Wedemount Lake
Kye, Hoji, Callum and I made our way to Wedemount Lake yesterday. Hoji, Kye and I made the climb in 95 mins from the truck to the lake (our personal bests). It was a non stop hike/jog/climb to the cabin followed by a good ol stretch session on the flat rocks by the water and then a dip in the pristine, blue, alpine lake. What an awesome way to hammer the legs and get some recon for lines we want to ski in the future… Thanks for the day boys!
Kye & Hoji near at our rest point by the cabin
The Lake
The Glacier
Stoked!
Scoping lines...
Shared a snack with this little guy
Great colors up there
Heading to the water's edge
If only this were a hot spring...
The lake hanging on the edge
The Rethel couloir calling my name
Rainbow Mountain across the valley
Hoji (aka Eric Hjorleifson)
Time to test the water
REFRESHING
A great way to spend an afternoon...
Y Couloir – Mt. Currie
Ski descent of Mt. Currie in Pemberton BC with Austin Ross, Ian “Cheddar” Watson, Jonas Delonge and Kye Petersen.
“Y Couloir” Mt Currie 03/24/10 from Austin Ross on Vimeo.
Tantalus mission skunked
This morning Kye, Hjorleifson, Blake and I drove to Squamish in hopes of getting a heli drop in the Tantalus range. Unfortunately by the time we reached the lookout on Highway 99 too many clouds were lingering in our zone so we had to pull the plug. Hopefully this high pressure system sticks around for a couple of days and gives us an opportunity to try again.
Spring time, POV time
I’ve been rocking the POV helmet cam here at Whistler the last few days and I’m just learning to edit the clips together with my IMovie. I’m hoping that after this weekend sometime I’ll be able to post a quick edit with some of the lines I ski’d this week.
Today Callum, Kye, Nick and I made our way up the Stairmaster for a noon lap on Yusumi (I really should check around for the official spelling). The snow was good and we lucked out at the top of our climb when the light got good.
Spring is in the air. Hopefully the snow has been holding up in your neck of the woods. Get amongst it brethren.
Congratulations KYE!
This past weekend my brother of another mother earned himself a gold medal at the Red Bull Cold Rush. Kye placed first with JP Auclair in second and Rossi team rider Sage Cattabriga-Alosa in third. Peep Kye’s switch cork 5 to STOMP, lofty flat spin 7 and some fun and creative lines. Log in to www.newschoolers.com to watch the video and vote on your favorite runs. Yeeeah buddy!
Whitewater Mountain @ Nelson BC. Jan 9 & 10.
One of the most gratifying things abour skiing to me is getting away from masses in the valley below and really getting a feel for sliding down the snow and exploring higher and further from the people around me. Every now and then I come across a ski area that makes me admire what it’s like to enjoy the basics of skiing. Whitewater Mountain or simply WH20 is one of these spots. There are no crowded lift lines, full parking lots, massive restaurants, or high speed quads. There are two rickety old two person chairs each ascending up either side of the valley from the main lodge, one of them accesses the southern aspect slope and the other the northern.
On Friday Sage, Ian, Kye and I shredded Whitewater all day in an effort to get our legs back under us and log some vertical. Aaron, one of our friends from Freeride Entertainment, showed us a few of his favourite runs and in the afternoon we even did a couple of road laps down the “Backside.” To cap off an awesome day we refuelled at the main lodge with sweet potatoe yam fries and a pint of Nelson’s own Faceplant beer.
On Saturday our crew ski’d Whitewater again, this time with Brian Ralph behind the camera lens and Eric Crosland on video. We re-visited the road lap zone and had a great time stepping out a few airs in the trees. If you’ve never been, I suggest you take a trip to the Kootenays and visit Whitewater for some good snow, quick laps and awesome food!
SnoH20 Lodge. Rossignol team shoot. Jan 5-8.
Rossi Team sessions at SnoH20 from rossignol on Vimeo.
On Monday morning Paddy Kaye picked me up in Pemberton as the snowflakes accumulated outside my door. It was the first real snow storm since the dreaded arctic outflow which caused a high pressure system in Whistler and left us with really cold temperatures and no precipitation. Fortunately luck was on our side as we had no problem driving over the Duffey Lake road (which closes when conditions are too dangerous for drivers).
