Philosophy of Stay in Touch - Geoff's journey
Tuesday, March 27, 2018....
4 days of snow and ski-in the powder
The last 4 days has been back to winter conditions with snow coming from the North, North West, West and today the south west and tomorrow its getting back to spring conditions for the next 3 days and closing day is on Monday the 2nd April.
4 days ago I skied one of my favorite lines on Mt Roberts, the Gun Barrel (above) and was the first skier down the run and we had 16cm in 24 hours and as you can see in the photo it was still snowing, I also skied another run on Roberts as well as 5 runs in Paradise before hiking up Roberts.
The following day Brian my touring buddy (in photo above) wanted to go to the Kootney pass which is a hours drive from Rossland.
Like last week when we skied for the first time together in 5 years on Old Glory it was also 5 years ago when both of us had last skied the Kootney pass when we also skied it together.
It was good to ski the pass again especially after getting 30cm + over the previous 24 hours.
When the pass is good it can be the best runs of the season and there can be many best days of the season, that is the nature of ski-in, some days feel like the best ever but its just there are a lot of very good days and they always feel the best.
Where Brian is standing took us a hour and 20 mins to get there and we skied down into the valley and walked up onto the ridge to the left of the taller tree on Brian's right and skied down through the tree's from the left to the right of the tall tree back to the valley below.
Then we hiked back onto that ridge again and went right to the small peak on the end of the ridge and skied down the other side and the photo above is the lower section of that slope which goes down to a creek and we hike back up onto the highway you can see on the right of the photo with Brian in it and he hitched up the road and picked the truck up in the car park and came and picked the 3 of us left waiting on the side of the road with all the ski gear.
We did three runs in all and they were all very good and we only heard (yahoo-ing) two groups of others out there but never saw them, its that kind of place.
Its a very big national park with so many mountains to ski tour through, but we always ski the same circuit which starts higher up the highway and we ski three aspects West, East and then North west which takes us back to the highway.
Then yesterday four of us went to the Field of Dream's with all that fresh snow to be skied only to get there after another hour and 20 minute hike to find it had a Sun crust on it and Don's wife was going to pick us up along a local highway and bring us back to the hill.
We could ski the crust OK and there was one area where we found some soft snow, The boys said it was the worst best run of the season if you can understand that, its the best run in the area but it was the worst conditions we'd experienced throughout the season,
We got back to the hill and to make up for that bad run I went for another hike onto Record Peak and had a awesome SOFT powder run through the tree's (above) :-)
Then today after another 9 cm in 24 hours I hooked up with another touring buddy Chilla and we had 3 good back country powder runs after ski-in 5 runs in Paradise first.
First up we did another run to the left of where I skied yesterday on Record Peak (above) then we did another two runs down a East face off White Wolf ridge and then hiked up onto Mt Roberts and we skied the tree's back to a lift in Paradise :-)
The photo above I took today while hiking of the Hoarfrost on the pine needles, it shows the cold winter conditions we have been getting lately even though it is spring now.
With only 6 days left before the season at Red mountain ends we have had powder regularly all winter long which has made it one of the best winters I've experienced here which is why I love coming here and its not only the snow conditions but also all the locals and skiers who ski and come back here every winter from all over the world.
As always I'm going to miss this place and the friendly people that are here, it has a GR8 energy about the place and as always I look forward to coming back again which will be the winter of 2019/2020.
Next winter I'll be in NZ for Xmas where my son Steven, daughter Michelle with grandson Liam and his girl friend are coming from the UK for a Xmas in NZ :-)
posted by Geoff's Journey # 8:19 PM 0 Comments
Tuesday, March 20, 2018....
A day on Old Glory
On Sunday two of my touring buddies Dan from Spokane and Brian from Oakridge in Oregon skied together for the first time together since April 2nd 2013.
Dan has been here all winter and I've skied with him a few times but Brian who I haven't seen since that day in 2013 arrived on Thursday last week and is here for two weeks.
Also on that day 5 years ago we did the same run that we did on Sunday, photo above.
Old Glory is the highest mountain in our region at 2378 meters, at the top is a old weather station which is now just a shelter for those that are hiking in the area.
The Local summer bike and hike track called the 7 summits goes through the top of Old Glory.
