Northern Rockies/Alberta Alberta and Eastern BC discussion thread

[albertanskigirl]

If i recall @Pumba 's shuttle experience - there has to be 6 people in order for the shuttle to run. I assume that means that weekends are best to use it. The best thing, i think, would be to call them and ask what day they meet the minimum and go that day. I don't think it should be a problem if you have a bit of flexibility in your schedule.

 

[kitchener]

Any instructors recommendations at Sunshine (long shot, but thought I'd ask)?

 

[albertanskigirl]

Any instructors recommendations at Sunshine (long shot, but thought I'd ask)?

Yeah - ask for Axel. He's great. I had him for a 4 week lesson series, and he was awesome. Very technical skier, and really good at picking drills, and giving feedback. He also pushed me to harder terrain - which was great for me. We did a hike-to run through a gully in an area at Paris Basin that I would have never gone to. And it was after 2 storm cycles - so pretty steep terrain and thigh high powder in places. It was awesome. I highly highly recommend him. I'd love to do another lesson with him.

 

[Pumba]

If i recall @Pumba 's shuttle experience - there has to be 6 people in order for the shuttle to run. I assume that means that weekends are best to use it. The best thing, i think, would be to call them and ask what day they meet the minimum and go that day. I don't think it should be a problem if you have a bit of flexibility in your schedule.

If you’re talking about the kicking horse shuttle, they require at least 8 to run!!!....still sad.

 

[albertanskigirl]

If you’re talking about the kicking horse shuttle, they require at least 8 to run!!!....still sad.

Did you look into end of the month flights? i don't know if those spots are still left, but I could call back and see...

 

[Mike Rogers]

I haven't shared a conditions report in a while...

I spent the last 2 weekends South of Calgary.


Saturday, March 3rd

On Saturday, March 3rd I skied Castle Mountain. They received about 50 centimeters of snow overnight, so conditions were amazing. We focused on the North Trees and the Chutes and had long, uninterrupted runs of powder. Because Castle mountain has very limited uphill capacity (most of the interesting terrian is only served by a double chair), powder is preserved all day long. Of course, this also means line ups can be pretty brutal. I think it took 1 hr 15 minutes just to get up the mountain for one of our laps. The other ones were better, but there was still a lot of waiting around.

That Saturday was also demo day. I got to try the Blizzard Bodacious (new - all black- metal is back version) at 186. What a killer ski! These were a blast in the wide open spaces and sparse trees. I was really impressed.

I also tried the Blizzard Spur at 191. These were fine powder skis, but I was less wowed by them then the Bodacious. The feel like a much shorter ski.

Anyway, I skied with my dad on Saturday because Liz was in class. We found out that Fernie received similar snow to Castle, and that they weren't able to open much terrain on Saturday. We decided we would be on a full opening on Sunday. So I went back to Calgary, dropped off my dad, picked up liz and turned went back south. We returned to Pincher Creek at 10 pm and crashed at a cheap motel.

Sunday, March 4th

We woke up early to make the 1 hr, 20 minute drive form Pincher Creek to Fernie and had Breakfast at Big Bang Bagels in downtown Fernie (highly recommended). We arrived at the ski hill at 8:30 and were releived to see the lots were mostly empty. The sun was out and chopper was bombing the cornices above the resort...a good sign!

We lined up for the Timber chair before it officially opened. It was worth it to make the Currie rope drop. We had unbelievable snow all day long. We didn't really stop to take pictures, but everything was great, especially the "Big 3" runs of Decline, Stag Leap, and Sky Dive, as well as Easter Bowl and Window Chutes. The bear/boomerang area was a bit thrashed...it was the part of limited terrain open from the day before, so we didn't do much on the old side, apart from a nice lap off Snake Ridge. This was arguably the best day of the season.

Saturday March 10th and Sunday March 11th
We had so much fun in Fernie last week, that we decided to spend a full weekend there. While snowfall was modest most of last week, and temperatures were worryingly high, we still found excellent snow. Fernie has some of the best tree skiing around, and shade from the trees keeps the snow wintry, even in warmer temps....especially on the north sides of Ridges. While a number of glades are marked on the trail map, most of the tree skiing is unmarked, and protected by long traverses. We found plenty of untouched powder in unmarked glades throughout the resort, but Siberia Ridge into Timber, Diamond back into Currie and the Reverse traverse into Lizard held the best snow. We only had one significant episode of tough skiing (got too low on the trees on the south side of Siberia Ridge, and ended up in breakable rain crust). If you go to Fernie, tuck into the trees. It's worth it! Skiers who explored less found the conditions to be less than stellar....there was some grumbling on the chair lift.