This year Jason Newell and Paddy Kaye combined forces with Jim Bolser and Bob Legasa at Peak Video Productions and brought their team to the Kootenays for some pictures, video, and sessions. This time around we’re lucky enough to be guests at Snowwater catskiing lodge just outside of Nelson, BC. Paddy and I arrived Monday evening just in time for dinner. Ian Mcintosh, Sage Cattabriga-Alosa, Kye Petersen and Mike Hopkins had pulled in a few hours earlier and were already settled in.
Rossignol team portrait. Photo: Bryan Ralph
Our first day started at 7:30am with a breakfast buffet in the main lodge. I had a hefty helping of my favourite breakfast foods along with a tall glass of juice. After eating we were introduced to our guides, and given a refresher on the use of our transievers to search for victims of an avalanche. Next we met Paul our pilot who showed us the proper protocol for moving safely around helicopters. The avalanche danger is extremely high around British Columbia right now so it is very important for us to listen to the guides and do our best to keep everyone in our group safe. The first ski day was a success! We did multiple heli drops and got some good footage and some darn good turns. To top it all off we had an amazing four course dinner.
At around midnight Patrick (the lodge owner) was kind enough to show us one of his favourite spots in the area, an old mine shaft. Our whole crew piled into the cat and we adventured down the snowy road. When the cat stopped we had to make our way through chest deep snow to the opening of the mine. Inside was spectacular. There were snow crystals everywhere! They grew from the floor and the ceiling; we had to walk through them like ninjas being careful not to knock any over. In the back of the cave we met bushy tailed pack rat that had an beautiful greay and white winter coat. This is not the kind of dirty rat you’d see in the city streets. This particular rat was living like a king deep in the forest. Check the video:
Mine Tour from rossignol on Vimeo.
Pow turn. Photo: Bryan Ralph
Our second day on snow we did laps of the low angle, low elevation tree runs in the snow cat. Unfortunately the temperature dropped in the early hours of the morning after a night of snowfall which made for some heavy turns. In the afternoon we built and shaped a big kicker next to the main lodge. Patrick (owner/operator of the lodge) towed us in on his sled complete with his scottish cap/wig. Despite having troubles keeping speed on the inrun we were able to each get some tricks in before our landing was completely bombed out. The giant flag pole was left over from the Expo in 83, we used it as a height-o-meter.
Mike Hopkins & Austin Ross. Photo: Bryan Ralph
My third and final day skiing at Snowwater Lodge was a day I will remember for years to come. Macintosh described it as a “full out huck fest,” I couldn’t have put it better myself. After a couple days of tree skiing we were all itching for something a little more, I guess it’s just in our nature. It wasn’t long before we found the perfect spot along the cat road to step out and build some jumps into the cut block. Kye, Mike and Sage found their own lips and stepped them out while Ian and I piled snow for our kicker that would send us through two trees, goal post style. Ian and I sent backflips first and both stomped with huge smiles on our face. We ski’d down the cut block and waited for our sled to take us up for more.
- Front flip! Photo: Bryan Ralph
I went back to the top and tossed a double back, but it’s the third jump of the afternoon that shook me up. Having already landed my double back flip clean I decided to try a new trick I’ve been visualizing. Essentially it would be a double cork 1080. I completed my first rotation clean but hit the tree mid way and got sent plummeting towards the snow without finishing my trick. When I landed I plugged myself in the deep snow and was left with only my feet sticking out. I struggled to free myself but couldn’t move anywhere, I was helpless. With snow lodged in my throat and my air supply running out I felt myself start to panic and reassured myself someone would come to my rescue. Just as I was about to pass out I felt snow moving above my face, it was the best sound in the world. Soon our guide Scott had my arm and pulled me from my snowy mold. Mike Hopkins said he couldn’t believe how big my eyes were as I cleared my airway and regained my senses. It was the closest I’ve ever been to being buried and I now know from experience how important it is to be aware of the snowpack at all times when playing in the mountains.
