Moral of the story, don't leave anything on the mountain. I had enough daylight yesterday that I could have bagged another lap, but thought I'd save my legs for tomorrow. Seize the day and leave no powder turn behind.
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Forecast was calling for up to 30 cm's overnight. They were right. I arrived late in the day to find the gate closed. A conversation with another long tenured warden told me chances are it'll be closed again tomorrow. 30cm in town should mean double that up high. Add that to the 30 to 60 I saw yesterday and we're having a meter party.
Moral of the story, don't leave anything on the mountain. I had enough daylight yesterday that I could have bagged another lap, but thought I'd save my legs for tomorrow. Seize the day and leave no powder turn behind.
Moral of the story, don't leave anything on the mountain. I had enough daylight yesterday that I could have bagged another lap, but thought I'd save my legs for tomorrow. Seize the day and leave no powder turn behind.
No one it seems. Work, bad roads and crab fishing (Shane's hanging out on a boat setting traps it seems) turned away everyone I could think of. With my legs suffering from a) a massive day yesterday and b) a heavy return to the gym a couple days ago, I took my time getting going. Slept in, lounged around a bit and found myself at the gate at 2pm. The beautiful thing with this time of year is that it's light out until after 9pm.
A warden I'd talked to had said him and some fellow powder hounds would be making laps in CV13. I arrived and saw no one. This left me just over 2,000 feet of heavy trail breaking. There was 30 cm or so down low, with 50 to 60 cm up top. It continued to snow and blow the entire time I was there. Beautifully light and quite stable. I stuck to the treed side of CV13 which meant I was on a pure south aspect - last place you'd expect amazing turns in April, but with the heavy snowfall and winds from the north, it was phenomenal.
I made 3 laps, got countless face shots and bagged a total of 4,430 up. The nice thing with CV13 is the proximity to the parking lot. I had a 100 meter walk at the bottom and I was back at the car.
A warden I'd talked to had said him and some fellow powder hounds would be making laps in CV13. I arrived and saw no one. This left me just over 2,000 feet of heavy trail breaking. There was 30 cm or so down low, with 50 to 60 cm up top. It continued to snow and blow the entire time I was there. Beautifully light and quite stable. I stuck to the treed side of CV13 which meant I was on a pure south aspect - last place you'd expect amazing turns in April, but with the heavy snowfall and winds from the north, it was phenomenal.
I made 3 laps, got countless face shots and bagged a total of 4,430 up. The nice thing with CV13 is the proximity to the parking lot. I had a 100 meter walk at the bottom and I was back at the car.
The freak spring storm continued and next thing you know there's 4 of us standing at the upper gate. It was of course locked again with the road plowed right to the lake. After a few minutes we decided to make an attempt on the bowl we'd scouted from Moose Peak
Adam and I walked the pavement to the edge of the lake, while Troy and Blair skinned it. We gained Summit Ridge, toured around to the back and dropped a slide path down into boundary creek. The snow was light and dry on top of a wetter crust. We saw some sluffing, but made it down to the valley below. Crossed a couple creeks and wrapped our way into the entrance below the bowl. After some fiddling with coordinates (my gps doesn't have American data - and while we looked for a border services agent, we couldn't find one to ask for directions or to get our passports stamped) we managed to get onto the right track. We climbed up through some nice trees until we stopped for lunch just short of our objective. Bellies full, we pushed on for another 15 minutes and found ourselves at the base of Galloway Bowl. It's a tight little spot, with a small lake and massive rock walls on the lower ridges. Climbing to the top was going to involve some exposure. There was evidence of natural activity in the previous days. Blair and I stuck our noses in a bit and found that there was an old slide path with only a couple inches of new on top of it. Once we gained the ridge above the rock, it was an easy skin across drifts of snow over scree. There is a buttress at the top of the bowl that halts your climb. We stopped maybe 50 feet short of this due to lots of shark fins.
The sun had been poking in and out all day. Blair and I waited for about 2 minutes before it poked back out. We scrambled to get ready and Blair let me have the first descent ever (A warden with 20 years of service at the park says it's never been ridden). Amazing snow for any time of the year, but for April 26th? Wow. Light, dry blower powder about a foot deep up top. It's pretty much a pure north face that tops out close to 8,000 feet. Troy and Adam had waited at the bottom to take some photos. I could barely contain my enthusiasm on the way down. Troy thinks I might have had a snowgasm. He was probably right. This was a big goal for me and to get it with conditions like this....Stoked!
