Cerise Creek, still trying skiing

So, another couple of months in between posts... What is going on? I am not too sure but I think it has something to do with work, something that is necessary sometimes as I am finding out right now. Last summer was awesome! I didn't work from May until December and it was great but I am paying for it a bit right now while still enjoying life, just in other capacities.

But lets get to the main point of this post. Namely the idea of skiing after the ski lifts have closed at the mountain. See, Red Mountain closed on Easter Monday. It was still snowing and conditions were great but the mountain always closes early because no tourists are coming to buy lift tickets anymore so the locals and myself are out of luck.

So I found myself in Pemberton after a few days of road trips around the ghost towns of the Kootenays and seeing lots of old buildings and sites of former towns in the Slocan Valley. A pretty awesome site and very humbling that within a few years of no use, something that was once established can be taken over by the wild leaving nothing but memories and haunting ruins that I enjoyed walking around.

But I made it to Pemberton where Naomi, the famous female from last summer, was residing and invited me to come out. She has discovered this ski touring thing and got me all excited to go out there and "earn my turns". That is to hike up mountains and ski down them all without taking off my skis! At least that was the idea.

So it was late April when we decided a day or two before to ski up the Keith's Cabin along Cerise Creek and use it as a base to get some awesome turns in the alpine in the area. Luckily, or unluckily as it is a tribute to someone who has passed away named Keith, a very nice and accomodating cabin was built in the shadows of Joffre peak and other big mountains and glaciers that can be accessed after a short hike from the Duffy Lake Road. So, I rented some skis, an avalanche receiver, probe, and shovel. I was being cheap so didn't pitch in for better ski boots or ski poles as I thought my 10 year old second hand ski boots and poles that have been doing me so well so far, why not use them on this adventure. The picture to the right is at the unmarked trail head on the side of the road. Just look for a bit of a pull out in between two avalanche areas. Oh yea, easy to find... actually it was as there were other cars there already.

So off we went on the adventure carrying our skis across a small bridge and then an awkward first hour in amongst the trees and icy snow that late spring contains.And of course a few awkward falls and embarrassing attempts at standing up, my poles did not hold up for too long, well more specifically the baskets, which were already half broken off anyways, came completely off and lost in the snow. Also, in an attempt to be as light as possible, spare parts were left behind, duct tape and rope were also left in the van. So, any ideas were welcome at this point as it is useless to ski tour without poles to help climb up with. In comes the medical tape and a pair of spare gloves to try to create a bit of a basket for the poles. The picture shows the result. They actually worked pretty decent, until the tape started to disintegrate when it got wet... Also, the clip on the back of my skins came off and was lost in the snow, so the bungy from my backpack was used to actually very good effect.

But despite the failure in gear, it was quite enjoyable getting up. Well, aside from the terrible pain my boots were giving my feet and the big blisters that were the result... Every step was a shot of pain but it was all worth it as you ski by animal tracks and untouched powder and along creeks in the shadow of awesome mountain peaks. I am actually not too sure which animal is in those tracks in the picture but they are quite common, I just haven't looked it up yet.

It did not take very long to get to the cabin and once there we ditched the backpack and went up to try to find a good ride down. With it only being the second season for Naomi on skis, and my lack of proper fitting boots and ineffective poles, we did not get to the very peak of any of of the mountains but we made it to a pretty spectacular little plateau from which we launched down into some awesome late season snow!

And that is how it went for those two days, hike up and ski down. Pretty simple and very rewarding after riding chair lifts and snow cats all season. A humble and satisfying experience to end the season. Although it could have been muuuch more fun and easier if I had proper equipment but the poles held up... somewhat... And my feet... well they survived, somewhat but I will definitely try to find some new boots before the start of next season as I do not want to go through that again.

The ski out was pretty short but we wanted to avoid the icy hard snow in the trees that we hit on the way up so we tried exploring and sort of following other tracks that we saw in the snow. The other tracks petered out after awhile and we were left in this clear cut area near the highway but with verrry unstable snow that you just went straight through if you tried to stand on it. So it was a very adventurous end of the ski out with the highway so close and a raging creek in between we had to cross on a log with a bit of snow on it and throw out skis and pack over to the other side then with all of our tired might, jump onto the other bank to be safely across. Then a short ski up to the highway and then an embarrassing walk back on the highway with skis on our back, to the welcoming car.

Overall, a very rewarding experience I don't think myself, or my feet, or my poles or ski boots or anything that I used will ever forget. And I also learned the importance of proper fitting ski boots and why they are so expensive but worth it! haha,

But maybe I will have some money for that when next winter roles around. So what am I doing for the summer? Well nothing quite as exciting as last summer but it will be a new experience, hopefully working on North Arm Farm over the summer out on the fields, harvesting, picking weeds and all that good stuff. But I am sure there will be more adventures every day on the field an on the days off in the mountains. Life is always good!