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(Click any image for a larger view.) |
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| There were over 30 people from the Norseman ski club that descended upon the Lake Louise hostel to ski for the weekend. We split into 3 groups and headed off in different directions to do some track and telemark skiing.
Here's an account of our adventures telemark skiing with the following people: Jo & Steve Riggs, Rod & Liz Elder, Betty & John Alliston, Larry & Karen Fisher, Jim Allan, Roy Scarisbrick & Carol Guthrie.
Saturday, Feb 8th - After checking the weather conditions and the
avalanche report at the Lake Louise
information center it was decided that Crowfoot Pass was the pick of the
day. |
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Crowfoot Glacier in the back ground. |
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The gang pulls up to the side of the highway
and starts to prepare for the day |
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After checking to make
sure all transceivers
are working the group is
off. |
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The group is heading across the lake with
Crowfoot Glacier directly ahead. |
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Here the group has just broken out of the trees. Bow Lake and
Num-Ti-Jah Lodge
are in the background. |
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Jim taking a look back. |
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Safely on the other side of the drainage we watched a cornice come down
off the mtn behind us. |
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Destination: Sunshine!
We were all keen to get to the
top of the pass and have lunch in the sun. |
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Here's the lucky few that got a few minutes of sunshine before we lost it
behind the mountains. |
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Skis with a view |
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Thanks to Steve for digging the pit and doing all the snow tests. Roy got
to test the Rutschblock which turned out to be very stable in this location. |
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The group bundled up having their lunch. Unfortunately the sun didn't
stay long enough for us to enjoy our lunch in the sun. It was rather
chilly. |
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Joanne bundling up after a chilly lunch. She's modeling
the latest in ski fashion. |
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The gang's ready to go. |
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John |
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Liz |
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Here's a few shots of the gang enjoying the open slopes.
It was so good we had to go back up and do it again. |
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Movies: This group shot summed up the
day for most of us. Excellent! |
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Here's Roy showing us his stuff. |
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Now we have the trees to navigate before we reach the
valley bottom. |
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Boys 'n Beer |
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After skiing we met up with the rest of the Norseman to swap ski stories and
indulge in appies and drinks.
Wayne wrapped up the day and got plans underway for the next day. |
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Group stretching |
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Jo making a valiant effort to ice a birthday cake for Liz. Liz is a hard
act to follow in the cake making department. It was very excellent and well
worth staying up late to eat it. |
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She huffed and she puffed.... |
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....and then cut the cake. |
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Sunday, Feb 9th
What better way than to start the day with a coffee and treat from Laggan's before checking the avalanche conditions and deciding on a trail. Today's pick is Observation Peak. |
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We opted to follow someone's up-track rather than break trail. It was all
well and good until we found out we were on the wrong side of the gulley. So
we had to make our way down the steep bank and up the other side. |
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A couple of shots of us making our way to the top of the
ridge we wanted to ski. Although it looks bleak it was really very warm. As
we approached the summit we could feel the sun crust and the snow was very
heavy. |
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Roy
& Rod making some nice turns down from the top. |
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Rod stylin'. Must be the new hat! |
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Movies: Skiing down from the top the snow was very thin but
overall not too bad. It didn't take too much to punch through though. Here
we see 1. Steve 2.
Roy & Rod 3.
Jim with Larry digging for snow
snakes.
As we move down the slope the snow becomes heavier and really easy for a ski
to punch through. Here's a clip of Carol
with an amazing finish & Liz
who seems to be having no problems. |
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Larry's got it sorted out. |
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Whoops, it's getting deep and heavy. |
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Roy's working hard... |
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...and he comes through with a smile. |
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Hey! What's going on here? |
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That's better. |
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We stopped to enjoy the sun one more time before we made our
way back down through the trees. The navigating in the lower section was a
little tight and tricky at times. |
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Photographer's work is never done. |
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We enjoyed the rest of Liz's birthday cake at our cars before heading back
to Calgary. It was another great weekend, great turns, and great company.
Until next time! |
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