Some pictures...oddly enough, nothing from the trees!

Liz by Cobra Rock


Mike by Cobra Rock




View from the peak


One of our south side laps. Off snake ridge. The snow was heavy, but fun!


Liz on Snake Main



Further down




A steep Chute from Currie to Lizard - I think the is Hidden Chute. I'm checking my options through the tree at the end


Liz took high saddle - It's on the map and wasn't full of jump-turn ruts. Still a nice challenge

 

[Mike Rogers]

I think I am back to the Lake this weekend....if anyone is around.

I am seriously considering some sort of RCR (Rockies or Super) pass next year. Kicking Horse and Fernie are loads of fun!

...and half price tickets to whister would be nice

 

[noncrazycanuck]

should have looked at this site sooner. would have been good to meet up with you.
also at the lake today a bit heavy in the chutes but sun was nice. currently in golden kicking horse tomorow..

 

[Mike Rogers]

I'm sorry we couldn't connect @noncrazycanuck ! I hope you had a good weekend at KH and Revelstoke!

I skied Louise both days this weekend.

I agree with @noncrazycanuck, the snow was a bit heavy at times.

It seems things got really warm here! Most solar aspects were showing signs of melt/freeze. The backside felt more like winter, but the snow wasn't as dry as it is earlier in the year.

Saturday

We arrived at the hill earlish, and we were surprised at the lack of crowds. Louise got a pretty good snowfall (14 inches) on Thursday/Friday, so I assumed the weekend would be packed. But it became obvious that it half of Calgary skipped out of work on Friday, so things were pretty tracked out on Saturday morning.

The crowds arrived a bit late though, and by mid morning, the Summit had a pretty good line.

Sego Skis had a demo tent set up, so Liz and I had tried a couple of their skis in the morning. Cool company. Liz liked the UP 110s and would consider buying the UP 92s. I liked the Cleaver 102s, but the Condor didn't suit me.

Anyway, enough about the skis. Let's talk about snow.

The melt freeze was most pronounced on South and West facing slopes below 2300 meters. That's about half way up the Top of the world or a quarter of the way up the summit. Things got softer by late morning on Saturday, but started to crust over by 3pm or so. The north and north-east aspects were pretty wintry. Firm, but grippy snow in Whitehorn 2. Choppy tracked snow on the exit of the gullies. Overall coverage was good (it IS LL though, so rocks), but Exhibition under the Ptarmigan chair was looking a bit ratty (which is typical for this run).

We had our avalanche gear with us, so after the Demo we decided to check out some of the Sidecountry stashes. We were on full alpine gear, so we were limited to easy returns.

First up was West Bowl skier's left of the Summit Platter (front side-traverse to access), which was fairly tracked, although you could traverse to some fresh lines. The snow was a bit on the heavy side.

Next was Purple Bowl, (above larch, over the top of Lipalian Mountain - about a 40 minute bootpack). This is north facing, and held excellent snow.

Our final lap of the day was in West Bowl. There was a slight crust forming, It wasn't enough to really slow you down, but you felt it and had to pay attention.

The Purple Bowl lap really made the day.

The day started out with sun. View from the top of the Paradise Chair





Just about to top out on the Purple hike. A couple of strangers followed us up. I recommend carrying avalanche gear and having some bc experience before skiing the Lake Louise sidecountry



It really clouded over later in the day. The views on the Frontside are amazing! This is most of the way down "Eagle Flight' in the Gondola Area


Last run of the day. Liz leads the way in the West Bowl


Liz got a shot of me. The West Bowl sees a lot of traffic. . This was one of the lesser skied areas.





Sunday

We really enjoyed the Purple Bowl so we decided to take the full touring set up out and ski another high, North Facing side-country area. We chose the Pipestone Ridge area. This is just beyond the West Bowl, but faces North instead of South West. You ski away from the resort and need to hike out to return. It held excellent snow and was good for several laps. We called it quits around 2 when a snow squal blew in, using West Bowl to return.


Liz skies through some Virgin snow in the Semi-Circular Bowl


We hit this pitch a few times. Mellow turns and light snow


Returning home through the West Bowl. There's a bit of a crust here, but it's a very minor inconvenience.

 

[albertanskigirl]

Lots of snow and cold forecast for this upcoming weekend! We'll be at Louise!

 

[Pumba]

I'm sorry we couldn't connect @noncrazycanuck ! I hope you had a good weekend at KH and Revelstoke!

I skied Louise both days this weekend.

