Report from January 22, 2025
Yesterday we needed to ski in the sun.
7ºF as we left the car (for the 5th backcountry day in a row).
Even though it’s been uniquely sunny this month in BC, it’s still tough to actually ski in the sun due to the low snow angle and small amount of skiable terrain that actually gets lit up each day.
After skiing in the shade 2 days previously and not seeing anything (invisible pillows) I needed to sunshine.
Our motley crew made the call to get up high in the sun and I was all about it.
But, of course, we didn’t feel sun on skin cells until our 3rd hour of climbing.
It was bitter cold and catabatic winds until that sunkiss.
When that sun hit, it hit hard.
It was much warmer up high yesterday and we took a break and reveled in it right away.
Just about our revelry was a gorgeous apron run I’d been eyeing from across the valley for days.
I talked the crew into slogging up there and sneaking in a gorgeous powder lap in the sun.
There was a very thin windslab up high and I did trigger a micro-avalanche on a roller as I blazed down.
It held no consequence at only 2″ deep.
The dongers on the ride out the bottom were horribly fun.
After some smiles, hoots, and hugs, we soldiered on the the pass and our objective of the day.
It had quite a few tracks in it so we did our best to dodge them and take in the scenery.
My main goal was to get eyes on a large couloir wall in this area.
After full documenting it and making plans to return asap, we moved on.
The roller coaster ride through the valley spiced me up and sent me home happy.
Another spectacular day in the BC backcountry.
Thanks, BC!
