10 Tips To Have The Best Ski Season Yet

Last year I had published a handful of tips at the bottom of a post to have the best season yet.  A lot of people really liked the idea, asking questions in emails, and I felt to expand upon those ideas as a set of rules for a great season.

But what is a great season?  A great season is a season that allows you to greatly expand your experience as a backcountry and mountain person, build your skills, and give you adventures of a lifetime that are constantly different and always providing new ways of exploring the vast possibilities of what the mountains have to offer.  Learning is what makes the best memories and makes us stronger human beings in the process.  So with that, enjoy!

10 Tips To Have The Best Season Yet.

10.  Take one course that will expand your skills.
There are tons of great courses out there, avalanche, mountain rescue, first aid, navigation and more.  Take a course in the area you feel weakest in, and round out your experience.  Handling anything in the mountains is vital to survival.  The Canadian Avalanche Association and American Avalanche Association have a plethora of different courses, ranging from professional Industry Training Programs (Level I, II, III), Mountain Weather, Avalanche Control Blasting, AST Level I or II, Avalanche Rescue, etc.  Or if you into something else, take a glacier travel course with an ACMG guide, and learn crevasse rescue and risk mitigation techniques.  All courses expand your learning, are ridiculously fun, and will help bring you to more places you dream of going.

(Photo Above:  The beautiful and broken backside of Mt Athelstan, perfect for swallowing school buses and entire logging trucks)

9.  Train
Training and being prepared goes a long way.  It makes the difference from skiing objectives that are nearby suffering from tracks, and remote untouched landscapes that excite and scare you.  It is the difference between setting the skin track and being the first out to a peak, and being one of dozens heading out on a well trodden skin track.  Leave everyone behind.
8.  Ditch the heavy gear.
That heavy pair of Duke or Guardian bindings are making sure that all that hard training doesn't amount to much.  They're slowing you down and you know it.  Buy a pair of tech bindings, ditch the alpine boots, and maintain the same performance on the way down.  The choice is yours, ski hardcore places or look hardcore.  It's worth it, just check your ego at the door.
7.  Learn "Old School" Skills
These days everyone relies on GPS and gadgetry to travel around in the mountains.  And why not?  It's there so we should use it.  However, if those should fail we should always be able to make our way around and home without the use of technology.  Learning resection, finding North without a compass, and telling sunset times from the sun are useful skills that can be added on to technology uses to move more efficiently in the mountains.  Besides, if you have a GPS and totally screw up your navigation while practicing without it, it's there for you when you need it.
6.  Ski an area completely differently than you are used to.
Everyone has their favourite stomping grounds.  An area or traverse where you can go, know the terrain, and have fun regardless of how many times you've been there.  But before you go the standard route, think about doing it differently.  For example, if it's a traverse, go do it backwards, if it's a couloir, try climbing a different route to access it, rather than boot packing straight up it, a circuit add another peak or variation.  The options are limitless, but as soon as you break the mould, you'll discover new features, and have a better view of the terrain you regularly travel though.

(Photo Above:  Friend's on the Anniversary Glacier completing the Joffre Slalok Loop in reverse)

5.  Ski at least one full moon night this year.
Every backcountry skier has heard of amazing nights where the moonlight makes the night landscape appear as if it's daytime.  Nothing is more special than dropping into an untracked couloir under a full moon and skiing powder under the stars without a headlamp.
4.  Head on a hut trip every month, don't skimp on really good food.  
Hut's are great.  They are a great staging point to get amazing skiing in remote areas, pack lighter (or heavier on food), and have the added comforts that a tent or snow cave could never offer.  That being said, some huts are busy, full of people who have little intention of skiing, are loud, snore, and can be overcrowded.  So to revise, head to a remote hut with your friends, socialize on your own terms, and sleep comfortably throughout the night.  You'll be rewarded with no people, a remote wilderness to yourself, and your own personal slice of paradise.
3.  Find the longest fall-line ski runs in all your favourite areas.
There are runs in every area that people ski, but surprisingly, some of the best lines are not always the ones getting skied regularly.  As a matter of fact, I can go ski my favourite lines off the back of Whistler or Blackcomb (also the longest lines) without ever seeing any tracks.... even when there are lots of other tracks on other runs.  Bottom line:  find the best lines, ski them as much as you can, keep them for yourself.