Above is Brian standing outside the hut and in past visits during that 2013 winter we hiked up there 5 times.
It is a big hike taking 4 hours to get to the top from the highway, there is a short ski down to the skin track after 2 hours of hiking up and then another 2 to the top.
The weather was blue skies and sun when we started and the cloud came and went on our way up but as we got to the top the cloud came in again luckily for us it was above the mountain top.
Above is Dan with the ridge we walked up behind him and in the distance in the middle of the photo below the cloud line is Record peak where we have skied a lot during the season and photo's of the runs in the tree's have appeared on this blogg.
The mountains to the left of Record peak is the Red mountain ski area.
Above is the line's we skied from the top and down the center of the photo, it was a shame the cloud had come over just as we got to the top after 4 hours of a mixture of sun and cloud.
With two weeks to go now till Red mountain's closing day on Easter Monday and then I'll be here for another week hopefully doing a bit of touring which will probably include another hike up onto Old Glory :-)
posted by Geoff's Journey # 9:58 PM 0 Comments
Monday, March 12, 2018....
Three weeks today the season will end :-(
With closing day in three weeks today, the last week has been another snowy week with it falling again on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday which seems to be a trend here this winter.
Its been good for the weekend skiers having the mountain topped up while they have been working and enjoying a weekend of new fresh snow.
Last Friday I skied Mt Roberts (above) and went down one of my favorite lines the "Gun Barrel" mostly we turn left at the cliff line in the center of the photo and through the tree's on the right which comes out by a lift, but this day the lift had stopped due to high winds so I continued to ski down to where I took the photo and hiked to my right through the tree's and back to the lift and on to a higher place where I could ski back down to the base which was a extra 15 minute hike.
Yesterday (Sunday) was the second clear blue sky day in a row and I went for a hike to Mt Record and skied one of my favorite lines in the Record Tree's and came out in the photo above.
I took the photo with my Hero 5 which has a bit more clarity and sharpness due to not only the nice clear blue sky but also the 4K quality.
Above is a rare photo of me taken by one of my ski buddies when we went hiking along record ridge last week , I also have my Hero 5 on my head ready to film the run we did off of Record Ridge.
I have been hiking most of the days and its been a GR8 season for ski-in fresh lines in the snow which always happens when we go hiking and is also a goal most skiers want to skin un tracked snow as much as we can and Hiking (skinning) brings us that.
Another enjoyment of hiking is that it is not crowded and we walk among the tree's which are mostly laden with snow and look beautiful with all the shapes and sizes which you have seen in my posts on this blogg.
I often see a small black Squirrel running from tree to tree and we see Rabbit prints everyday but today was the first time I have seen a rabbit and here in the winter they are white, today while hiking up onto Record peak again I saw this Rabbit (above) and even though it saw me and crossed in front of me it stopped behind a tree and I slowly moved into view and he didn't run off so I snapped a few photo's and this one was the best one.
I have also seen a few Woodpeckers and heard lots more but now with Spring truly in the air I'm hoping to see more birds and animals in and around town and also on our hikes.
Tomorrow will be our 4th clear blue sky day in a row which hasn't happened this winter yet but it is spring and the weather is getting warmer and there is snow forecast again for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, just in time again for the mid week workers having a good week end of fresh snow. :-)
posted by Geoff's Journey # 9:05 PM 0 Comments
Saturday, March 3, 2018....
Still more snow falling
We just had 3 days of snow and over the last week we've had 80cm of new snow, Thursday was one the best days on the hill this winter after getting 12cm overnight Wednesday and 8cm during the day Thursday and then we had another 15 cm Thursday night and 12 cm during the day on Friday making it a awesome two days, then last night we got another 10cm.
We now have a 272cm base, there is snow forecast for Wednesday and Thursday with also a rising in the freezing level next week end.
Earlier in the week while ski touring we came across some nice looking snow ghosts and the one above was quite interesting with a curved bottom lip and with the eye's I thought it looked a bit like Sponge bob Square pants ?
The photo above was taken on Thursday when we skied the Center chute on Mt Roberts , its the first time I'd skied it this winter and with the fog its always nicer to ski close to the tree's or among them.
