i love big dumps

Wow. 25cm of snow on saturday and 40cm monday. i couldn't have chosen a better time to visit my bro in whistler. my new skis felt inadequate beside all of the fatties in the lift line, but i still managed to ski some great lines and had tons of fun doing it. unfortunately, skiing in the east just won't be the same now.


here's jeff and liam's "cozy" apartment










beautiful lines in the alpine













fresh pow = happy jeff

the lost mitten

Looking across the valley from where we were ice climbing in Tumbler Ridge last week, Philippe noticed a beautiful alpine route up a steep gulley on the other side of the valley. It was the first mountain that he had seen in the area, and he was convinced that a more aesthetic line could not exist. He had to climb it. Not being one to turn down an adventure and having dreamed about 'real mountaineering' for years, I quickly caught on to his enthusiasm and a couple days later, we were hiking into the fiercest wind I've ever expericed with huge packs on our backs. We didn't make it far the first day, but decided to camp about an hours hike from the base of the climb. The wind howled so loudly all night that I hardly slept a wink.

The climb the next day was beautiful but easy, but greatly intensified by the raging wind that blew snow and dust in our faces all day. Twenty-five mountain goats looked on as we climbed and hiked, no doubt wondering what on earth we were doing in their turf in the middle of winter.

We made it to the top of Bullmoose Mountain by 2:30 and started the trek down, which turned out to be far more eventful than the ascent. I tumbled end over end for a good chunk of the way, leaving me badly bruised and more than a little shaken.

It turns out that the route has never been climbed before and so we christened it "the lost mitten" after my poor little mitt that got blown off the top while I was fiddling with the rope.

work's over - let the fun begin!

Ah, winter. My favorite season for playing outside.

The plan was to do some ski touring in the mountains around tumbler ridge with Robbie and Philippe but, alas, there wasn't enough snow so we decided to check out some of the waterfalls in the area. We had three great days of beautiful weather and gorgeous ice:







And we followed it up with a spectacular day of tree skiing at powder king, which totally lived up to it's name with a huge pile of new snow. We skied fresh lines through the trees all day!

what you've all been waiting for: snowmaking pics

what is that bright ball of fire in the sky?

It's been 2 months since I've seen the sun.

I've been working every night and sleeping for the few hours of daylight that we get so far north. But I'm done work for the year and I've got a pocket full of cash and a new pair of skis so things are looking brighter!

Pics of the fascinating world of snowbridge making to follow as soon as Robbie gets them off his camera.

And much more interesting blogging on the way since I'm going to Tumbler Ridge tomorrow for a week or so for some skiing and ice climbing!!

Let the fun begin!