Vaux Moraines

Still scruffy!



We climbed as the high as the moraine and called it a day.



The skiing was good above the shrubbery-line.

NRC

We had been camping at the Visitor Centre for the past three nights and the camper was just about buried by now. We headed to NRC for a couple of quick laps to take advantage of the new snow before heading back home to reality.

Loop Brook

Still pretty scruffy up in Loop Brook. Where's the snow this year? That rain in December didn't help.





It was a strange day. It took us forever to break trail up through the trees and get on top of the middle moraine. Then by the time we got there it was time to go home! The days are short in January. Oh well, as always it was great to be outside in the mountains in winter time.

Dispatcher Bowl

Dispatcher is the high bowl between Ursus Trees on one side and the Frequent Flyer Ridge of Grizzly Mountain on the other. We had never been in here before probably because whenever we come this way the visibility is crap and we're heading into the trees on Ursus. Today the clouds lifted by mid morning so we decided to drop off Ursus Ridge and climb up into Dispatcher. The bowl is wide open, rolling, and mostly gentle terrain with steeper aspects on all sides and of course the waterfall exit down to Connaught Creek which we gave a wide berth.





We enjoyed the mellow turns in some often tricky light and then climbed up into the trees on the Frequent Flyer side for one more run.



A fun day. We look forward to returning on a nice sunny day.

Rossland

Between Christmas and New Year we spent a few days in Rossland with our friend Mark. I worked with Mark several years ago in the tech industry and we have kept in touch through the years.

Rossland is a beautiful little mountain town and it really grew on us during our time there. The big draws are Red Mountain in the winter and mountain biking in the summer. And of course evening growlers from the Rossland Beer Company at any time of year. By the time we left there was a well beaten path leading through the snow from Mark's front door to the brewery.

As for skiing there wasn't much snow on the ground but we explored the Old Glory area just enough to stretch our legs and work off some of that beer.

NRC

A glorious sunny day at NRC. In what became a pattern for the rest of the season it rained to 2200 metres shortly after this weekend. It was great skiing while it lasted.

Balu Pass

Behind the hotel with Val and James and friends on a dark and dreary December day...but no worries there cuz James owns the brightest orange jacket ever created by human kind!

Asulkan Cabin

The 10th anniversary of our annual November trip to the Asulkan cabin. There was a little less snow than usual this year but come along anyway...

Cuz there will be snow. I promise.


See. Snow! Kind of...


No problem. There will be snow.


Ya see? Snow!


More snow than you can shake a misery stick at.


With good friends and good times.


Until next November

Shuswap River Salmon Paddle

Our annual Shuswap canoe trip to see the salmon run. This time with Ashley, Fred, and Floyd on a paddle board.



Like last year we put in at Dale's Hand Launch, but unlike last year when we used bikes, this time we dropped a car at Trinity Bridge for the return shuttle.









Salmon are amazing.

Markhor Needle Traverse

We had done this traverse a couple of times before in August 2011. The first time was a gong show, the second time was better, but this time we really got it sorted out by taking the route marked in yellow.



Just beyond the top of the first slab, rather than thrashing up and left as we did on attempt #2, we instead followed a treed gully on the right up onto the ridge. It's steep and brushy but easy. Otherwise this was much the same as the previous time with lots of scrambling, avoiding the off-width crack by moving to skiers left, and a bit of rope work for peace of mind at crux #2.

Frisby Ridge Mountain Bike Trail

This was our second alpine ride in the Revelstoke area after trying Keystone Standard a few weeks earlier. I think this is the better ride. It's located north of Revelstoke on the west side of the Columbia beginning at around 1300m and climbs to around 2100m. We had a great day out with Nick, Ken, Sonia, and Dave.

Cathedral Park

We decided to go into Cathedral Park again. We'd been here on Labour Day weekend 2009, 2010, and 2011 to climb the "Traverse of the Gods". This time we just wanted to hang out and enjoy the place. Alas, someone forgot their boots...but she was a good sport about it!



The trail was littered with downed trees even more so than in previous years.



We were again visited by several deer.



Discovered an excellent blueberry patch.



And sat in the meadow because hey...why not?

Keystone Standard Basin

Being fairly new to mountain biking this was the first time we'd been on an "alpine" bike trail like this. The Keystone Standard trailhead is about 50km north of Revelstoke and 15km up the Keystone FSR. It starts with a few kilometres of steep climbing and then boom you're above treeline for another 10km of single track riding to the Standard Cabin before retracing your route back again. It's a beautiful setting.





We got caught in a sudden downpour of hail and very cold rain and had to take shelter under a rare tree.



After half an hour the rain stopped and we continued for a few more wet kilometres to the cabin.





The sun came out again for the return journey. Brenda was looking a little pooped near the end.



I could get used to this.