Yesterday afternoon after ski-in 30 to 40cm of new snow on the hill during the morning we went up Mt Roberts which is back country we were ski-in 60cm of fresh snow.
When we get to the bottom of the run there is a lift which takes us up to the top of Granite on the ski hill and we ski down to the area where we put our skin's on our ski's and walk up to the top of Roberts and do it again, the cycle takes from 50 min's to a hour 15 depending on what line we ski.
Two weeks ago when we had a rare sunny day we were touring in another area close to the ski hill when we were walking back up onto the ridge I saw the photo above looking like a dog and it reminded me of my friends in Wanaka Calum and Andrea who have a couple of Labradoodle's and they are black, but Eishan who sadly died in January used to come up to me with something in her mouth to give me as if it was a gift and she used to sit like the shape in the photo.
Finally the photo above is in a area we have skied a lot, North Record peak tree's, and its always deep and fresh when we go there.
It will be a area we will ski in the next few days and will probably be the deepest snow of the season as the area seems to get and hold more snow than anywhere else.
There's only 29 days left of the season and some friends are starting to leave heading back to NZ, Australia, UK and other parts of Canada, its always a sad time March as the days to go get less as we move through the month and Friends we ski and socialise with head away and I personally won't see them again till the winter of 2019/20.
But like all traveling my next place will be England where I will spend time with friends and family which I'm really looking forward too and have a nice restful holiday there after a very energetic winter here in BC.
posted by Geoff's Journey # 9:06 PM 0 Comments
Thursday, February 22, 2018....
Its been another good week's ski-in, we had 40cm in 48 hours, topping everything up again.
It snowed in time for the US Presidents weekend holiday (he doesn't deserve one) and Sunday Red Mountain had its busiest day of the season so we went ski touring away from the maddening crowd.
The third run that we did was in the tree's on the right of the picture above.
The last two days our last run of the day has been in the area where the tree's have thinned out and to the skiers left and right of the 3 shaded lines in the center of the photo, the area is aptly named the Field of Dreams.
The run takes 9 minuets and its a about a 6 minuet's ski down along a trail by the side of a creek, its the longest run in the area and we were picked up by Dan's wife Karen and then back to the ski area.
The second run we did on Sunday was on the other side of the ridge line in the top photo which is the west aspect.
Photo above was the top section off the ridge and then we skied to the skiers right of the cliff band in picture below, then there was one more pitch to where we stopped and skinned back onto the ridge.
Last Saturday after 15cm overnight we skied the north face of Mt Roberts and below is another touring buddy called Jeff and with Dan we skied what was the best run of the season until the last two days ski-in the Field of Dreams.
Today I'm having a day off and spending some well earned time in the Hot Tub, steam room and swim for a hour in the Aquatic center at a town near which is by the Columbia River in Trail
posted by Geoff's Journey # 11:35 AM 0 Comments
Monday, February 12, 2018....
Bluebird days in the mountain ski touring
We haven't had any new snow for 5 days now which seems ages after having all that snow during January and the beginning of Feb.
It has been also been sunny and cold the last 3 days which is GR8 when touring because the walking warms us up and we get a nice fresh snow ski down.
On the hikes up with all the blue skies it makes for good photography, above on the way up with all the snow on the tree's we get to see some being like shapes and the one above with the fallen tree leaning against another tree to me looks like the mouth of a crocodile and the other shapes are left to the imagination of who ever is looking at them.
Also with the cold temp's it keep the snow in good shape especially on the North aspects where the sun doesn't shine on the slope which will keep the snow dry, above is a run I did once I got to the top and had a lovely ski down in dry snow.
The run was on Record Peak which is my second favorite area to ski tour after Mt Roberts and they are both North facing slopes and are steeper too than the rest of the aspects in the area.
Also because we haven't had any snow for a while this area is the last area where there are fresh lines, it is the furthest from the ski area that most people will hike that hasn't been affected by the sun over the last three days, all east, south and West aspects have a crust about half way down the slope, the tops are nice but the lower elevations are not nice to ski, which leaves the North slopes the best.
Because it was such a good run I hiked up again and this time I saw the shape of the tree above and couldn't resist putting my ski pole to make a eye in the shape, all these photo's were taken on Saturday and Yesterday ( Sunday) I took the day off after watching Liverpool win at Southampton 2-0 :-) which I watched live on my Lap top at 8-30 in the morning and at 10-30 when it was over I decided have a rest day.
