I’ve been wanting to do a winter hike in the high peaks for a couple of winters now. Last winter, err. .scratch that, spring Pete and I did a climb of Colden in April. It was snow covered the whole way but it was +22C under a hot sun. We sloshed our way through the slush in shorts and T-shirts and then enjoyed a cold beer on the patio in town before heading home. Not quite a winter ascent in any sense. This winter I again debated a winter hike… but procrastinated until finally it was the last full weekend of winter – now or never (or until next winter anyway). So Friday night I loaded my gear and set the alarm for 3:45. When the alarm went off I hedged some more. I would after all be missing out on some great spring skiing here in town which I could do if I slept a little longer… NO!! I’m going!! So I dragged myself out of bed, loaded up and drove down to Lake Placid. On the drive down I debated what to climb. Tried to avoid the peaks with big water crossings as they might be dicey at this time of year. Didn’t want to go to the southern part of the park – too long a drive. Finally settled on Gothics via Pyramid. A classic climb with a huge payoff on the summit of Pyramid.

Got to the AMR trailhead at 8 and was on my way a little after that. For those curious, the walk up the Lake road is no more exciting in winter than it is in summer… and I think it’s just about as long. It was a little cold at -8C but I knew it was to warm up considerably to +5C so I wasn’t too worried. Once across the dam I strapped on my snowshoes and started the climb up the Weld trail. Someone had been up it recently so it was an easy walk. Alas, once I got to the Sawteeth/Gothics col the tracks turned left and I was headed right. I had to break trail for the last mile (and 1200ft vert.) which proved challenging. The snow had a nice ½ layer of ice on the top and a sugary base. As things got steep (and they get very steep in that last mile) each step had two parts. First a heavy stomp of the snowshoe to break the ice and then another tromp to get the crampon to bite and propel myself forward. Add insult to injury in that my ski poles would periodically ricochet off the ice surface sending me sprawling forward. Made for some slow going but I finally topped out to the four star, double A+ vista at the top of Pyramid. Cloudless sky, warming sun, limitless view….. stunning.


After a little snack/photo break I made the last push up Gothics and met my first people of the day. They were wearing crampons and looked at my snowshoes like I was a non-swimmer in the deep end of the wave pool – "Sure you should be here son?" Okay they didn’t actually say it but that was their look. As I tromped/skidded along the frozen icy surface on top of Gothics (much thicker ice now) I realized they were exactly right and promptly switched over to crampons… which made everything easier. I wore them almost all of the rest of the day as I walked along the ridge trail and even as I went down before finally switching back to snowshoes in the valley when the snow started to get soft.

Off the summit of Gothics is a long narrow (ice covered) cornice. In summer you descend through a narrow trench of scrubby bush but in winter the trees were completely buried. Someone I met later on Armstrong said it best as he eagerly anticipated climbing up the cornice. “Climbing that lets you imagine you’re climbing something pretty exotic somewhere else in the world and not just here in the Adirondacks”. Not that the Adirondacks aren’t exotic… but I got his meaning. As I descended to the cornice another party of climbers was coming up. I was forced to wait my turn as there was only one lane to travel and steep, thousand foot, blissful (terminal) oblivion on either side. As I waited I was transported to the Hillary Step waiting for other climbers to clamber up while I waited my turn to descend to thicker air… Okay, at 4700 feet I’m hardly in Himalaya territory… but it was nice to dream for a minute or two. The dream came to a crashing end as the other climbers – a group of 20 something guys who had clearly never climbed before - marched up, constantly repeating that this was badass! (I’m somewhat paraphrasing their language here but they said it like 30 times). I think one of them also asked if I had a smoke… cause he left his in the car :(

Down the cornice I went and on to Armstrong which was an easy stroll along the ridge line. From there I decided to continue on via Upper Wolfjaw before heading down. Now in crampons the steep descents were mostly trivial (though the ladder in the steepest point was lost under the snow and ice). Finally the walk down to the valley and back to the car was a lovely spring walk(on snow) as the day had warmed up considerably. Alas, the walk out the Lake road was equally unenjoyable as it had been in the morning…. Although in fairness I was feeling pretty beat at that point and just longing to be done.