Blair and I chilled at the bottom while Adam and Troy skinned up for their turn. The sun didn't cooperate quite as much and they descended in lower light than we had. With the goal crossed off the list, we toured over to the ridge to scope out some chutes. We couldn't tell if the rock walled one went, so we moved over a bit and took the treed route. It had been soaking up some westerly sun and was kicking off sluffs, but it was still a fun ride. Back down at the bottom, there was one more long climb to regain Summit Ridge. Slowly but surely we made it and then it was all downhill from there. Found some more powder turns on the way down and then walked back along the road to the gate. A very long day - almost 15 miles covered and 6,480 vertical feet. Adam's biggest day ever along with the biggest day ever at Waterton for Troy and I.
Adam and I walked the pavement to the edge of the lake, while Troy and Blair skinned it. We gained Summit Ridge, toured around to the back and dropped a slide path down into boundary creek. The snow was light and dry on top of a wetter crust. We saw some sluffing, but made it down to the valley below. Crossed a couple creeks and wrapped our way into the entrance below the bowl. After some fiddling with coordinates (my gps doesn't have American data - and while we looked for a border services agent, we couldn't find one to ask for directions or to get our passports stamped) we managed to get onto the right track. We climbed up through some nice trees until we stopped for lunch just short of our objective. Bellies full, we pushed on for another 15 minutes and found ourselves at the base of Galloway Bowl. It's a tight little spot, with a small lake and massive rock walls on the lower ridges. Climbing to the top was going to involve some exposure. There was evidence of natural activity in the previous days. Blair and I stuck our noses in a bit and found that there was an old slide path with only a couple inches of new on top of it. Once we gained the ridge above the rock, it was an easy skin across drifts of snow over scree. There is a buttress at the top of the bowl that halts your climb. We stopped maybe 50 feet short of this due to lots of shark fins.
The sun had been poking in and out all day. Blair and I waited for about 2 minutes before it poked back out. We scrambled to get ready and Blair let me have the first descent ever (A warden with 20 years of service at the park says it's never been ridden). Amazing snow for any time of the year, but for April 26th? Wow. Light, dry blower powder about a foot deep up top. It's pretty much a pure north face that tops out close to 8,000 feet. Troy and Adam had waited at the bottom to take some photos. I could barely contain my enthusiasm on the way down. Troy thinks I might have had a snowgasm. He was probably right. This was a big goal for me and to get it with conditions like this....Stoked!
Blair and I chilled at the bottom while Adam and Troy skinned up for their turn. The sun didn't cooperate quite as much and they descended in lower light than we had. With the goal crossed off the list, we toured over to the ridge to scope out some chutes. We couldn't tell if the rock walled one went, so we moved over a bit and took the treed route. It had been soaking up some westerly sun and was kicking off sluffs, but it was still a fun ride. Back down at the bottom, there was one more long climb to regain Summit Ridge. Slowly but surely we made it and then it was all downhill from there. Found some more powder turns on the way down and then walked back along the road to the gate. A very long day - almost 15 miles covered and 6,480 vertical feet. Adam's biggest day ever along with the biggest day ever at Waterton for Troy and I.
I've been meaning to bag that bowl, but have had a hard time finding a partner and the corn conditions don't really motivate me enough to go solo. That changed when a freak spring snow storm showed up. I left home at 6AM with the goal of tracking the bowl with at least a couple of laps.
Road conditions on the way were terrible. The plows hadn't been out yet and the wet snow coupled with wind and freezing conditions made things rutted and icy. Travel was slow, but I made it to the town site just after 8AM. I probably missed the guy who locked the lower gate by minutes. Had I been there just a bit sooner, I'd have been able to drive up the road as there was only 5 or 6 inches of snow on the road. Instead, I waited. Patiently at first, then not so much. I flagged down a plow driver who said they'd get to it sometime around noon. Ugh. I went to the warden's office and didn't have much luck. It seems powder turns aren't a priority. I returned to my spot in line and waited. The line of course was just me.