The photo above was coming out at the bottom of my second run and this line is one of my favorite lines on this slope coming out of the tree's through the alley at the top middle of photo and its a nice clear run down and to the bottom right of the photo.
After 5 days with no new snow we do have some coming our way tomorrow night and Wednesday morning and also some more on Friday, Saturday and Sunday which will cover all the back country tracks again and fresh it all up for another weeks touring out back :-)
It has so far been a very good winter with lots of GR8 ski-in and now with only 7 weeks left and if the snow keeps coming it could be one of the best seasons I've had here and I've had lots of good ones, ski-in in British Columbia, Canada is a GR8 experience.
posted by Geoff's Journey # 9:52 PM 0 Comments
Tuesday, February 6, 2018....
Days out on Record ridge
Above in the distance is a area called Record Ridge and its a place we go touring from the ski hill.
Where I'm taking the photo is from another back country area along side of the ski hill called Mt Roberts which has, like Record ridge been mentioned in past posts. The ski hill is on the right of the photo about half way down.Where I'm standing takes 30 min's to hike to from the Ski hill and the ridge in the distance takes anything from 30 min's to 45 min's depending on where we ski down off the ridge on the aspect you can see.
The peak to the right in the distance is Record Peak where we also go and takes 45 min's to get to the top. There is so much good terrain to ski very close to the ski hill that as long as the conditions are good we can ski fresh snow all the time when we go for a hike, and only a few area's that are high risk avalanche area's like the Record peak with the open treeless area you can see in the photo, I have only ever skied that East aspect twice in the 18 years I have been coming here. I ski the North side a lot which has some of the best tree ski-in in the area.
A few days ago Dan, Slocan Mike and I hiked up onto Record ridge and skied down through the tree's near the end of the ridge on the left in the top photo.
Along the way when there has been wind during the night it sometimes moves the snow around and creates carvings that look awesome and every time we go there it's always changing.
This day we hiked along there it was also clear and a bit of Sun which doesn't happen a lot because of all the snowy and cloudy weather we get and have been having this winter.
The photo above which looks like a head and neck (Maybe) looking into a curved bowl and the smoothness around it to another wind lip behind that.
This was a calm day on the ridge and sometimes it can get a bit gusty, cold and foggy in these open sections.
There are also tree's along the ridge which we walk among that offer shelter from the wind.
Then we reach the spot (above photo) where we take our skin's off and get ready to ski down.
The above photo which was taken two days earlier than the photo above that one is of Slocan mike ski-in down through the powder off Record ridge.
The ski-in around here has been awesome this winter and in January we had 21 powder days where we woke up to fresh snow overnight and the first 4 days of this month has been the same.
The last two days we have had no new snow and we have been to all the area's mentioned in the top photo of the ridge and skied some nice lines through the tree's.
We are also halfway through the season and its kind of sad to think that the day's ski-in here are now getting less than the day's we have been ski-in this winter, but that's the way it is and its always like that every time I have come here over the last 18 years and will be on all my visits here in the future and that's the beauty of life here living in the moment and playing in the mountains.
posted by Geoff's Journey # 10:04 PM 0 Comments
Monday, January 29, 2018....
Another meter of snow :-)
Since I last wrote we have had just under a meter of snow and its snowed every day. The town as well as the ski hill is looking like a winter wonderland with snow covering everything.
for the first time in two weeks we are not expecting any tonight or tomorrow night but Thursday through to Monday is forecast for snow every day.
The photo above was six days ago with 22cm of new snow, it is in the Paradise ski area and I was the first one to ski down the run, it felt like I was in paradise, the area is aptly named on many occasions through the season and when the tree's are laden with snow it looks beautiful.
Above is lower down the slope taking a photo of the top photo area but now skied.
The top photo looking south is cloudy but the above photo looking north is blue sky which was soon covered by the cloud.
That blue sky was the only blue we had in two weeks, today we had some sun on and off and it is supposed to be sunny tomorrow, if it is and there's no fresh snow I'm going to have a day off and go to the Aquatic center in nearby Trail and soak in the hot tube also pop into the steam room and do some lane swimming in the pool.