I agree with @noncrazycanuck, the snow was a bit heavy at times.

It seems things got really warm here! Most solar aspects were showing signs of melt/freeze. The backside felt more like winter, but the snow wasn't as dry as it is earlier in the year.

Saturday

We arrived at the hill earlish, and we were surprised at the lack of crowds. Louise got a pretty good snowfall (14 inches) on Thursday/Friday, so I assumed the weekend would be packed. But it became obvious that it half of Calgary skipped out of work on Friday, so things were pretty tracked out on Saturday morning.

The crowds arrived a bit late though, and by mid morning, the Summit had a pretty good line.

Sego Skis had a demo tent set up, so Liz and I had tried a couple of their skis in the morning. Cool company. Liz liked the UP 110s and would consider buying the UP 92s. I liked the Cleaver 102s, but the Condor didn't suit me.

Anyway, enough about the skis. Let's talk about snow.

The melt freeze was most pronounced on South and West facing slopes below 2300 meters. That's about half way up the Top of the world or a quarter of the way up the summit. Things got softer by late morning on Saturday, but started to crust over by 3pm or so. The north and north-east aspects were pretty wintry. Firm, but grippy snow in Whitehorn 2. Choppy tracked snow on the exit of the gullies. Overall coverage was good (it IS LL though, so rocks), but Exhibition under the Ptarmigan chair was looking a bit ratty (which is typical for this run).

We had our avalanche gear with us, so after the Demo we decided to check out some of the Sidecountry stashes. We were on full alpine gear, so we were limited to easy returns.

First up was West Bowl skier's left of the Summit Platter (front side-traverse to access), which was fairly tracked, although you could traverse to some fresh lines. The snow was a bit on the heavy side.

Next was Purple Bowl, (above larch, over the top of Lipalian Mountain - about a 40 minute bootpack). This is north facing, and held excellent snow.

Our final lap of the day was in West Bowl. There was a slight crust forming, It wasn't enough to really slow you down, but you felt it and had to pay attention.

The Purple Bowl lap really made the day.

The day started out with sun. View from the top of the Paradise Chair
View attachment 42202




Just about to top out on the Purple hike. A couple of strangers followed us up. I recommend carrying avalanche gear and having some bc experience before skiing the Lake Louise sidecountry
View attachment 42196


It really clouded over later in the day. The views on the Frontside are amazing! This is most of the way down "Eagle Flight' in the Gondola Area
View attachment 42201

Last run of the day. Liz leads the way in the West Bowl
View attachment 42193

Liz got a shot of me. The West Bowl sees a lot of traffic. . This was one of the lesser skied areas.
View attachment 42200




Sunday

We really enjoyed the Purple Bowl so we decided to take the full touring set up out and ski another high, North Facing side-country area. We chose the Pipestone Ridge area. This is just beyond the West Bowl, but faces North instead of South West. You ski away from the resort and need to hike out to return. It held excellent snow and was good for several laps. We called it quits around 2 when a snow squal blew in, using West Bowl to return.


Liz skies through some Virgin snow in the Semi-Circular Bowl
View attachment 42195

We hit this pitch a few times. Mellow turns and light snow
View attachment 42198

Returning home through the West Bowl. There's a bit of a crust here, but it's a very minor inconvenience.
View attachment 42197

Amazing pics as always! I was wondering what type of camera you use. These can’t be phone pics, right?

 

[Mike Rogers]

Amazing pics as always! I was wondering what type of camera you use. These can’t be phone pics, right?

Thanks so much!

I don't actually own a camera...but I spend a lot of time in the mountains (summer and winter) so I am getting better at framing shots. Mine are the're the ones with Liz skiing. Liz takes pictures of me and the most of the scenery shots. She's a good photographer, so I try to learn from her as much as possible.

So, they're phone pics.


Liz is a wizard with her DSLR, but a phone is more convenient to ski with. I probably should turn it off when I am out of bounds though (airplane mode and far from my beacon is a start, i guess)

We'll sometimes touch things up a bit using basic filters this time it was natural..except for the shot of Liz in West Bowl and I think Liz cropped and used the pano function for hers. Got lucky with the lighting this time.

And it's a beautiful setting...so that helps!

 

[MrBurnz99]

I'm heading to Banff next week for the first time and will be hitting Lake Louise and Sunshine.

I was just wondering what the go-to weather source is.

I have looked at The Weather Network, On the Snow, Snow-forecast.com, SkiBanff, etc.
They all seem to show something different. Some indicate highs right around freezing with up to 10cm of snow during the week and others show sunny and highs well above freezing.