So I’m now a W3er and I can already hear you asking, “Kenmore, are you working towards you’re winter 46? Are you racing back next Saturday (last day of winter hiking) to bag a few more?” Whoa there, hang on, not exactly my plan. I can see doing a hike or two each winter but by no means am I rushing towards the winter 46 goal just yet. Although, at two peaks per winter maybe I should book my hotel room for 2030 to attend the winter 46rs season end banquet to receive my certificate…. Or maybe not. In fact my biggest heartbreak of the day was that it only occurred to me on the drive home that I had had a chance to “up” my 46S count (a snowman on each of the 46 high peaks)and totally forgotten to do so. Drat! It was kinda the wrong snow anyway so perhaps not all was lost.

Lessons learned
- Crampons aren’t just cool looking, they work great in icy conditions.
- There are no blackflies in March.I can't emphasize enough how this makes winter hiking attractive.
- The trapezius muscles will hate you for a long time if you take a long hike without wearing a heavy pack for 4 months – and they aren’t afraid to tell you so!
- High peak hiking in winter can be enjoyable but it has its own unique challenges.
- Winter is too short.
- Don’t stop to take pictures on a bridge over a creek. You are bound to drop your hiking poles in the water… and might not be lucky enough to fish them out (like me).

This weekend proved to be some excellent spring skiing – even if it seems spring is arriving a little early. On Saturday Mike and I had traded some voicemails about maybe skiing up to Lusk Lake. I was also eager to ski trail 56 which I haven’t been on this winter and it was beginning to appear like I would run out of time. No worries though If I hustled I could ski 56, cut down to Taylor lake and still catch up to Mike up at Lusk Lake…. Not so fast! With the temperature getting close to double digits on the positive side of the scale the trails were pretty sloppy. As I skied up past Richard Lake Yurt it was clear I wasn’t going to set any speed records getting over to Lusk so I slowed up and enjoyed the skiing with no fixed plan for the day. Turns out Mike got the sunny porch at Lusk all to himself for some time… so I’m kinda jealous in that regard. With the plan ditched I skied up to the Pontiac lookout for lunch and then down the trail to Taylor lake (no crossing the lake today) before turning around and heading back. Trail 56 is a really nice little trail at the extreme north of the ski trail network. I’m glad I got a chance to ski it before it melts away for another year. In the hot sun the snow base was occasionally rotten which made for unexpected sinking of the skis – which requires evasive action to stay upright. Certainly kept me on my toes (or maybe that was the problem?). I skied pretty much on my own all day. I did run across two ladies that had stayed in the yurt for a couple of nights. They were up from Nova Scotia on vacation and commented how Ottawa winters are just like theirs… slushy! I tried to correct them that this isn’t the normal weather for early March but they seemed somewhat suspicious. At any rate they were headed to town to skate on the canal so I expect they would again be disappointed on that regard.

Sunday proved another beautiful day. While it rained all night, by morning it actually cooled down enough for the groomers to roll around the park repairing the tracks… repaired at least for a while until the hot sun started to work its magic. I skied the parkways from P6, skating up to the lookouts and then along Burma before returning to Ridge road and Penguin. I perhaps started a little late in the day which made the ski a little challenging. In the shade the tracks were fast and icy but in the sun they went from a nice velvety corn to wet slush. Made the whole ski an exercise in balance as the skis raced on the ice and braked (hard) on the slush. That said it was a beautiful day to be out so well worth the effort. Ski season almost over? …Not so fast! A big snow storm is coming in tonight. How much will we get? Who knows? Some colder weather later in the week so we may not be done with winter just yet.

Someone else must love spring skiing as well

With last week’s rain followed by the cold weather on the weekend (and early this week) we’re back to fast, icy conditions. Pete was staying in town for a rare midweek overnight so we headed up Wednesday night to ski along the Pine road. Conditions were beautiful with the icy winds of Monday and Tuesday no longer a factor and the temperature climbing to a comfortable -6C. After spending some time on Pine road we popped into Herridge shelter to warm up and debate the merits of Ottawa’s new goalie vs quality defence men. It was a long debate and I’m not sure who won… of course it’s all irrelevant if the home team returns to winning form next year. Skiing back to the car was nice and fast under an almost full moon. The moon was so bright in fact that (moon)shadows of the trees were cast on the snow. Makes it a little tricky sometimes to discern the trail from the snow banks when moving at speed. Conditions were so nice in fact – and we’re headed for a big warm up over the weekend –that I decided to get right back out for a ski before work the next morning. Things were a little cooler (-15C) but the snow was still lightening fast. The trails were pretty good although somewhat well “used”. I did hear the groomers out working the tracks though so the midday skiers would get some nice fresh trails (edit: apparently I was hearing things... NCC website reports no new grooming :( so no luck for skiers later in the day). I haven’t been out before work since before the bus strike. It certainly makes for a nice way to start the day – quick ski then home for a shower and a bite of food before heading off to work. I’ll probably do a fair bit more of that now that spring is around the corner. It’s nice to take advantage of the colder overnight temperatures and ski on some fast snow rather than ski in the slush after a warm day.