During that two weeks of snow we had two 30cm days back to back and with stuff on the roof falling off around the house the snow in the garden was getting deeper and deeper, you can see the snow around the house in the above photo, the neighbor's window is nearly covered by snow and its like that with a lot of the house's in the town.
People are saying they can't remember seeing this much snow around town, its certainly becoming one of the best season especially if this keeps up.
The weekend just gone it was winter Carnival around the town for 3 days, there was a outside bar along the main street in the town and some snow sculptors made a wall to create a entrance into the area where there was a stage with live music and a bar.
Friday and Saturday nights there were bands playing everywhere at different venue's I went each night and saw 4 bands, they were good nights with dancing and socializing, the town is a very friendly chatty town where a lot of people know each other, we see each other on the ski hill most days and its also season after season for many years for most of them.
A lot of people here are from all over the world but mostly other parts of Canada and we come hear every winter which brings this sleepy little summer town to life during the winter months.
Its a GR8 place to be, and we also have a ski :-)
posted by Geoff's Journey # 10:32 PM 0 Comments
Sunday, January 21, 2018....
5 days of snow and more to come :-)
Its snowed every day for the last 5 days and there is snow forecast for the rest of the week too.
BC is getting hammered with storms on the west coast around Vancouver and it carries on westward across the Province, they've been getting 50cm + and by the time it gets here in Rossland its down to anything from 5cm to 20cm, it has been good for us.
A few days ago me and Dan skied Mt Roberts again with 30cm of new snow over 4 days, we skied the Gun Barrel again, (a section of it above) which was GR8 ski-in as always.
On the 30 minuet hike up to the top of Mt Roberts I heard a wood pecker pecking away at a tree and looked round and saw it, so I took a photo of it (above), I zoomed in with my small Sony digital camera but the photo was not very clear. I miss my 570 zoom Olympus which had a 120 mm zoom, it packed up on me about 2 years ago when I was last here.
I'll have to invest in a other camera after my season here, when I get back to NZ.
The wood pecker didn't seem to mind us standing and watching it as it made its way up the tree pecking away probably eating little insects under the bark.
On the same run down the Gun Barrel I took the photo above of Dan ski-in the powder, this photo I took off my Hero 5 go pro video.
Today Dan myself and another friend Mike went for another hike up onto Record Ridge and had a very good run down into Record Creek and on the hike up onto Mt Roberts which is close by we noticed there was Hoarfrost needles on the branches of the tree's (above) and sometimes if its a certain temperature during the night for many days, around -11, the needles get longer and longer so we will keep our eyes open on that one,but it did start snowing again on the hike up so They might disappear.
posted by Geoff's Journey # 8:20 PM 0 Comments
Monday, January 15, 2018....
We've had another week of GR8 ski-in, last Tuesday we had 23cm of new snow and more like NZ snow where it was a little wetter than we have been getting and while we were waiting in the line for the lift to open at 5 to 9 the power went out which was caused by a tree falling on the power lines and knocking a power pole down along the highway close to the hill.
It put the power out in a 20 mile radius of the ski area putting the power out in 3 local towns, at 11 the ski hill closed for the day as they said the power would be on about mid afternoon but didn't come on at the ski resort till 8-30 pm.
We live in Rossland which is a 5 minuet drive and the managed to get it on by mid day.
It was all go the next day with a nice powder day.
The top photo and the one above was taken ski-in off White Wolf ridge and the tree's were loaded nicely with new snow after we had 34cm in two days the 23cm we had on Tuesday and 11cm on Monday.
Then on Sunday (yesterday) the freezing level rose to 3000m which made all the snow fall off the tree's and now they look green again instead of the winter wonderland white.
We were touring again Thursday, Friday and Saturday ski-in the snow in the photo's on this page and my touring buddy Dan in the photo above ski-in DL's tree's on Mt Roberts.
I took the photo's off my Hero 5 Go Pro video's which is a function I'm enjoying on the camera.
The photo below is also of Dan again ski-in down off Record Ridge one of our favorite area's to tour.