Back flip! Photo: Bryan Ralph
After the landings were all ski’d out at this area we headed down the cat track to a jump that Sage had scoped and set up the day before. The jump was shaped perfectly and made for a great session before the end of our trip. All sorts of tricks were thrown. Sage had some very clean cork 3 tail grabs, Ian floated his back flips, Hopkins spun cork 7s and a couple of awesome flatspins, Kye was the only one to hit it switch and stomped 5′s and 9′s, I tossed a couple flatspins and a d spin for good measure. Kye and Sage had some great tree taps to spins (getting all ”T Rice”) and Ian even bonked the tree and did a lincoln loop out!
Tappin Trees. Photo: Bryan Ralph
An avalanche had blocked the access road to the lodge so we were forced to ride the heli out to the road (much to my delight). It was awesome to get a better view of the surrounding area before saying goodbye to the Snowwater lodge.
Thanks to Pat and Mariah, the rest of the staff at Snowwater including Johnny the chef, Alex the bartender, Paul the pilot and our guides Scott and Sean. Despite the dangerous snowpack I still had a great time skiing some new terrain and sessioning with some best bros. Anyone interested in visiting Snowwater should visit their website at www.snowwater.com
Sage Cattabriga-Alosa & Austin Ross. Photo: Bryan Ralph
Blue bird day on the Blackcomb Glacier. Blow Hole session.
This high pressure system left us with another clear day here in beautiful Whistler British Columbia. Callum, Kye, myself and photographer Bruce Rowles made our way up the Seventh Heaven access road as soon as we got up the the hill.
Black Tusk in the distance.
Seventh Heaven Chair. Callum and Kye hoofing it.
Almost there.
Green Lake from the our rest point.
Self portrait from the summit. Time for the oatmeal bar and water break.
We scoped our first shot from the ridge up from the Horstman Hut. Callum and I ski’d the Stupids and continued to traverse to the top of the Showcase T Bar. From there we had a short boot pack to the top of the ridge where we dropped in for our first fresh tracks of the day.
Callum up top. This is what we worked for, yeah bud.
The view into the Blackcomb Glacier from the top of the Showcase T Bar.
Here’s a look back at our traverse track. Check out how rad the line in the sun to the left is! That’s going to get hit. Look a little closer and you can see the crevasses in the ski out.
I got Callum to snap a shot of me before he dropped in. Thanks bro, nice turns!
Here’s the KPDC checking out his line.
Here’s the spine jump we hit in the Blowhole. Had a few good turns, a straight air and a flat spin 450 before skiing the road out. Check back to see Bruce’s action shots.
Top of the T Bar. Check out Callum, Kye and I in the shadows. Thought this was an interesting shot. There was some great light today but we’ll definately have to show up a bit earlier next time to take full advantage of it.
Here’s a snap shot of the full moon from the grocery store parking lot in Nesters before our trek home to Pemberton for the evening. Now it’s time to rinse/dry/repeat. Rinse of the sweat, dry out our ski boots and repeat it all again tomorrow morning! Bless.
Early season. Good friends. Good Times.
What’s up shred bros and sistahs?? Hope everyone’s ski season has started out well. It’s hard to believe it’s December here in Whistler, there isn’t any snow on the ground! Obstacles that are usually hidden deep beneath our coastal snow pack are protruding out in all directions. While this can be somewhat dangerous, it also adds a certain entertainment factor.
Yesterday Kye, Callum, Pierrot and I made use of the two runs open on Whistler Mountain by linking together some natural features. We had a quarter pipe up top, a perfect backflip jump, a hefty fence gap, a giant snow wall perfect for presses and a roller section at the bottom that made my legs feel like rubber. Today we spun laps of Blackcomb’s Highest Level park airing off the knowls getting our 360s back.
If you haven’t already tried them, get out and ski on a pair of Rossignol S7′s! I’ll tell you the same thing I told the handful of people that commented on them at the mountain, “they’ll change your skiing, and change your life.” The reverse camber style ski is the hottest thing since cheese graders!
Shout out to everyone that still went skiing/riding today even though we woke to the sound of rain on our rooves. It’s refreshing to see so many people all sharing their love of the mountain and the sport, even with the lack of snow in this town. Let’s all send some energy to Mother Nature so she’ll grace us with some big flakes soon. I know I’m dreaming of a White Christmas!