(Photo Above:  Christina Lusti cruising up Mt Curry, after a season of skiing the Coast's longest lines)

2.  Ski a new area every week.
#2 and #1 are really a tie, as skiing a new area every week is just as memorable as a big trip.  Each time you head into new terrain you build skills, expand your navigational experience, and generally don't get bored with constantly going to the same hut, same area, and becoming more complacent in dangerous terrain.
1.  Plan and execute that big ski trip you've thought about for years.
This is a no brainer.  Go somewhere bigger than you've ever been or dreamed of.  These trips are burned into your memories from the commitment, effort, and thought behind them.  Friends become brothers and sisters, decisions are forced to maintain movement, and communication becomes soundless between partners as seriousness increases.  You know you want to live your dreams, now do it.

Best Couloirs In The Sea To Sky

There are a lot of superb lines to ski in the Sea To Sky area.  Big open steep faces, billy goat lines, exposed spines, fall away ridges, but nothing as memorable as skiing really big couloirs.  Couloirs are the same to skiers as getting tubed is to surfers.  That feeling of being inside and part of the mountain, as the sound of your turns echo off the walls, and only one way to get out.  Funny enough, there are some lines that are considered couloirs, when really they are merely chutes or gullies.  A true couloir must be long dropping a good amount of elevation, aesthetically obvious with large walls dominating the sides of the corridor, and at least steep enough to need to turn.  These are just some of the ones that standout in my mind, all of which are toured to, and not heli dropped.

Birkenstock Couloir, Microwave Ridge Birkenhead Peak, D'Arcy
Alright I know this really isn't exactly Sea To Sky, but it is really close to the road, making it within perfect day tripping range.  First climbed by Drew Brayshaw in Sept 1998, this 700m 45-55deg couloir is gorgeous, and begs to be skied when looking at it.  The straightforward approach, climb, and atmosphere of the couloir makes it an instant classic to add to anybodies bucket list.  Full Photo Here (Photo Credit: Pat Mulrooney)

(Video Made By Chris Christie)


Aussie and Central Couloir, Mt Joffre, Duffey Lake Road

The Aussie (Australian) Couloir is an utmost classic for budding ski mountaineers to cut their teeth on.  It's long 400m elevation loss while skiing a cool 45 degree slope is a treat to ski.  However, it's south facing nature does make it prone to sucking in the sun's rays, which makes decision making crucial, if you don't want to get washed out while climbing it.  That being said, it is a fantastic ski, and worth the trip up Cerise Creek.  Paul Cordy and myself skied in it the moonlight a few years ago, while bailing off another objective, which incidentally proved to be one of the  most nostalgic couloir experiences I've experienced.  (Photo Left:  Aussie Couloir (Left), Kiwi Couloir (Right), photo courtesy of Lee Lau)

Central Couloir, is Joffre's crowning jewel alongside the Twisting Couloir, which didn't make it on to the list, as it is more of a ski mountaineering line rather than a pure couloir.  The Central is pretty much the most dominant couloir, that demands respect, and won't allow anyone to ski it.  Most parties climb it first and ski down their tracks, however, this cuts the crux of the entire couloir off.  Skiing it from the summit is difficult, but allows you to rap in and ski the beautiful 55 degree ramp with bouts of 60 degrees, before rapping again off a 30m (100ft) cliff mid couloir.  The couloir itself is steep, imposing, and requires a "no-fall" attitude.  Beautiful from top to bottom, with an additional mega luxurious glacial descent through seracs, crevasses, and rolling terrain.  One of my personal favorites.  (Photo Right:  Central Couloir, Mt Joffre, BC)