Today I skied groomers on the hill, the Avalanche danger is considerable because of the warming up in the last two days and tomorrow the freezing level is dropping to 1800 meters with rain changing to snow as it lowers to 1200 meter's tomorrow night and snow Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with the freezing level dropping to below 1000meters.
So if the forecast is right we will be having another GR8 week's ski-in ahead :-)
posted by Geoff's Journey # 10:20 PM 0 Comments
Sunday, January 7, 2018....
First week of 2018
After the first week of 2018 we've had a mixture of weather, it started cold around -13c then on Friday and yesterday it got warmer at around 0 to -3, at the beginning of the week with the colder temperatures we had another gift from the sun god's above with three of them around the coloured sun ring :-)
On New years day on one of our hikes I took the photo above of Paradise ski area which is a south facing.
It is a perfect name for the area because it is south facing and is the sunniest part of the Red mountain ski area.
Also for beginners and intermediate skiers it is a perfect area to improve the technique of tree ski-in, as you can see the top sections the tree's are well spaced and as you get lower through the other two sections they are closer together.
Their is also a lovely Lodge for snack's/lunch and cups of coffee/tea, during the summer they refurbished and made it bigger and new and better toilet facilities :-)
Also on our hikes at the beginning of the week because of the colder temp's at night the crystal's started to form on top of the snow, photo above shows the crystal's and if they become bigger and bigger then they can become a weak layer in the snow pack and all these aspects in the snow pack are in our thinking when we go touring, thankfully with the warmer temps the last three days with only 11cm spread out over those days it has helped melt those crystals and gel the latest snow to the snow pack below it.
I haven't been touring over the last two days due to the warmer weather, the pack will be a bit heavy and unstable and in the forecast it is supposed to snow every day till Friday so the ski area will be fun and when this 4 day storm passes it will have covered all the tracks in the back country and when its all settled all the old tracks will be covered and it will all be fresh again:-), we will also be reading the avalanche reports each day and studying it to see how the new snow gel's with the existing pack.
The above tree (photo) are in some of the gardens around town, I have been told it is a Ash tree and the red berries stay on the tree till the spring, then the Robins feed on the berries, until then the winter snow settles in little to big mounds on top of the berries making it a lovely photo and nice to look at when walking around town.
posted by Geoff's Journey # 5:30 PM 0 Comments
Tuesday, January 2, 2018....
Thanks 2017 and welcome to 2018
Happy new year and all the best for 2018 :-)
Its a GR8 time to be here in BC Canada this time of year, with all the snow around making it feel very much like Xmas and then coming to the end of one year and starting another its a very joyous time. Of course having a good snow base on the mountains makes it much more so.
The above mountain Record Peak is a 45 minute walk from the ski area where I'm standing to take the photo is White Wolf ridge which is 15 minute's from the ski area.
The photo above show's two run's, the one on the left I did on New years eve in 2017 and the one on the right I did yesterday, New years day 2018.
It was through the tall tree's on the right of the peak in the top photo, my buddy Dan came out further to the right of the above picture which is his favorite line in the tree's.
The above photo was taken halfway down through the tree's, this mountain in the tree's has the best tree ski-in around as it is North facing and very dry and has a good fall line with the snow always 50cm + before the rest of the ski bum's ski it out.
We were the first up there since the 30cm we received last Thursday and Friday. :-)
During the storm last Thursday and Friday we must have had a bit of wind Thursday night because on Friday when we were walking along the ridge's to ski off Record Ridge another ski area we ski tour to.
We came across the wind lipped shapes above, the ski touring here in Canada is just as enjoyable as the ski down with all the shapes caused by the wind and snow falling onto small tree's and other objects that are under the snow.
Above is another beautiful scenic view we get when were in the mountains as I have shown in earlier posts this winter of the clouds etc around the sun.
New years Eve, Joy Rex and I were part of a group of 30 people that were part of a progressive dinner which started at Jane's house at 5pm where we had Appies and I did some food for that along with 5 other people then at 7 we all headed to Hoggies house where we had Salad and soup and 3 couples did food for that.
Then a few hours later we all headed to Dan's house and had mains, then at 11 we headed for desert to Ian's house and there was also a outside fire where we saw the new year in.
Above is some of the people that were at the gathering just before midnight.
posted by Geoff's Journey # 6:22 PM 0 Comments
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