Déception à Kootenay Pass

On est arrivé à Kootenay Pass (Salmo-Creton) le 14 avec plein d'espoir. Il neigeait à plein ciel!!!


Le lendemain matin, on est monté jusqu'à Ripple ridge cabin qui est à env. 1hre de marche de la route.

Après avoir laissé notre stock, on est allé voir s'il n'y avait pas de la belle neige à skier. On a marché quand même assez longtemps pour se rendre compte que le vent avait formé une croûte sur pas mal d'aspect (nord et sud)

On a finalement pas réussi à trouver de la neige aussi profonde qu'à Roger's Pass, ce qui nous a laissé un peu déçu étant donné la neige qu'on avait eu au même endroit il y a 2 ans.

On a quand même réussi à trouver des lignes et de la neige pas si mal.




On a aussi perdu pas mal de temps à bucher du bois et jouer au poker dans la cabine.

Ils annoncent pas vraiment de neige pour les prochains jours (5-10cm).... bref la deep powder risque d'être difficile à trouver!!!



evans

Apocalypse avoided...

We are sooooo lucky ... the weather system that was suppose to melt all mountains in BC never hit us (or at least is delayed)!! So today we skinned up to Whitequeen again (which is probably the only safe option for now) but by a different way up. We started at the Hummingbird parking lot... the hike is longer and we start lower, but people at Whitewater resort prefer that! The hike went easy and we discovered a lot of new terrain along the way...


At the top we decided to ski a new route. Good powder on the slope, great view along the way... but the snow was transforming into layers which is not good for avalanche (the top 20cm was easy to release).


We had plan another hike up after the first run cause it was only 700m... but going back to the skin track we found a kicker and we had fun on it! :-)


After this short day we warmed up one last time (for now) in Whitewater resort and drove down to Nelson to buy some gear and food for our next destination for the next 4-5 days! Whitewater/Nelson area is an amazing place... one of these small paradise where the snow is falling everyday, people are friendly and life is simple!

Last day before apocalypse

After another hard day of work in the backcountry of Whitewater, we needed to fuel up for what could have possibly been our last day in southern BC. Unfortunately, a forecasted warming of the temperature is threatening to screw up the nice powder that we had so far and increase the risks for avalanche, forcing us to move... We hope for the best.


When we woke up in the parking lot on our second morning at White, a dense fog was covering the base of the resort, making visibility mediocre. Our motivation was at its lowest, but we decided to skin up anyways, since it was possibly our last day in the Nelson area...

And then, unexpectedly and fortunately, the sky opened up to let the sun in and turn our so far very ordinary day in a great one! These pictures explain better than I coukd with words...


The resume of the hard day of work:


To be continued...

Arrivée à Whitewater

After a day of rest spent in Revelstoke (slept in a shelter close to a baseball field), we finally moved from Roger's Pass after 6 consecutive days of hard work!! Since the area around Nelson had been hit by back to back storms leaving more than 50cm in 3 days, we were pretty sure to hit some nice powder!


Once we got to Whitewater resort, we realized that they changed their policy concerning the backcountry and that skining the resort is not allowed anymore. Nevertheless, there's a skin track just outside the resort boundary that allowed us to get on top quickly.


What we were looking for was just there waiting for us!!!

All the following pictures have been taken in only one day!!!

1382m ascent
1404m descent
4 laps

Faceshots......countless!!

Enjoy!

evans