoon so we returned to greedily chug the Trop till our belly’s were full. There were nothing but smiles in the heli at days end.
Now I love Hawaii as much as the next guy. I’ve had many a fine vacation in that tropical paradise. But when I’m visiting British Columbia I don’t want anything associated with the Hawaiin Islands particularly something known as the “Pineapple Express”. This term refers to a weather pattern where warm moist tropical gets funneled directly from Hawaii to British Columbia. While moisture is generally a good thing, the warm air that comes with it is not and can lead to rain throughout the BC mountains in the middle of January. I have experienced this phenomena before and it’s not a pretty thing. Unfortunately the area I’m visiting right now is in the middle of this pattern and while we’re fortunate it’s not warm enough to rain, it has made the snow very heavy and more importantly has caused a lot of fog which makes flying a helicopter quite problematic.
nice accomodations
This year our group chose a new venue for our annual helitrip - Snowwater. Like all the heli and cat places I’ve visited in BC, it is very nice, with comfy rustic lodges, great food and wonderful staff who cater to your every wish. What they can’t do however, is change the weather. They do have the benefit of having a snowcat that they use when they can’t fly but they can only ski the local terrain for so long before it starts getting skiied out which is not a term I want to be using on a helitrip.
Looking for freshies
For most of the day we played hunt and peck with the helicopter and the fog. It would look like it was clearing, so we’d get in the heli but by the time we got to the top of the hill the fog would close in again preventing us from getting any distance from the lodge. We did get some good shots at the top of the runs but eventually everything would funnel back towards the lodge where the terrain would start to look more like your local ski hill than your typical heli paradise. Eventually we switched to the cat for our last run which was actually one of the better runs of the day as we accessed some terrain that had not yet been skied this year.
the happy camper in the cat
For those of you that know me, it will come as no surprise that I was less than thrilled with the conditions. Fortunately, I was able to remember that I was incredibly blessed do be doing a trip like this in the first place and it is still a lot of fun to ski with a bunch of folks as dedicated to chasing powder as I am. On every trip like this I meet really nice people whom I exchange snow stories and info with usually in the hot tub or over a delicious meal so I got that going for me. But if you know any weather prayers, please say one for me as I will only be here for four days and sure would like to see what these incredible mountains have to offer.
Here’s how my planning goes during the six months of ski/snowboard season. Scour the various weather and snow reports to determine when and where I’m most likely to find powder. Cancel all appointments for that day (or days) and make sure I have the needed child care arranged. Put out the general call to any or all that might be interested in coming along. The night before pack up my stuff and get some food together. Everything’s ready but now comes the big variable – the actual snowfall. It’s an easy decision when there’s a big dump somewhere but unlike some of my friends I’m not interested in riding hardpack so when the morning reports show little or no new snow the debate in my head starts. Sure is comfy in this warm bed. Maybe the storm is just late and it’s dumping right now (check more reports/forecasts here). Perhaps tomorrow would be better. Does whomever I was planning to go with still want to go (make phone calls here). Maybe I could poach some old snow. I wonder what shape Berthoud is in? And so it goes till I either get out of bed and go for it or I’ve debated so long it’s now too late to catch rope drop so what’s the point. That’s how it went this morning – no new snow to speak of, no great motivation from my potential riding buddy and the lure of chair 4 at Loveland opening for the season not enough to get me going. Oh well…
But there is light at the end of the tunnel – a very bright light – my annual heli trip to British Columbia is next week. What started out as a once in a lifetime experience during a particularly dry spring in 2002 quickly became a once a year necessity – one trip to the powder triangle and I was hooked for life. Some years it’s been heli, some cat and some both but no matter what every year I make a pilgrimage to what I consider the closest thing to a sure thing – British Columbia and its’ astounding collection of cat and heli operations – there’s a good reason 90% of the world’s heli ops are located there (if you’re interested in more details check out the B.C. page on this site). This year we’re checking out a new place Snowwater – which actually runs both a heli and cat (Valhalla) operation so if you can’t fly due to weather they put you in a cat till it clears (a very useful option and one that few other places offer). Anyway my next several posts should be from there so if you’re interested, check in next week or if you’re jealous skip the next couple of posts or start saving up for next year…
Well I finally got on my board for the first time this 2009-10 season this past weekend at my favorite Colorado resort – Wolf Creek. They got 6 feet of snow last week and I was lucky enough to catch the last 2+ of that (never believe what the National Weather Service says regarding predicted snow totals there – they called for 4 t0 6 inches the night before they got 18″ – if they use the words “snow may be heavy at times” or “significant accumulations possible” – just go). Sunday was a full on raging blizzard with sustained winds of 30 to 40 and gusts to 60 so I had to hold my board with both hands while hiking the bowls and while it was still fun after 5 hours of buffeting we were ready to call it a day and save some legs for Monday. When we got to my car it had merged with the snowbank it was parked next to and the ride back to South Fork was the hairiest I’ve ever done there. Shortly after that they closed the pass which did not reopen till 10 the next morning which is why I never stay in Pagosa when it’s dumping.