Supercouloir and Camel Toe Couloir, Spire Peaks, Squamish

Another two rarely skied gems, hidden away in the basin of Spire Peak, just off the Garibaldi Neve.  The Supercouloir (left) skied a handful of times, and the Camel Toe (right) only once, are worthy of the list specifically from their gorgeous aesthetic nature.  Hands down probably the most perfect couloirs in the area, and up there with those in the province.  Make no mistake, a long hard road with fantastic conditions is required to ski them, but to those who put in the time they are most memorable.  (Photo Left:  Spire Peak Couloirs)

The Supercouloir, featured in a Doglotion article, got this couloirs notoriety out there.  Just shy of 1000m long (3200 ft) of couloir skiing, with a beautiful easy going slope angle, this is what dreams are made of. It's neighbor the Camel Toe, is a bit more full on, boasting over 1000m of skiing through it's doglegging and twisting walls make this a bit more of an undertaking than it's neighbor.  Expect a short 70cm squeeze near the top just below it's steepest 50 degree chockstone which may or may not hold snow (depending on the snow year).  While skiing either of the two couloirs, expect a very long approach and exit, and ensure you get your timing right otherwise it will be all for nothing.  (Photo Below:  Trevor Hunt mid Supercouloir, Trevor Hunt Collection)

Siberian Express, Mt Atwell, Squamish

Ah the cream of the crop.  This beautiful, big, hairy couloir doesn't see a lot of descents, but if you can nab it it's one of the coolest you'll ski in your life.  The Siberian Express is situated off Mt Atwell's West Face, but is guarded by either a heinous approach with a scary climb up the guts of it, or coming around the back of it and dropping into the unknown conditions of it.  Both ways require the utmost care in decision making, as some parties have encountered surprising "walls of ice" that are unskiable, requiring more than just simple ski skills to get around.  Train hard, skiing this won't be a walk in the park.  (Photo Left:  Siberian Express (red line), Photo By: Trevor Hunt)

Notable Mentions
Mt Matier - Twin One Couloir
Mt Wedge - NW Couloir
Mt Currie - Pencil, Diagonal, Y Couloirs
Mt Rethel - N Couloir

Any others you can think of?

First Descent: The Camel Toe Couloir

Unicorn

Definition:  A Fabled Creature, impossible to catch.

From 2007 to 2011, I've been trying to ski a line that has been burned into my memory, and constantly takes over my thought process when stable sunny weather arrives.  This line has become my so called "Unicorn," and has thwarted five attempts to ski it, making it even harder to think about.  The Camel Toe Couloir, as named by Jaime Bond when the Doglotion crew went out to ski it's neighbor The Supercouloir, is in my mind a crowning jewel of Couloirs in the Coast Range weighing at just over 1000m in length (1km long!).  (Photo Below:  The Supercouloir (left),  The Camel Toe Couloir (right))

The line itself is a quagmire of factors, all which must work together in unison, in order for an attempt to be successful.  It's far, requiring either multiple days to get in and out of, or a single fast pace day which will be very long and requires a serious alpine start, during the course of which conditions may deteriorate.  The conditions must be stable, as large avalanche paths run all throughout the valley guarding it's entrance and exit, not to mention the paths throughout the entire couloir, never giving you any point where you are fully out of harms way.  Temperatures must be cold, as most of the couloir is at a higher altitude, it's neverending length drop it quite low and wet avalanches can create a problem getting to the entrance.  Add all these together, and now you have half of the complex equation.  You will also be required to ski it in the early morning, before the sun hits the upper slopes of the couloir and surrounding area, so you aren't taken out by avalanches, and cannot ski it later in the evening as there are few places to camp in the evening and snow conditions crust over.  And the wildcard?  There is a hanging glacier with some creepy seracs hanging over the bottom ski out of the Couloir.  (Photo Below:  Trevor Hunt breaking trail over Garibaldi Neve)