March comes in like a lamb… albeit a cold lamb. The big storm on Friday(still February) was really quite impressive. It was raining and +10C at lunch time and by midnight it was -20C - Boom! We certainly never get those huge temperature swings in the summer time so it’s impressive to see. With that sudden drop in temperature I figured there was no chance the ski trails would be in good shape on Saturday so I opted to do errands. Turns out not so. Things were groomed up tout suite so I guess I missed out on a good ski day – drat! No worries, Sunday was a repeat weatherwise so I headed out to check out the tracks. I still had green klister on a pair of my classic skis from Loppet weekend so I just coated them in hard wax (after freezing the gooey klister) and once again they were bomb proof grip and excellent glide. I skied around the lower part of the park today sking up 29, 15 and along the Parkways. Everything was in excellent shape trails wise. Today was also "Norway Day" so I made a pit stop to check out this year’s edition and partake in some vaffles with Ski Queen cheese and solderberry toddy courtesy of the Norwegian Embassy. This year they had set up the picnic at Le Relais. I much prefer the previous versions where they brought the picnic to one of the interior shelters forcing us to “earn” our vaffles with a little skiing first. I suppose it was easier logistically to set up right at the parking lot at Le Relais but it didn’t have quite the same feel to me. That said I did “earn” my snack with some skiing before and after my visit and mostly others did as well although there were a few “walk ups”. I would have thought there would be more people but the crowds never seemed outrageous while I was there. Perhaps it was that there was more open space so the crowds didn’t seem huge… or perhaps lots of others expected it to be a massive crowd scene and stayed away. Either way it was a nice pit stop/snack and I appreciate the embassy setting it up each year. It certainly has become a fixture of the ski season in the park.

The past few days have been pretty close to perfect skiing in the park. Comfortable temperatures and fresh snow have made for some really nice skiing. Saturday, with a few inches of fresh snow down, last week’s hard, icy tracks had been transformed. Not to say that the icy tracks – with their infinite glide - aren’t enjoyable but the new snow is what it’s all about. Everything was groomed up nicely on Saturday so I chose to skate some of the staples of the park as well as getting onto the Camp Fortune race trails. The race trails are less used by park skiers but they offer some really nice twists and turns and have a nice rhythm to them. Granted they don’t go anywhere per se as you end up right back where you started but they’re still a lot of fun. Sunday brought a few more inches of fresh snow so I strapped on the classic skis and headed onto the smaller trails to take in some powder. Despite my late start I even got to break in a few of the tracks… but I missed out on first tracks of some of the more sweet lines – gotta set my alarm earlier. I spent 5 hours randomly roaming along the trails and - had I brought enough food and water - I might still be up there. Monday brought different conditions again. The trails were now skied in and pretty fast but the temperature had dropped (to -10 C not too bad really) but a stiff breeze had blown up making it pretty cold in the open. Bryan had taken the day off work so I met up with him at Western for lunch. I would suspect Western to be pretty quiet on a Monday lunchtime but today was “ski day” for some local high school and there were kids everywhere (along the trails, in the huts) enjoying the snow. Bryan had nabbed the last two seats in the hut so we managed to enjoy lunch amidst the din. We also managed to avoid the bulk of the kids on the trails in the afternoon thanks to the teacher who ANNOUNCED SEVERAL TIMES AT HIGH VOLUME their route for the rest of the day. From Western we skied out to the Ramparts before catching back on to Western trail and then along Ridge and back down to P7. Some of these trails were a first for Bryan so there was lots of added excitement at a few of the drops. Conditions are fast now that the trails have been skied in but there’s lots of soft snow on the side should one have to ditch so no worries.

Certainly a great few days on the trails and it makes all the bitter cold, dark nights of skiing in January worth it to get out and fully enjoy the trails in prime shape now. It also reminds me that the season is slowly approaching an end. Only another month of guaranteed good skiing and then…. Maybe a few days(a week? 2?) into April … base willing. Time to make sure I get all my ski plans (tracks to ski, places to go) in place before I have to coat the boards in storage wax and put them on the shelf for another year.