At noon, the plow showed up and locked the gate behind himself. Another hour passed and the plow returned. I drove the 14km up the road hoping that the upper gate would be open and the road plowed. I'd been up on Sunday with the motorbike and the gate was partially open with the road mostly cleared.
I was angered to see the road plowed but the gate was down and locked. I swore a few times then turned around and drove back to the warden's office. Blew off some steam and made no progress. The gate was going to remain down for no other good reason than "just because". I returned to the upper gate, threw the board on the pack and walked along the nicely plowed road to the lake. Threw the skins on the skis and started climbing. I soon added the crampons - the 6 to 8 inches of snow at the lake wasn't always enough traction and the crampons helped by grabbing the crusty/mushy old snow underneath.
Soon enough I found myself on the top of the knob. I looked across the valley to the bowl that was hidden by the ridge and obscured by cloud. Even on a clear day, you wouldn't know that the bowl exists from this vantage point. You need to climb Moose Peak to be tempted. I pondered the distance to be traveled vs. the remaining daylight for quite some time. The internal argument raged with the eventual winner being forget it, you're not going to make it in time. Dejected I toured around to the front of the knob and enjoyed lunch while the clouds moved out. This only made me madder - I should have been enjoying laps in the new bowl with this visibility. I eventually strapped in, made some turns in surprisingly good powder and even managed a face shot or two on a speed check turn. I didn't trust the lake, so I had to follow the shoreline back to the parking lot, which of course wasn't the real parking lot, that's only for summer visitors. My parking lot was another 2.5km away. Total up was a scant 1,720.
Strapped the board to the pack and walked back. Along the way, I spied Moose Chute, Piggot Chute, Too Tight Ridge and the Knuckledragger couloir. It has been a great winter. Lots of great days and adventures with friends old and new. I hate this walk, but I love these mountains. There remains much to be explored and ridden. The parking lot specials, the headwall couloir, the bowl, the valley behind Too Tight Ridge.
I'm quite confident these were my last powder turns of the season, but who knows? I will definitely get some turns in June again just for the sake of doing it. Might see what I can find in May too.
Road conditions on the way were terrible. The plows hadn't been out yet and the wet snow coupled with wind and freezing conditions made things rutted and icy. Travel was slow, but I made it to the town site just after 8AM. I probably missed the guy who locked the lower gate by minutes. Had I been there just a bit sooner, I'd have been able to drive up the road as there was only 5 or 6 inches of snow on the road. Instead, I waited. Patiently at first, then not so much. I flagged down a plow driver who said they'd get to it sometime around noon. Ugh. I went to the warden's office and didn't have much luck. It seems powder turns aren't a priority. I returned to my spot in line and waited. The line of course was just me.
At noon, the plow showed up and locked the gate behind himself. Another hour passed and the plow returned. I drove the 14km up the road hoping that the upper gate would be open and the road plowed. I'd been up on Sunday with the motorbike and the gate was partially open with the road mostly cleared.
I was angered to see the road plowed but the gate was down and locked. I swore a few times then turned around and drove back to the warden's office. Blew off some steam and made no progress. The gate was going to remain down for no other good reason than "just because". I returned to the upper gate, threw the board on the pack and walked along the nicely plowed road to the lake. Threw the skins on the skis and started climbing. I soon added the crampons - the 6 to 8 inches of snow at the lake wasn't always enough traction and the crampons helped by grabbing the crusty/mushy old snow underneath.
Soon enough I found myself on the top of the knob. I looked across the valley to the bowl that was hidden by the ridge and obscured by cloud. Even on a clear day, you wouldn't know that the bowl exists from this vantage point. You need to climb Moose Peak to be tempted. I pondered the distance to be traveled vs. the remaining daylight for quite some time. The internal argument raged with the eventual winner being forget it, you're not going to make it in time. Dejected I toured around to the front of the knob and enjoyed lunch while the clouds moved out. This only made me madder - I should have been enjoying laps in the new bowl with this visibility. I eventually strapped in, made some turns in surprisingly good powder and even managed a face shot or two on a speed check turn. I didn't trust the lake, so I had to follow the shoreline back to the parking lot, which of course wasn't the real parking lot, that's only for summer visitors. My parking lot was another 2.5km away. Total up was a scant 1,720.