Trevor Hunt, and myself, headed out early at 4:30am on April 22nd up the Brohm Ridge access road.  At 5am, we jumped on sleds and started to head up into the alpine.  It's pretty rare that I get on a sled (and my skill to drive one shows), but saving the never-ending skin up logging roads and flat ridges made for a great treat.  With the sun just rising, and daylight just cresting over the horizon, we quickly made our way past the Sharks Fin up on the Garibaldi Neve.  From there, we could see the top of our line poking out of the morning valley cloud.  With an incredibly long rolling descent covering 10km down to the base of the line, we were there by 9:30am.  (Photo Below:  Trevor Hunt skiing down the moraine to the steep valley to begin our climb) 

We put in as many switchbacks on our skins as possible, moving quickly to get out of the way of the hanging glacier seracs above, and racing the sun from destroying the snow.  When it got too steep, we began to bootpack and climb, for a long time.  The climb up the Couloir, was a wallowing knee deep sufferfest, up probably the longest Couloir I've ever climbed.  The crux, a 70cm squeeze through two boulders and some deep rock wells which guard various portions of the Couloir, made for some interesting climbing combined with some hard snow over ice.  All in all, we made our way up to enjoy a short 5 minute break on the top before clipping into our skis and skiing down.  (Photo:  Trevor Hunt, high up on the Camel Toe Couloir)

The first few turns into the Couloir were great quality snow, but quickly turned into hardpack chalk as it steepened to a mellow 50 degree roll before the crux.  Trevor managed to make his way through the crux with his skis on, doing some insane ski ballet, making it through unscathed.  With no snow leftover in the 70cm tight section, I was forced to downclimb a short 4 foot section but with our footsteps already kicked into the hard snow and ice we were on our way again.  Skiing great snow, with some sections of gritty snow, from safe spot to safe spot was enough to make the legs burn.  The length of the Couloir just kept going and going, and the experience that much more gratifying.  By the bottom, our legs were cooked, and we faced an 11km skin back up to where we left the snowmobiles.  (Photo Below:  Trevor Hunt shredding the post crux powder)

Skinning back, the heat beat us up pretty hard.  We were forced to stop and cool down three times, our feet soaked from the heat and exertion.  I ran out of water halfway out, then food, the sleds still far out of sight.  After 14 hours of moving, eating snow and pretending not to be hungry, we were back at the sleds.  A fast exit, made for a solid 14.5 hour round trip, ready for dinner and bed.  

It was fantastic to get out, with all the conditions and external factors of work, transportation, fitness, rest, etc, lining up to get to go push the body into this great Couloir.  A huge weight has been lifted, and another lesson in the mountains learned:  Failing time after time, it's the perseverance to continue trying which ends up breeding triumph.  Next mission....

Note:  We believe this is the First Descent, as we have researched quite a bit, so speak up if you know of anyone who has skied it, as we don't want to call first descent if it's not warranted!  We will call it "Possible" until otherwise.

Update:  Summer 2014, no reports of this ever being skied still, we're calling it:  First Descent.

Trip Planning With Some More Skiing

Winter is still here, and snow is continuing to fall, so the wait for spring conditions has been pushed back.  The ever growing Whistler backcountry base has transformed the terrain where cliffs have become rolls, and different variations are getting fun to play on.  In preparation for spring touring, we've been heading out training, and keeping fit for when the sun decides to show it's face for more than a day.  That being said, the day's we've had skiing in the sun have been terrific.  (Photo Left:  Heidi Savage training on the Stairmaster Couloir)

Quick mornings, or getting out at the crack of noon to avoid the white-out snow squalls, has been name of the game.  The main goal has been to continue training, right up until the conditions firm up, with a good melt-freeze cycle to solidify the snowpack and make fast travel.  The main goals this year will be a big speed traverse, as well as a new enchainment here in the Coast Range.