Have you skied Charlie's descente yet this year? Times running out!

Loppet Weekend

Sunday was Loppet morning and time for me to chase around the park, following the pack to see the race unfold. With a careful, time-tested strategy I can catch the racers using shortcuts on my skis and of course my car to leapfrog the racers and see the race unfold at various points. Always good fun and the day was shaping up to be a beauty. Today would be more driving/less skiing then the full course as they’d rerouted the course to all parkway skiing but I could always go for a ski after the races wrapped up. At the startline there was a bit of a nasty breeze blowing but the temperature was decidedly warmer than past years. The groomed trail was in excellent shape and looked to be particularly fast – it was bound to be a fast race. I positioned myself at “turn 1” for the start and the thundering herd bore down at the starter’s horn. I was lucky enough to be spot on for a crash in the pack –lucky for me but perhaps not so much for the two involved. That said it was only two racers that crashed amidst the melee of racers so they should count themselves lucky as the masses magically parted around them allowing the two downed skiers to spring back up and get on with their race. From the start line I sprinted down a horrifically icy track (ungroomed) to catch the leaders through the 5k mark before driving up into the park to watch them u-turn at Penguin for the first out and back portion of the parkway. From there I drove a little further up to MacKenzie King and skied down to the parkway to watch the race head out and then return from Champlain lookout. The lead pack looked strong and fast and I had to keep recalculating their expected times as they were always faster than I anticipated (race speed was 25k/hr for 53k!). The fast conditions meant solo skiing would be tough and instead packs of skiers drafted along – woe to the individuals who got caught off the back of a train as it would mean some hard chasing to get back on. After the bulk of the racers had gone by me and headed for the finish line I headed off to get a ski in but alas just a few hundred meters along my ski hit a gel pack on the trail… and it was like throwing out an anchor. My work with the Race Weekend has fostered a heavy dislike for gel packs and this didn’t do anything to improve my dim view of them. With a ski that was now collecting gobs of snow I opted to head back to the car and drive to the finish line and see what I could before driving home to watch the 500. Once that race was over I headed back to the park for an evening ski on freshly cleaned skis…. Being sure to steer clear of the parkways where the water stations were located. Lots of pictures of the loppet can be found here

Refreshed tracks
I opted to not take in the first day of the Gatineau Loppet (classic ski race day). I was a little put off by the organizers last minute decision to make the weekends races an all Parkway course rather than the excellent loop through the trails that they traditionally use. While I admit that we had some pretty warm, wet weather this past week and a hard, fast freeze following the rains, it seems to me that there was plenty of time to renovate the trails and get them in top shape for the race weekend…. But they opted against even trying. Seems the thought of a little hard work and perhaps some late nights was too off putting. I guess the organizers aren’t really keen to revive this once great event and are content to let it slowly reduce in size and stature to a little regional race rather than rebuild its reputation as the international event it once was…. Too bad. Instead I went up to Lac Phillippe and found…. Perfectly groomed tracks?!? If they can groom up the general trails to perfect condition in the back woods of the park, why can’t they get Ridge road and Burma prepared in time for the races…. Strange. I’ll go out tomorrow to watch the main event but with an “all Parkway” course it minimizes the number of points I can catch the racers so it won’t be the same. Still , it’s loppet weekend so I’ll take in what I can.

Feeling unhappy about the loppet I went for a ski around the Wakefield triangle. This is a great loop filled with all sorts of different terrain - steep climbs, old growth forests, farmer’s fields, lakes and streams. While I expected a hard fast trail – and this would normally make me lean towards skate skiing – I opted instead to classic ski. It’s not every weekend that you get professional waxing advice from ski techs who have spent days refining their advice. The recipe called for green glider which worked great…. but I won’t give the pros much credit for that. The icy transformed snow was fast and if I’d chosen to wax my skiis with peanut butter it probably would have given me good glide (and attracted many squirrels). The grip wax advice was more challenging however. Super binder klister heated in with a blue hard wax cover on top. I’ve never tried to put a hard wax over a klister but decided today was the day to try. The key is to apply the klister with a torch and then freeze the skis outside before applying the hard wax top coat and it proved to be straightforward. The combination proved a master stroke and was bullet proof. I skied for about 30k’s and don’t think I slipped once yet had perfect glide throughout the day. Any other hard wax combo I might have tried and I would have had to rewax time and time and time again on the trail so major props to the pros on their selection. Hope it worked out well for the racers. Post ski my mood had improved and I now have my camera bag ready for tomorrows races… off to catch what I can.