Local jumping the rail on the hike up to Knife Ridge
Frank on the Knife Ridge Bridge
Monday brought clear skies, no wind, no tracks and no people as at least half were stuck in Pagosa waiting for the pass to open. So we had the whole glorious mountain to ourselves (and a few other lucky east siders) for most of the morning and definitely made the most of it. Knife Ridge was in prime form and worth every step of the hikes to get there. Not that I need a reminder, but man do I love that mountain!
Meanwhile, the rest of the state finally got some snow with most locations getting up to a foot of much needed fresh. Aspen Highlands opened for the season on Saturday and called 18′ in Highlands Bowl for the storm but friends of mine were shut down at Snowmass on Sunday as they closed all the lifts mid morning because of high winds (the only advantage of those old slow non-detachable chairs at Wolf – they never close). Right now it unfortunately looks like we’re in for a dry spell for awhile – not the xmas present the Colorado resorts were looking for.
As for our lucky neighbors to the North, it just keeps getting better. Whistler officially set the record for the snowiest month in recorded history with 18.3 feet of snow in November!!! They are now in the middle of another snow cycle as they’ve called 2 feet in the last 48 hours with a year to date total of 247″ and 6600 acres open and yes it’s only December 17th. The rest of BC is getting hit as well which has resulted in a continual barrage of emails from all the places I’ve either been or considered going to up there telling me how I need to get there now. My pick of the litter this week is this video from Baldface Lodge which is calling last month Snowvember – got to love it. However, if you really want to get a feel for the BC mindset check out the videos in the blog post below this – very funny…
I had heard about this contest called the Powder Highway Ultimate Ski Bum Blow Your Mind Contest sponsored by Kootenay Rockies Tourism where the winner got a 3 Month Journey along the BC Powder Highway, including Free Lift Tickets at all of the Resorts, 16 days of Heli and Cat Skiing, Accommodation and Transportation. Unfortunately, by the time I found out the details, the entry deadline had already passed. The prize is one of my basic life goals – to ski and ride all of the BC resorts and cat and heli ops so I was quite saddened to find out I was too late to enter. However watching the contest video brought a big smile to my face as it was clearly made with folks like me in mind. So while I’m bummed I didn’t get a shot at it I do see that the winner was a worthy choice…
So when you’ve done a bunch of cat and heli trips and are constantly researching where to do your next cat or heli trip you end up on a lot of email lists. And when the places you’ve visited or inquired about get snow, they’re more than happy to share that info with you. Thus for the last week or so I’ve been bombarded with emails describing epic early season conditions in British Columbia full of pics and links to videos designed to get you to reach for your wallet. My favorite of the ones I’ve received recently is this video from Kicking Horse Resort in Golden, BC which was actually sent by Great Canadian Heliskiing which is located just down the road from Kicking Horse and is now planning on opening early if they can induce enough powder fanatics like myself to come up on short notice. The Kicking Horse video basically describes my greatest fantasy (at least of the ones I can discuss in public) – having an entire beautifully gladed ski area to your self and a few friends – is that too much to ask? Then yesterday I got this link from Canadian Mountain Holidays with a video from their Revelstoke operation (and where the photo on top of this post is also from) showing some typical BC tree skiing. Yep, things are looking good in BC.
Colorado, on the other hand, is experiencing a little bit of an early season drought. While Boulder has gotten three decent storms already, the mountains have not fared so well with traditionally snow blessed resorts like Vail having received only 37″ total to date. There are rumors that the weather pattern is going to change starting this weekend (keep your fingers crossed) but until then I guess I’ll keep on watching these videos and saving my pennies for my next trip up north…