Strapped the board to the pack and walked back. Along the way, I spied Moose Chute, Piggot Chute, Too Tight Ridge and the Knuckledragger couloir. It has been a great winter. Lots of great days and adventures with friends old and new. I hate this walk, but I love these mountains. There remains much to be explored and ridden. The parking lot specials, the headwall couloir, the bowl, the valley behind Too Tight Ridge.
I'm quite confident these were my last powder turns of the season, but who knows? I will definitely get some turns in June again just for the sake of doing it. Might see what I can find in May too.
Today's forecast was for warming throughout the day. Tired legs be damned, there's still some powder in those mountains. Troy had to bail, but Jeff joined our group along with Blair, who I'd sought out via the web. He's explored the park extensively and has bagged a lot of lines. We met in person a month or so ago by fluke on the skin track, but today was our first outing together.
Dave wanted to get back on the road, so we planned to check out another chute beside the Moose Chute and also take a closer look at a big huck. Blueish skies greeted us at the trail head along with Edwin, who has been a warden in the park for almost 20 years. He's also one of the avalanche forecasters. We got to talking and learned that our couloir of a few days ago had never been skied. The wardens had skied beside it in the bowl, but never the line we took. Learning that we had a first descent, we renamed it the Knuckledragger. We learned that the Moose Chute had been skied, but wasn't named... but it is now!
We recycled yesterday's uptrack, spent some time scoping out the big huck. Dave was in, except for the landing. We'd have needed a couple of chain saws to clear a zone for the big one. He found a smaller one that was suitable for the small landing area and I got a pretty good photo with an amazing backdrop. Dave took the Moose Chute home as he needed to get on the road and the rest of us climbed up to the true summit, a hundred or so higher than yesterday's drop. The topo's don't consider this a separate peak, but it's the highest point. We stopped for lunch, took in the views and reflected on a great end to the powder season.
We made a lap on the upper section and found some heavier turns. Up again to check out the chute on the looker's left. It's also unnamed, but had been skied before. We found some good turns all the way down and then headed home. I'm going to call it the Piggot chute, which is Blair's last name. It's a bit of a play on the animal theme started with the Moose Chute and with as much exploring and first descents that he has in the park, he should have something named after him!
Total up for today was 3,710 feet. Total for the storm was 28,630 and I'm now just a vertical mile short of 200,000 for the season!
Dave wanted to get back on the road, so we planned to check out another chute beside the Moose Chute and also take a closer look at a big huck. Blueish skies greeted us at the trail head along with Edwin, who has been a warden in the park for almost 20 years. He's also one of the avalanche forecasters. We got to talking and learned that our couloir of a few days ago had never been skied. The wardens had skied beside it in the bowl, but never the line we took. Learning that we had a first descent, we renamed it the Knuckledragger. We learned that the Moose Chute had been skied, but wasn't named... but it is now!
We recycled yesterday's uptrack, spent some time scoping out the big huck. Dave was in, except for the landing. We'd have needed a couple of chain saws to clear a zone for the big one. He found a smaller one that was suitable for the small landing area and I got a pretty good photo with an amazing backdrop. Dave took the Moose Chute home as he needed to get on the road and the rest of us climbed up to the true summit, a hundred or so higher than yesterday's drop. The topo's don't consider this a separate peak, but it's the highest point. We stopped for lunch, took in the views and reflected on a great end to the powder season.
We made a lap on the upper section and found some heavier turns. Up again to check out the chute on the looker's left. It's also unnamed, but had been skied before. We found some good turns all the way down and then headed home. I'm going to call it the Piggot chute, which is Blair's last name. It's a bit of a play on the animal theme started with the Moose Chute and with as much exploring and first descents that he has in the park, he should have something named after him!
Total up for today was 3,710 feet. Total for the storm was 28,630 and I'm now just a vertical mile short of 200,000 for the season!
Added Adam to yesterday's crew and we checked out a couple of ridges that were on the list. It is so nice to have a group willing to seek out new zones.
Troy aka the Moose busted in 80-90% of the up today which was still as much as 60 cm deep. He truly is a machine or an animal. A Moose perhaps.