An Evening in the Park

Monday night Mike and Bryan had decided we were long overdue to pack in dinner to one of the huts and enjoy an evening ski. I probably ski more at night than I do during the day so the night ski wasn’t anything special but I haven’t stopped into the huts during my night skis for more than a quick chance to warm up. It’s been a few years since I packed in dinner so that was certainly going to be nice. I had Monday off so I packed up my dinner, stove and a few other accessories and headed up around 2:00 to get in a nice ski before meeting up with Bryan and Mike. Conditions were fast after the weekends brief thaw but the grooming rigs had been around the main trails munching up the ice and making it skiable. The backcountry trails on the otherhand will have to wait until we get some more snow as they were glassy and hard. The guys ditched work a little early and we soon hooked up on the Fortune parkway as the sun started to sink. After a quick pit (pint?) stop at Shilly Shally we rolled over to Huron lookout to take in the sunset but an incoming front system made the sunset somewhat disappointing.

From there it was a short hop back to Huron lodge to set up dinner. To my surprise we had it to ourselves for most of the evening. No worries, the fire needed a little stoking and we spread out a good feast with a baguette and a nice cheese to start, chili, panini, soup and even some chocolate with a few more pints to wash it all down. After a quality feed we all settled down for a bit of a rest to watch the fire. Finally another crew joined us in the hut (they for a birthday celebration) and we decided we had probably rested enough and it was time to get skiing and earn some of the calories. Along the trail there were some good opportunities for some moonlight shots as a full moon peeked its head out from behind some rolling clouds. Add to my list for gear to carry next time is a tripod to set up the camera as my long exposure shots didn’t do it justice. But there will be a full moon again I’m sure so I’ll get another chance… as there will most likely be another dinner in the park as this worked out well.

Mid winter ski
Saturday was supposed to be questionable weather. Starting cold and then ramping up to above zero temps and rain sometime in the afternoon. While I wasn’t CSMing this year I still felt eager to go out and do a big ski. With that in mind I loaded up relatively early and headed for P11 with a long loop ski in mind. Heading down the Discovery trail and Pine road I would climb up to Lusk Lake, continue on the abandoned (but well used) trail 10 to the firetower and then ski down Ridge road to the heart of the park and loop around to P11 once again. Starting out the groomed trail was in superb shape. Excellent snow had been freshly worked with a hard base. I made short work of the trail out to Lusk. Trail 10 by contrast is no longer acknowledged by the NCC but those of us that know and love it still ski it in year after year. Sadly today as I started up the steep climbs of the trail someone in front of me had decided it was too steep to ski up and had taken off their skis and walked up all the hills. This left the perfectly serviceable ski trail a mess of post holed footprints and inconsistent trenches where the offender had waded, sunk, clambered up the hill – Grrrr! As I was mostly climbing it was merely an inconvenience for me but had I chosen to loop the other way, descending would have been a minefield of tripping hazards to negotiate at speed. After topping out the main climb and crossing the upper (flatter) portion of the trail I came head on with a good sized group on snowshoes with skis on their backs. They were doing a similar ski as I was but opting out of skiing the most fun part (authors opinion!) – snowshoeing it instead. That said, all those snowshoes would help to compact down the postholes on the steeps so perhaps my timing was just a little off – c’est la guerre. From there back to Ridge road I had a nice hard base to ski on and made good time back to the groomed runs. A quick visit to the firetower and then I was off down Ridge road (also in excellent shape). The day was gray but the temperature while climbing remained below zero while I skied. For the most part I only rarely saw other skiers. I suppose with CSM’rs off… well, CSMing and loppeters tapering for next weekend’s races, the farther reaches of the park were left to me (and a few others of course). Just the rhythmic sound of my skis and the wind above me in the trees like a lost wave looking for a shore. Once back into the hub of the park at gossip corner the crowds reappeared. This is a nice loop. Apparently it’s a little long for the size of my water bottle (I ran dry at McKinstry) but that’s a minor correction of which I should know by now. Once home the temperature shot up and (I’m told) a little rain fell. I missed the rain though as I took a pre-bedtime nap… but it looks like more rain is in the forecast…. Downward slope of winter seems to be arriving.

