|
CAMPBELL ICEFIELDS SKI WEEK |
Click any image for a larger view.
|
DAY 3 - Alan Drainage
DAY 4 - More trees
DAY 5 - Dome & Big Easy Monday we woke up to yet another warm day with lots of snow falling so it was decided that a tour down the valley would be the best and safest route. We headed back down through the trees, down the Bluewater Creek and then headed north up the Alan Campbell drainage. We had found some great skiing in that area the year before but breaking trail through 40 centimetres of heavy wet snow almost broke us. |
|||
|
|
|||
![]() Steve has the difficult job of trail breaking through the trees. We took turns breaking trail but the snow was so heavy that no one lasted very long as lead trail breaker. |
|
||
|
Once we got to the open meadow, no one had any enthusiasm or energy to go any further. We managed to get in some reasonable turns on the way back down the drainage before starting the climb back up the Bluewater to home. A couple of keeners stayed out and skied yesterdays trees again. |
|||
![]() Sunset at the end of a long hard day. |
|||
|
|
|||
![]() |
![]() |
||
|
Some people had more energy than others for cards or reading (with your eyes closed).
|
|||
|
Day 4 More trees.
Unfortunately the weather was socked in again
so trees were on the agenda. 3 people skied the trees on the ridge above
the lodge while 5 of us sussed out some trees below the lodge. Between
blizzards like conditions and elephant snot snow, we did manage to plough a
few turns. The smart ones stayed put and enjoyed some quiet time in the
lodge. Day 5 The Dome & Big Easy It was a fine thing to wake up to bright blue and clear skies. For first timers to Campbell, this was their first glimpse at the amazing scenery in the area. Avalanche conditions were still very high so Jesse offered to lead us up a safe route to the Dome. |
|||
|
|
|||
![]() Photo courtesy Steve Riggs
|
1. The Dome Our destination today is the Dome taking a route shown to us by Jesse and his wife Christine. Approximate route shown in red. Ladies Last Chance - there ain't no trees past this point. Some of us spent a awesome day sking in the trees below LLC a couple of days later. 2. Bluewater Glacier |
||
![]() Ena, Franz and John take a break before tackling the hard crusty snow down through the trees. |
|
||
|
Back Row: Larry Fisher, Ena Spalding, Franz Dopf,
Robbie Dopf, John Bargman, Steve Riggs, John Davies, Karen Fisher, John
Alliston, Roy Scarisbrick
|
|||
![]() In the background you can see the 2 Christmas tree runs that caused a lot of grief over the next few days. The heavy wet snow had become un-skiable due to the wicked sun crust that had formed on top. It was our only safe route to access the Dome and the Bluewater though.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"If you're not falling then you're not trying hard enough."
|
It was a tricky descent from the top of the Dome as there was a bit of a sun crust in places.
But lower down it was pretty fine. |
||
![]() Photo Steve Riggs After leaving the Dome we headed back up past the lodge and up onto the Big Easy. |
Here's a shot and video of some of the gang skiing from last season. |
||
| LINKS |
|
Make some turns to Day 6. |
|
For other hikes, bikes, and adventures, go back to the Staff page and look around. |
|
Get a player for the movies on this site. |
|
Tour Steve's site of the trip. |
|
CREDITS |
|
Photography and artistic design: Carol Guthrie |
|
Additional Photos: Steve Riggs |
| Technical advice and editing: Roy Scarisbrick |
|
This web space kindly provided by: |
| Please report any errors, spelling errors, broken links, comments, or contributions. |