Organizing and planning for a big single push effort is much like getting ready for a multi-week trip, but planned down to perfection.  There is no guess work, no rest, your pace is always quickly moving forward, and to focus on your main concern which is keeping your body functioning on a high level for a long period of time.  So to make sure everything is set, and to check the conditions, and crux's of just a sliver of one of the routes I headed out with Heidi to do the Triple Threat Enchainment.  (Photo Below:  Heidi Savage coming of Mt Pattisons Shoulder, after skiing Trorey's East Face)

The Triple Threat is just a quick afternoon enchainment, which links Mt Pattison, Mt Trorey, and Mt Decker in the Spearhead Range.  It also provides fantastic views of the Spearhead, and has some great skiing.  The Coast Range's glaciers have filled in extremely well this year, making it a great season for people to get out for a long spring multi-week trip or just a quick Spearhead Traverse.   I won't ramble on, but when the weather clears, this should be a great spring.  Don't put those skis away yet! (Photo Below:  Back of the Spearhead Range)

The 3 Most Classic Spearhead Descents

The Spearhead Traverse gets a lot of exposure, and so does a lot of slackcountry areas as well, but the range itself has so much to offer in the way of great ski descents.  Everything is easily done in a day, and with the possibility of two new huts (oops did I let the cat of the bag), skiing even more great descents during a weekend is now right around the corner.  So I decided to throw together a view of, not all, but the 3 most classic descents in the area.  These three provide the longest descents in the area, are the most popular for good reason, and provide some of the most memorable days.

Mt Fissile

The obvious, and most visible and known mountain in the range, even seen from town, hosts a variety of fantastic lines to ski.  Fissile does get skied relatively a lot, due to its proximity to Whistler Mountain, but shouldn't be passed up if you just have the day in the area.  The mountain has around 10 named lines but there are 2 main lines which get skied more often than the others (NW Face and Banana Chute).

Main Face Lines
1.  North East Face (55 degrees, 540m)
2.  Elevator Shaft (55 degrees, 540m)
3.  Summit Chute (55 degrees, 540m)
4.  Saddle Chute (55 degrees, 540m)
5.  North West Face (50 degrees - at the top then mellowing out, 540m)
6.  Banana Chute (40 degrees, 440m)
*note* degrees in these lines do change with different snow years.

Mt Macbeth Curtain Glacier

The Curtain Glacier is one of the longer and most interesting lines to ski.  Although not steep, it winds down and changes aspect multiple times, so skiing it is all about timing.  To add to this, there are some crevasses which you have to weave through, depending on the time of year and how much snow has fallen that season.  Make sure you bring a rope, and know how to use it.  That being said, the descent drops 1200m from the summit, with a short 45-50 degree roll of the summit to start.  Mid winter descents are recommended, but spring trips do get made, of this fantastic ski.

Mt Fitzsimmons

Fitzsimmons North Face may be one of the most classic Coast Range steep ski descents, especially in good snow, and is one absolute must on any skiers to do list.  The face is one big 380m or so shot, tipping the scales at 45-50 degrees, but then gives skiers an additional 500m of low angle skiing afterwards.  The beauty of this descent is obvious, committing, big, steep, consistent, what more can you ask for while skiing a big face?

These three mountains are all fantastic, and all provide unreal ski descents.  That being said, they are all committing, and big (part of the reason why they are great), respect should be paid.  

Joffre Central Couloir - Re-Match

After last weeks encounter with Joffre's Central Couloir, putting a large amount of time into it, and having it not go kept me thinking about it all week.  We had to make it happen, and with such stable conditions, there was no way we weren't going to go for it.  So we met up really early Monday morning for an alpine start.  We took the same route as previous, heading up the Southeast Face Route, to the top of the Couloir.  This time the climb was a bit more difficult, as the faceted snow just above the rock slabs, shed every time it was weighted.  The rock was hidden under the snow just enough to surprise you every so often.  (Photo Left:  Paul Cordy digging out a platform to put his skis on)

With some short excavating of our tunnel from the week previous we had our snow bollard dug out, and were rapping in to the Central Couloir.  The 60m rope we brought this time, allowed us to skip the insane down climb and to get our skis on the 55 degree slope.  Skiing the first 120m on belay, as the snow was less the optimal, we reached the first rappel.  Skiing down to it was an interesting 60 degree gully that cliffed out over a 40m cliff or so.