I know mountain weather is hard predict but the amount of variability here is crazy.

For my trips to Utah and Colorado i rely on Opensnow. They post detailed daily weather updates with a focus on chasing powder.
Is there anything similar for Alberta/Eastern BC?

thanks!

 

[kitchener]

Headed there next week as well — Easter/Spring Break. Bringing any kids? My 12 yo and 18 yo might get bored skiing//boarding with the old man.

 

[Mike Rogers]

I'm heading to Banff next week for the first time and will be hitting Lake Louise and Sunshine.

I was just wondering what the go-to weather source is.

I have looked at The Weather Network, On the Snow, Snow-forecast.com, SkiBanff, etc.
They all seem to show something different. Some indicate highs right around freezing with up to 10cm of snow during the week and others show sunny and highs well above freezing.

I know mountain weather is hard predict but the amount of variability here is crazy.

For my trips to Utah and Colorado i rely on Opensnow. They post detailed daily weather updates with a focus on chasing powder.
Is there anything similar for Alberta/Eastern BC?

thanks!

I sort of pay attention to Snow Forecast and Weather Network for longer range outlooks, It's good for an idea, but not worth making plans based on the a forecast, in my opinion. I find the temps on Snow Forecast are pretty accurate. Precip amounts seem to be all over the place though.

For short term, I look at at the 2 day models on https://spotwx.com/. Just find your location on the map. I always check this before back-country trips. It's pretty accurate, but very much a short term outlook.

Here is lake louise. About 75% of the way to the top.

https://spotwx.com/products/grib_in..._continental&lat=51.46363&lon=-116.1375&tz=-6

 

[MrBurnz99]

Headed there next week as well — Easter/Spring Break. Bringing any kids? My 12 yo and 18 yo might get bored skiing//boarding with the old man.

No kids, just my wife and I.
We have 2 little ones but they are staying behind for this one.

 

[MrBurnz99]

I sort of pay attention to Snow Forecast and Weather Network for longer range outlooks, It's good for an idea, but not worth making plans based on the a forecast, in my opinion. I find the temps on Snow Forecast are pretty accurate. Precip amounts seem to be all over the place though.

For short term, I look at at the 2 day models on https://spotwx.com/. Just find your location on the map. I always check this before back-country trips. It's pretty accurate, but very much a short term outlook.

Here is lake louise. About 75% of the way to the top.

https://spotwx.com/products/grib_in..._continental&lat=51.46363&lon=-116.1375&tz=-6

This is great info.
https://spotwx.com/ is very detailed, I especially like the hourly percentage of cloud cover.

Thanks!

 

[albertanskigirl]

Headed there next week as well — Easter/Spring Break. Bringing any kids? My 12 yo and 18 yo might get bored skiing//boarding with the old man.

Unfortunately, we'll be at Marmot Basin that weekend (wed-sunday with our kids (12 and 14) - but maybe next time you're up!

 

[albertanskigirl]

I'm heading to Banff next week for the first time and will be hitting Lake Louise and Sunshine.

I was just wondering what the go-to weather source is.

I have looked at The Weather Network, On the Snow, Snow-forecast.com, SkiBanff, etc.
They all seem to show something different. Some indicate highs right around freezing with up to 10cm of snow during the week and others show sunny and highs well above freezing.

I know mountain weather is hard predict but the amount of variability here is crazy.

For my trips to Utah and Colorado i rely on Opensnow. They post detailed daily weather updates with a focus on chasing powder.
Is there anything similar for Alberta/Eastern BC?

thanks!

I use snow-forecast.com as well - that's pretty much all I use. I find it's very reliable in letting us know when it will snow, but not super accurate with the actual amount. It can be way off with the amount. snow-forecast is usually pretty good at letting you know when there will be an inversion (though that's more important in the mid winter when its really cold). The weather network, or other more more general sites are totally unreliable because they use the weather stations at low elevation - for example, for most of the Lake Louise forecasts on weather network etc, they use the Environment Canada weather station at just under 1600 metres. Even the skibanff ones use those weather stations - so their forecasts are usually ok only for the base lodges.

 

[Poolskier Vinny]

Agree with all of the above.

I use snowforecast.com mostly but again actual snow amts are very variable...as is the weather here in general. (Welcome to Alberta...if you don’t like the weather... just wait a few minutes!!).

I find the snow forecast.coms freezing level info very helpful. As is their easy to read tabs that show you the weather/temps/wind/etc for low, mid, or top of mountain. Helps plan your base layers/layering approach to keep comfortable.

Enjoy your trip!