It's been a hectic past couple of weeks and I'm finally catching up with myself. I took a 6 day vacation about a week ago to meet up with some friends in Cranbrook and ride along the way. The plan was to hit 6 mountains in 6 days (dubbed the 6-6 tour) I'll try to summarize what happened.
Day 1: I arrived in Golden late Wednesday just as a few flakes were starting to fall. After a couple of beers and a good nights rest, I woke up to about 15 cm of unexpected snow. Jackpot! Got gnarly at Kicking Horse. I'm convinced that something was lost in translation when they named the resort...probably got a horse confused with a donkey because that place was definiately kicking ass. (It took me all trip to come up with that) Anyways, next time I'll try to hook up with someone that knows the hill because it's pretty intimidating going to a ledge and not knowing whether it'll be the customary 5 foot drop to the run or maybe a 30 foot rock cliff. The best riding I did was actually on the tamer front side of the hill through some fun, weed-covered areas. Their park had some fun beginner kinked boxes to. Oh, and side note: Tuna sandwiches are really f*cking expensive at this place. They're good but not $7 good. Anyways, I decided to book it to Banff for the night and after checking out the shops in town, I ended up drinking some beers with the locals in Wild Bills before finally passing out at Bumpers Inn. Good start to the trip.
Day 2: I visited my old stomping ground in Banff. Sunshine had it's typical perfect snow conditions under bluebird skies. I did the usual routine of warming up by fooling around on the Standish hit runs then straight lining the divide into the park. I was pretty stoked on how much the park has improved over the past 2 years. My favorite feature was easily the wall ride which everyone else seemed to forget about. After that, I headed out-of-bounds to hike the back door for some powder turns and natural features. It's awesome being able to stop and take a piss with a view of the rockies. Had lunch and drinks at the bottom pub aroudn 1 before heading back up for some more hiking and fun shredding. After the day was done, I headed to Cranbrook under a full moon to meet up with the Calgary crew for some late night beers and story telling.
Day 3: Kimberely was a new hill for me. I've never been there or even seen a picture of the place so I really had no idea what to expect. Turns out the hill is super old school with just a high speed quad, a triple, and a double. It was warm and sunny which turned the snow to mush by the time we'd bought our tickets and geared up. Did a couple runs on the quad to start with Elise, Peter, Jeff, Lana, and Mara. Elise is still learning so Jeff, Lana, and I bailed after 3 groomers and hit up the Easter and Tamarack chairs. Found some fun tree runs far shredders left with lots of drops, stashes, and natural jibs. I was pretty stoked on Lana who rides better than most of the girls I've seen. We met up with the others for lunch beers on the patio. Elise was beat so Peter came with us for the afternoon. Stoked! The guy hits pretty much everything he can...I love riding with people like that. More trees and hit runs til the chairs shut down. Side note: all girls should have their stagettes on hill dressed in 80s retro onsies. Loved it. Then it was back to Peter's parents place to drink his dad's beer, eat his mom's caseroles, and soak in their hot tub.
Day 4: I woke up early excited to ride Fernie. I haven't been there in about 12 years so I was pretty excited when I came down for brekfast. Peter was the only other person who emerged from the depths mumbling something about people being hungover. Whatever. The two of us headed out and, after gearing up in the parking lot I realized I had forgotten my wallet in Cranbrook. f*ck! One swipe of Peter's visa later, we were headed straight to the top of the Lizard Bowl. To get there you have to ride this rope tow with a sign that says "experts only" at the bottom of it. I felt weird asking the liftie how to ride the damn thing because I don't think I ever really tried one before. Most places leave the rope tows for the bunny hill but then again, Fernie isn't like most places. The snow was pretty mushy again (+5 temps) so after a couple of slashers in "hot pow", we headed down to meet up with everyone else who brought my wallet with them! Phew!). Did some butter-filled laps on some easy green run with Elise and tried to do cartwheels which ended in a whole bunch of face wash. Jeff, Lana, and I took off again and checked out the Cedar Bowl. Nothing special went down other than the usual goofing off and getting lost. Lana's front knee is pretty weak from past surgery/blow out so we were kind of choked when we ended up at some tbar by accident but she managed. Elise hurt her tailbone or something so Peter came out with us after lunch just in time to watch some av blasting. I've never been that close to it before...all I remember was it being a really loud bang and yelling woo in unison with everyone else on the hill. Hit some fun gullies and log jibs and rode right to the end as usual. I'd definiately go back there again. Fernie is rad. Said good byes in the parking lot and headed to my next stop: Nelson!
Day 5: Whitewater is henceforth known as Wetwater. With the onslaught of slush falling from the sky mixed with temperatures hovering just above zero, I was pretty much soaked before I had even strapped in for my first run. Whitewater was another new hill for me and it was exactly what I expected it to be: quaint little lodge with 2 double chairs, and barely any sign that someone else was on the hill with you. It's very Baldy-esque. The chairs felt like they were barely supporting your weight which is sort of creepy but you forget about it when you see the terrain around. I spent most of the time on the Summit Side throwing sloppy turns on sloppier pow. Some of my best runs were hiking in Catch Basin or dropping the trees shredder's right of Blast. (Yes I had to consult a map for that run name) There were some fun rock drops visible from the chair but once again, I felt like no one else noticed. More for me! Oh, and I'd like to note that pretty much everywhere you go, you'll end up riding a run with an avalanche caution sign. I ate this amazing masterpiece of a burrito for lunch in the lodge pub. If you are ever there, try it...the yam fries are worth the extra dollar. After soaking both sets of gloves and jackets, I called it quits and went to check out the boardshops in Nelson and hang out in the Villa Motel where I was shacked up.
Day 6: If you're ever heading to Rossland from Nelson, you're supposed to turn off somewhere around Castlegar. Now you know. I didn't. I was almost at Grande Forks before I realized what was going on and why I hadn't reached Red yet. Oops! I figured I would stop at Phoenix Mountain instead but they are closed Tuesday so it wasn't long before I was passing through Penticton on my way to Apex for the afternoon. I was super stoked on the pipe and bombing the groomers off Stocks chair. I wasn't so stoked on the crowd of Keg employees that had taken over the hill but I did see two girls chest bump over a volleyball game so it wasn't a complete loss. I was kind of sad that I could't find anyone to ride with in my own hometown but people have jobs and stuff so c'est la vie.
That's it. I'll post some pictures from the trip if anyone care. I just chilled this weekend because the conditions were pretty much shi*te at biggie. Only a few weeks left and it's starting to feel like spring is finally here. Party on...
Add/View Comments (0)