Home
This past weekend held some excellent skiing. To be honest, after coming back from above zero weather on the west coast, it was hard to get excited about going out in the -20C Ottawa weather that welcomed me home. It took me a few days to finally don the extra layers and head out into the park and in the end I was glad I did as fresh snow had fallen and the trails were in excellent shape. On Saturday I had made some vague plans with Mike to meet at Lac Phillippe. I got a really late start so when I arrived at the lot he had already headed out. I chased hard but turns out I went down the wrong trail so I didn’t catch him. Rather we bumped into each other at the Taylor Lake Yurt so it worked out rather well. From there we broke trail across the Lake and up to the Pontiac lookout. Bluebird skys with just a little cold wind made for an excellent climb and an even better descent. Back at the Yurt we opted for the same trail I had skied up in the morning but no complaints as 55 is a beautiful little valley to ski down.

On Sunday some weather had moved in. In the morning it was reportedly freezing drizzle at -13C. How does that work? Who cares as the end result was all the trees were frosted with a light coating of… ummm, white stuff. No, not snow and not ice either but rather a strange combination of the two. Looked great whatever it was. I toured around the backcountry trails linking one together with another. Tried hard to minimize my time on the groomed runs but occasionally I popped out and was “forced” to ski in perfect tracks before picking up another powder trail. Another great day out on the trails and glad I’m home

West Coast skiing
Seems I’m falling behind in my blog posts so I’ll have to make a couple of quick posts to catch up. After the World Cup ski races out west I had a few days to get in some skiing. Would I like to do some downhill?, backcountry?, groomed XC?… yes, yes, yes! Was there any chance I could haul all the necessary gear with me for a short week of skiing… No. As a result I opted to take ski gear for just groomed XC and decided to do a little tour of some of the cross country areas I’d heard lots about. Brief setback when the airlines promptly lost my ski bag but they soon found it and delivered it to me while the racing was going on. I spent a day and a half at Whistler Olympic Park skiing the competitive trails as well as the public trails. The competitive trails actually only took a short time to explore as previously posted (there isn’t much to them). The public trails on the other hand were really nicely laid out and had a nice rhythm to them. They snake through a creek valley rolling through old growth Douglas Fir and cedar forests. I can surely say that they truly know how to grow trees on the west coast as everything I skied through dwarfed me. In talking with a friend who lives in Van they also know how to grow tree out there… but I’m not sure what he was referring to as I saw many, many trees. Must be a local thing.

Morning in the "Norwegian Woods" and the groomed corduroy is all mine
After a visit with my brother’s family (got to help out with math homework and enjoy French horn practice) I headed east to Kelowna and took a couple of days skiing at Silver Star and Telemark. Some really nice trails here. Silver Star (well nearby Sovereign Lake actually) hosted a World Cup ski race a few years back and they continue to maintain a great set of trails. The trails are cut through a beautiful lodgepole pine forest and again… are pretty huge compared to the woods back east. While the Okanagan valley was filled with low level clouds the ski areas are high up so there was significant sunshine to enjoy with the undercast in the valley below. Of course high up makes it an 02 challenge to the lowland skier that I am but setting the pace back a little meant the thin air wasn’t a big issue… where did I have to be in a hurry anyway?

Cloudy in the valley... but sunny up high
Telemark is a smaller community based ski area that has some excellent trails. I skied one evening there and another day but they weren’t quite high enough to be out of the clouds (rather they were IN the cloud) so most of my time there was not conducive to picture taking. That said they have a fun set of trails that are well worth the visit. Finally, prior to catching my plane home I skied at Cyprus. Not much to say about this. It’s conveniently located to downtown Van and had excellently groomed trails but it’s pretty two dimensional. Climb up or ski down… almost a downhill venue in the woods. Still and all, a good time trying out some of BC’s groomed trail networks. The weather was stupendous with most days hovering around +3C and not a cloud in the sky. Time well spent and I’ll look forward my next chance to ski out west as there are a few more places I’d like to explore. A random collection of photos can be found here.

Whistler Olympic Park

After the WC racing finished on Sunday I took the chance to ski the race trails as well as some of the public trails (fully separated from the race trails). The race trails took a little flak from the racers after the racing took place – “too easy” and “shameful” were words bandied about by a few of the elite racers. Not the words Olympic organizers were hoping to hear I’m sure. Thought I would add my 2 cents to the debate. My thoughts are of course worth about 2 cents as I am not nor have I ever been a world cup racer. My thoughts are also based on the snow conditions which I had for the few days I was there. The snow was lightening fast hard pack (perfectly groomed!). Mostly transformed icy snow with repeated freeze-thaw cycles over the few days leading up to the events. The area could easily be buried in lots (and lots) of wet, soft snow as the coastal mountains often get and the conditions – and therefore trails feel could change dramatically. Maps of the courses can be seen here (beware they are big files that take a while to download).