He led us up the first ridge where we enjoyed a new perspective on things. The wardens had declared the ridge in question "too tight and wind hammered". We found some great turns up top and I enjoyed good turns right to the bottom, but I like tight trees. Named it Too Tight Ridge and moved onto the next target.
The Moose took us up to just beyond the top of my solo recon climb of earlier in the winter. We found our target chute but Dave and I had to punch in the last 500 or so which let the wildlife enjoy a well deserved break. We topped out just as the clouds moved off most of the surrounding peaks giving amazing views in all directions. Alpinglow and rotor clouds were in full effect. We enjoyed the moment that comes only with the anticipation of cashing in the turns that you've earned.
As the sun sank in the west chased the Moose down the newly minted "Moose Chute" - a steep open shot of sustained pitch totaling about 2,000 feet. My legs screamed with each turn but it was worth it. We skinned back out to the truck with headlamps.
Dave couldn't have picked a better time to visit and I was very stoked to spend another day riding with Adam. Total up for the day was 4,440. Heading back again tomorrow as the forecast looks sorta ok. 5C down low with mostly cloudy skies. This has been the best storm of the season!
Troy aka the Moose busted in 80-90% of the up today which was still as much as 60 cm deep. He truly is a machine or an animal. A Moose perhaps.
He led us up the first ridge where we enjoyed a new perspective on things. The wardens had declared the ridge in question "too tight and wind hammered". We found some great turns up top and I enjoyed good turns right to the bottom, but I like tight trees. Named it Too Tight Ridge and moved onto the next target.
The Moose took us up to just beyond the top of my solo recon climb of earlier in the winter. We found our target chute but Dave and I had to punch in the last 500 or so which let the wildlife enjoy a well deserved break. We topped out just as the clouds moved off most of the surrounding peaks giving amazing views in all directions. Alpinglow and rotor clouds were in full effect. We enjoyed the moment that comes only with the anticipation of cashing in the turns that you've earned.
As the sun sank in the west chased the Moose down the newly minted "Moose Chute" - a steep open shot of sustained pitch totaling about 2,000 feet. My legs screamed with each turn but it was worth it. We skinned back out to the truck with headlamps.
Dave couldn't have picked a better time to visit and I was very stoked to spend another day riding with Adam. Total up for the day was 4,440. Heading back again tomorrow as the forecast looks sorta ok. 5C down low with mostly cloudy skies. This has been the best storm of the season!
Went back for more with Dave and Troy. Bagged the summit of Rowe and we all made the first snowboard descent down what we're calling the Knuckledragger. Watched a bald eagle soaring over head just before we dropped in.
Dave got the first huck ever off the newly minted "Dave's Dive". Rode lots of pow. 5,620 up. Amazing day. One of the best of the year.
Snowing as we left tonight. Saw the huge herd of elk, a whack of deer, a solo wolf looking for supper. Last big dump had all the wildlife leaving the mountains....
Temperatures look good for one more day, then the storm of the season may be over.
Dave got the first huck ever off the newly minted "Dave's Dive". Rode lots of pow. 5,620 up. Amazing day. One of the best of the year.
Snowing as we left tonight. Saw the huge herd of elk, a whack of deer, a solo wolf looking for supper. Last big dump had all the wildlife leaving the mountains....
Temperatures look good for one more day, then the storm of the season may be over.
Dave from the west kootenays came out last night and couldn't have timed it better. He says it is the best snow he's seen this season. The koots are usually full of blower, but this winter has been challenging everywhere.
Face shots in epic pow on april fools day? We punched in the long up to Forum ridge and enjoyed first tracks. We then headed across the lake for a couple laps off the knob finding the best snow of the day. We had the whole park to ourselves except for one group that made a single lap of about 800 feet then went home? Not enough corn for you? I don't get some people.
5,230 feet up and the forecast looks good for at least a couple more days!
Face shots in epic pow on april fools day? We punched in the long up to Forum ridge and enjoyed first tracks. We then headed across the lake for a couple laps off the knob finding the best snow of the day. We had the whole park to ourselves except for one group that made a single lap of about 800 feet then went home? Not enough corn for you? I don't get some people.
5,230 feet up and the forecast looks good for at least a couple more days!