(Photo Above Left:  Paul Cordy skiing the upper pitch.  Right:  Alex Wigley building a rappel anchor)

Digging an anchor out, and rapping down over the big cliff, we found our rope was a hair short, but with some traversing only 3m over we found our way onto the main section of the Couloir.  Rappelling just a few feet over would require a 70m rope or leaving your rope behind.  If one was climb the couloir to ski it, this would be a near impossible climb in boots, as it is vertical granite, covered in snow.  Either way going down, it was a great pitch to ski.  Although we were stoked to be through the main crux we continued down.
(Photo Left:  Paul Cordy on the second rappel)

The rest of the Couloir was fairly straightforward, with a few rockbands that held some snow, making things a bit more interesting.  However, although straightforward, this was no still a no fall zone.  (Photo Right:  Paul Cordy building a deadman)  We continued skiing down, and squeezed through the 2.2m wide choke at the bottom out into the lower glacier.  Stoked to be done we continued skiing through the icefall, for a long powder run all the way to the valley.  A great experience, and unbelievably long Couloir.

Please Note:  If you would like to try this couloir, do so with only with some alpine climbing, and anchor building, skills.  This couloir, if skied from the very top, is extremely technical, not only in skiing ability, but rope skills.  Not only that, even after skiing the line, you have to maneuver through a glacier, much of which is crevassed and poorly bridged.  The line can be climbed from the bottom, but will start at a lower position, and will not require a 30m rappel.

(Photo Below:  Paul Cordy skiing through the Icefall afterwards)

Photos by:  Alex Wigley & Paul Cordy

The North Face of Fitzsimmons - A Spearhead Classic

The Spearhead Range has a large amount of beautiful steeps descents.  What draws most people to the Spearhead is its easy accessibility, taking the lifts up to the alpine to start touring, and everything can be done as a day trip (if your fit enough).  It's crowning jewel is the North Face of Fitzsimmons.  A beautiful 380m wide open face of 45º-50º steep skiing.  It saw its first descent in 1992 by Eric Pehota and Trevor Petersen.

The conditions to ski this aesthetic line come in only a few times a year, and the face sees some massive avalanches which often fail down to the glacial ice below it, so one must be patient to ski it.  It's angle, various trigger points, exposure, and commitment levels are something to consider when deciding to ski this face.  The other problem that ski mountaineers can come across is the monstrous bergschrund that must be negotiated at the top before dropping into it.  After skiing to the bottom the descent is not yet over, as you will be dodging crevasses even out in the flats.
Note:  this 2009/2010 season, we lost a lot of snow in the summer, and our snow bridges must be fully rebuilt, which will take more time than usual.  

The best way to access this line is by skinning over the Musical Bumps (Fitzsimmons Range off the backside of Whistler) to the Fissile/Whirlwind Col.  From their move quickly onto the shoulder of Overlord and to the Fitzsimmons/Benvolio Col.  You can drop down only 100 feet or so down Bonk Hill before hooking left to the obvious Fitzsimmons bootpack, a wide and short chute.  This short bootpack will bring you to the top of it's glacier, providing beautiful views, and where your difficulty may begin with negotiating the Bergschrunds.  Stay fairly high, traversing to your right to hook into the top of the face (where the red line begins in the photo above), where you can now drop in.

Finding your way back is fairly easy.  You can just follow the creek down to Adit Creek and begin skinning up the moraine up to the base of the Overlord Glacier and following the natural ridge lines back to Russet Lake and out Singing Pass.  Or, you can climb back out of the Alp like basin by skinning and bootpacking up the Overlord and back across the Refuse Pinnacle the way you came in.

The trip is about a 36 km round trip including the long descent on Singing Pass,  and is around 1600-1700m of elevation gain.  You can find a great trip report on my friend Lee's Site here.  I fully recommend this trip to any person well versed in steep exposed skiing, crevasse rescue, and a handful of gels.