In essence the courses are two interwoven 5k trails that start out of a stadium area. One course is designed for classic races and one is designed for skating. Each loop can be subdivided into varying lengths to make up the appropriate distance required for a race and – as is typical with World Cup racing - multiple laps of the same loop are required to get the full distance. For example the 30k pursuit for the Men did 4 laps of the classic course (3.75k) and then 4 laps of the skate course (3.75k). Spectators get to see the racers 9 times through the stadium over the course of the race. The individual loops don’t really go anywhere either. Rather they switch back and forth on the hillside above the stadium so in fact much of the race plays out in front of the spectators who only occasionally visually lose track of the racers

Of the two loops, the classic course is probably harder. It has some significantly steep climbs followed immediately by some steep drops with fast technical turns at the bottom, then right back into a steep climb. The only really flat part of the classic loop is the stadium area… once out on the course it’s either climbing or descending with not much else in between. From a pure climbers viewpoint none of the climbs are overly long – the longest being maybe 400m. The pure climber (Piller- Cotter? Babikov?) would bemoan that this isn’t long enough to make a significant gap on the competition… and if he isn’t good technically on the descent any gap will be eaten up on the next downhill thus nullifying the attack.

The skate course has significantly less climbing. The climbs that it does have are sharp and steep but mostly less than 100m in length. The skating course does have much more rhythm to it with constantly changing ups and downs. A skier with good transitional technique will find this an easier trail, but how much of a gap can be created on transitional technique alone? This stretch could be much more conducive to some very fast tempo skiing, stringing out a field and dropping off the pretenders. Like the skate course, the Biathalon has a separate trail for its events and I found it to be a trail with the most rhythm to it. Fast descents, tough climbs(but not overly long) and a nice transitional feel between the two. Overall a fun challenge.

Is this the most challenging set of race trails ever made? Who knows. Perhaps they lend themselves more to the team tactics we saw in the World Cup pursuit. Of course not every Olympic race is a mass start. The individual start courses will have a different feel to them altogether. As for the sprint courses they were all deemed challenging if only because they were long (for a sprint) but they did have some tricky corners which could lead to some action as they fight for the medals. Will this course determine Olympic Champions…well of course. A race will be run and someone will win. I for one will be watching and expect a good show.

Whistler World Cup Ski Races

Took some time off to head out to the West Coast (or should I say the warm coast) to see the World Cup ski races at the Whistler Olympic Park. This was a test event for next years Olympics so I thought it would be a great chance to see some racing on the trails. I had been looking to head out west anyway as my brother and family are out in Vancouver for a year’s sabbatical. Timing a visit with them, and a World Cup ski race, and maybe get a little skiing in myself… seemed too good a combination to miss out on. I had debated flying out west when the World Cup schedule came to SilverStar three years ago. I waffled over the decision, in the end didn’t go and regretted it as I watched the racing at home on TV. Following big league ski racing is a challenge here in Canada. For years all we got was perhaps some box scores in the local paper and eventually (usually in the spring) a magazine covering the seasons racing might hit the racks. Of late things have improved a lot with the internet providing streaming coverage of most races and more commentary and blogs than you can shake a stick at… but watching a ski race on a 2 inch You Tube screen just isn’t the same as being there. Time for me to right that omission in my sports viewing history.

Flying out on Friday to Vancouver I left Ottawa behind with -30C weather (-39C windchill) and stepped off the plane to +8C and fog… this was turning out to be great all round! After the drive up the Sea to Sky and a short night’s sleep (still on east coast time) I was up and at Whistler Olympic Park early under beautiful blue skies. The parking attendant couldn’t believe a spectator had already arrived. “No racing for hours yet”, she said. True, but I wanted to take it all in. Crews setting the stadium, wax techs furiously testing skis, athletes arriving and warming up… all building to race time which came far too fast. I was somewhat disappointed that a good number of the top skiers opted to stay at home. Understandable that they have a busy schedule of races in Europe and one weekend on the other side of the planet would only serve to stress their systems and risk illness or injury which could jeopordize their year… I guess I’ll have to go to a race in Europe to see them all race on the same day. That said there was enough of an elite field here and the Canadian and US skiers are making inroads on the top flite of skiers so the racing was good none the less. First up was the Men’s Pursuit (15+15k) where the Italian squad made a strong team statement controlling the pace until team leader Pietro Piller-Cotter dropped the hammer with a few laps remaining and left everyone in his wake. After a brief break in the action (time to take in some Nordic Combined at the ski Jumps next door) the Womens Pursuit was off. No team tactics here. The women took off from the opening gun stringing out the field. Justyna Kowalczyk pulled away from her only competition in the end for a good victory. And then the Nordic combined guys took the trails and put on a good show as an added bonus. Sunday – early again (still on east coast time) - I was back at the stadium ready for the Team Sprints which proved another good day of racing capped by Alex Harvey and George Gray pulling out a 3rd place in the final race of the day. Lots of photos of all the racing here

