Ready for a Stillwater Preserver Mission

Well, it seems that the last six or so weeks of my life have existed in that place between ‘holy shit, that was awesome!’ and ‘wait, what just happened?’, leaving me in a fluttering state of mind.  Going into it, I knew my time in Canada would pass quickly, but ninety days flashed right on by.  The last few weeks were chock full of new experiences and wild stories.  I had a chance to ski from the summit of Mt. McKenzie and cross Arrow Lake on an inland ferry with my van in the same day.  I drank a boilermaker shot with some Canadian Legion members and skinny-dipped with fellow ski bums Leah Evans and Dersh later that evening.  I swam in hot springs – commercial and natural, with tunnels and diving boards, hot and cold dips – all around the Kootenays , from Ainsworth to Fairmont, Halcyon to Radium. 

Sunset over the Monashees

This picture is from last night, just after our arrival at the Monashee Powder cat-skiing lodge. Justin and I made the drive from Nelson to Cherryville, BC in about five hours, followed by an hour long rally up a bumpy dirt logging road behind Monashee’s big yellow school bus. We hopped into one of two cats parked at the end of the road, and continued up on snow to the backcountry lodge.

It’s been about 6 weeks since I set out upon the Powder Highway with my good friend Justin, thus marking the halfway point of our three-month journey.  We’ve been to resorts like Kicking Horse and Revelstoke and heli- and cat-skiing operations like RK Heli and Selkirk Wilderness Skiing , experiencing all kinds of conditions that Canadian weather brings.

Through deep pow, some peculiar mid-season spring conditions, and cold, crisp air, Justin and I have been staying warm and dry with some really great new base layers courtesy of Core Concepts . They have a variety of offerings from long underwear style pants to some really tech fleece tops.  I brought a ton of t-shirts to wear during my time up here in B.C., but I’ve found myself spending up to 20 hours a day in my Core Concepts tops.  They’re just so comfortable that I don’t ever really need to change to hit the bars at night; with some clean style, these shirts go great with a pair of jeans.

The last seven days of my life have been unlike any other in my whole skiing experience.  I am just so thankful for all the good luck that’s come my way.  The Powder Highway has been such an amazing place to spend a winter season.

The last week, in summary:

Monday – Skied park at Panorama , BC

Tuesday – Skied some more park at Panorama, BC

Wednesday – Skied pow with RK Heli Ski , Panorama, BC

Thursday – Travel day/visited Radium Hot Springs , BC

Friday – Skied 14 runs of pow with Great Canadian Heli Skiing

Saturday – Skied Day 1 of Wrangle the Chute freeski competition at Kicking Horse, BC

Sunday – Finished 5th overall by Day 2 of Wrangle the Chute

Needless to say, I’ve been spoiled with some amazing days of pow skiing, got my jumping feet under me at the terrain park in Panorama, and joined the Canadian freeskiing revolution by skiing big mountain lines down to a step-up park jump and ditching my skis to ride a bucking bronco.  By the end of it all, it was the bucking bronco that ended up taking me out with a pulled groin.  haha

This short ninja mission to SIA is coming to a close. Meetings with sponsors, high fives with athletes, and parties galore. Denver is a little mellower of a location for the ‘Snow Show’ than Vegas, but no one is letting that hamper the festivities.

The snowboard side of the Denver Convention Center was just as obviously raucous as it was in Sin City, with Volcom once again claiming straight clown status with all their whistles and hijinks. It’s an interesting approach to conducting business at a tradeshow: make as much noise as possible to distract business in nearby booths, while slipping their own clients into some soundproof booths. It’s a sabotage strategy that somehow relates to core points for a brand that is ever constantly growing bigger and farther away from being core. Or, maybe I’m just not core enough to appreciate it all.

As for the skiing side of things, I peeped the new offerings by Blizzard/Tecnica and was greeted by some awesome new Tecnica Agent AT boots (Dynafit compatible) and some early rise Titan Argos shred sticks. From the vibram soles on the freeride boots, to the neon sidewalls on Blizzard Answers, it’s great to see the designers trust our freeride team’s suggestions.

I was on POC’s behalf that Justin and I even considered leaving snowy British Columbia for the city streets and skyscape of Colorado’s capitol city. POC’s new line of sunglasses stole the show, in my opinion, with four frame styles and some great lens options. The party on Wednesday night at the Bluebird Theater proved to be quite the show, with yours truly acting as MC and introducing musicians like Bryon Friedman and Everclear. Huge thanks to POC and General Snus for turning over the mic to this ski bum.

Now, Justin and I are waiting for our first flight here at DIA with crossed fingers that our 23 minute layover in SLC will be long enough to clear the international security check and board our plane. If only Delta could promise us even a 50% odds that we’ll make it. At least my beautiful girlfriend, Jamie, drove down from Aspen yesterday to hang out. She even gave us a ride to the airport early this morning; a hug and kiss later and we won’t see each other until her birthday trip to BC in March.

So, with girlfriends, SIA, cities, and CO snow-drought behind us, Justin and I are ready to bury ourselves deep into BC’s interior and continue our quest for fresh pow. Powder Highway…we’re baaaaack!!