Ymir Peak

Spent the weekend in Nelson.

With Jen.

And Brenda.

And Trent.

Where, among other things, we skied the forbidding north face of Ymir peak!

Actually it wasn't that forbidding. I'm not even sure it was north facing. But hey these pictures make it look pretty cool!

Nelson seems a funky little town; it's full of interesting restaurants, groovy coffee shops, and interesting people. Nelson has qualities that Kelowna seems to lack -- a soul? a heart? character? It's hard to say exactly but it's something along those lines.

Ymir Peak forms the backdrop to Whitewater Ski Resort. "Resort" is a bit of a euphemism since the place has the look and feel of an old Laurentian ski hill with 2 small lifts, a small base lodge, and not much else. It's great. You can purchase a single ride lift ticket, ride the lift once, and then have access to a tremendous amount of backcountry skiing.

There hasn't been any significant snowfall in southern BC for about 10 days. Needless to say we didn't expect a lot in terms of the skiing this weekend, but in the end we were pleasantly surprised. There was loads of dense, untracked snow and the skiing was really good. In sheltered areas a thick layer of hoar frost had developed on the surface -- it must have been 2-3cm thick in places. It's weird stuff to ski on because it doesn't actually feel very slippery. We likened it to skiing on sand. Not that we've ever skied on sand, at least since leaving eastern Canada...

So we skied up and down and all over the place and by the end of the day had logged over 1500m (almost 5000') of skiing. Watch out Greg Hill.