Sprinters rounding the last turn in the dash for home

The venue at Whistler Olympic Park in the Callaghan valley is quite a good one with the Jumps, Cross Country and Biathalon all just a short walk from each other and the mountains making for a stunning backdrop. Talking to some of the volunteers it should be interesting to see it next year with temporary grandstands built for 12,000 spectators at each venue. Glad I came this year as I was able to walk around quite freely to various points on the course while the races took place. That surely won’t be possible next year. More interesting still will be the transportation of these spectators as there will be no one allowed to drive into the valley and park during the events. The venue is quite a ways from anything - even Whistler is 20 minutes drive - so there will have to be a significant number of shuttles set up. Vanoc has yet to clarify how exactly that will work (even to the volunteers) but I’m sure they will come up with something. After the races on Sunday I went off to ski some of the trails… but more on that in my next blog.

Tour Du Cabane
Monday was supposed to be a great day weather wise warming to -5C and clear blue skies. Later this week the temperature is supposed to plummet so Bryan and I decided to take the opportunity and head out for a weekday ski – get in some trails while the snow is great and the weather matched it. As I was driving up to the park to meet Bryan – trying to pick a trailhead to start – it occurred to me that with two cars (Bryan’s and mine) we could do a traverse of sorts. Park one car here…. drive over there and then ski back to the first car. Bryan seemed game to try so we left his car at the visitor center and drove off to P12. Between these two points would be lots of options and access to a number of huts along the way. Up we went from P12 meeting the groomer as we climbed and found fresh trails throughout the day – nice! After the climb up to the ridge we popped in to Western Shelter for a quick pit stop. Sadly we found no fire roaring in the woodstove so we got one going and then headed on to Huron shelter in hopes of a warmer reception. Indeed we got just that as we arrived at Huron shelter which was jammed with people. Yes the stove was going but there was barely a spot to sit down. That said, hunger overtook us and we grabbed the last bench farthest from the woodstove and enjoyed our lunch amid the din in the shelter.
The groomers working the trails - courtesy Bryan

Everyones clambering for a little lunch
After lunch we cruised down to Shilly Shally… hardly a long effort. We were just going to get a quick photo but the hut was empty and the fire was roaring so we popped in for a short while. This small hut is rarely unoccupied so we took the moment to enjoy its atmosphere. Clearly the Tour du Cabane was coming together. Next stop Keogan which was also only a short distance along so we took only a quick photo and then headed off. I thought we might take this good opportunity to try some backcountry trails. Sadly today was also the day that the grooming contractor was working a base into them with some skidoos. While this will bode well after future snowfalls it meant a somewhat choppy rutted track left behind by the skidoos so we opted to stay on the main trails for the rest of the day. Soon enough all that was left was the drop down Penguin and over to Bryans car. Bryan had never been down Penguin before (how did that happen?) and he enjoyed most of the experience. On perfect snow it was a fun descent to the picnic field. Once across the Parkway however and on to the final steep drop off he cracked up in a supernova cloud of white “smoke”. Fortunately no injury greater than perhaps a slight bruising. He’ll perhaps have a little limp today – which should earn him major “coolness points” at the water cooler as he tells the tale (which will of course grow in statue the more times he tells it ;-). Today’s ski was a great one with lots of possibilities for trails to ski. The traverse idea worked exceptionally well although come to think of it, why wouldn’t it? It certainly had a different feel from the standard loop skis I do in the park. I’ll have to sit down and study the map to see what other possibilities present themselves for traverses for the next time we have two cars up in the park. Perhaps we could link six or seven of the cabins together... what about all the cabins on a Grand Tour du Parc! Hmmm,....