We are movie stars.

A week of backcountry skiing at the ACC's Asulkan Cabin in Rogers Pass, BC. Three bluebird days, three deep powder days, and a super fun group of friends. Enjoy the video.

Asulkan 2010 from Ewen Clark on Vimeo.

The Pumpkin Traverse, Lake Louise

In January I dragged a bunch of my friends out on a ski touring/winter camping, just for fun weekend. We decided to do the Pumpkin Traverse, which starts at Lake Louise ski hill, goes over Lipalian Mtn, Purple Peak, and then Unity Peak, over to Boulder Pass (which is also used to get to Skoki Lodge), and then a long flat ski out for 20 km or so back to your car. We had so much fun diddling around in the mountains, and it just so happens that my friend Ewen was trying out his new helmet cam that weekend, so I have a video to show you!

That's me with the bright gold backpack, and blue snow suit. Very stylish, I know.

Pumpkin Traverse - Jan '10 from Ewen Clark on Vimeo.

Climbing at Black Band, Banff

The weather has been pretty fine here in Canmore the past couple weeks, and so some friends came down to Canmore for a weekend of rock climbing. Saturday we went to Wasootch Slabs for some wonderful, sunny, 10 plus degree climbing. Since Saturday was so nice, we were all pumped for early season climbing and decided to head back out for another day! Sunday we found ourselves at Black Band in Banff. The approach is only 10 minutes of easy strolling, before a short 100m scree slope to get to the base of the climbs. Once you hit the river, you look up at the huge face and there is a big black band running across it, and all the climbs are below the band.

TL, Emily, and Barry ready for day 2 action. Notice the toques- later we had snow but I didn't get any pictures of it since I was unfortunately on the wall!

TL with the castle (Banff Springs Hotel), river, mountains and rock.

TL in the late afternoon sun, taking down an anchor.

I am super stoked for the climbing season, and considering it's only March and we've already been out a few days, it should be even better than last year. Living in Canmore for the season will certainly help in getting in more climbs. It's about a half an hour walk from my place to Cougar Creek climbing area, so it's my new goal to incorporate a climb or two into my morning run (which means Ian has to come with me, and we have to run with our gear!), but it still should be awesome. Let the climbing season begin!

Running the Skyline Trail

This video is from a while back, but my little sister who did this with me is as far away as she possibly could be and I miss her! So, I thought I would share this video with you. We ran the Skyline Trail in Jasper National Park (yes, I know we're crazy), which starts at Maligne Lake (which is a great paddle by the way!). Sweet footage shot by our personal videographer... the one and only Ewen Clark!

Skyline Trail in a Day, Jasper NP from Ewen Clark on Vimeo.

Kaua'i, Hawai'i

A week in paradise. Bringing in 2010 with sunshine, surfing, and smiles.

My trip began with the usual lost luggage and stress, but the moment we arrived at our ocean view casa- all worries and stresses were long gone. We spent our days lazily strolling along different beaches, snorkeling, hiking the Na Pali coast and Phea Trail in the Waiamea Canyon, etc. The beaches were something only dreams are made of, and the fish were more colourful than the ones in Finding Nemo.

The Na Pali Coast trail, 22 miles roundtrip with no road access. This picture is looking down at Hanakapai'ai' Beach which has wicked tides that kill many tourists each year.

After a glorious day sailing along the coast with dolphins and whales swimming along side us, we went for a hike up on the top of Waiamea Canyon, on the Phea Trail. The earth was so red here, and it is incredibly different than the lush, jungle like North Shore we were at before. Both equally and indescribably beautiful.

Waiamea Canyon.

We finished the trip off with some surfing in Hanalei Bay. The days were long and each one more incredible than the next.

Ian & his papa heading out for another session.

Oh, how I'm taken away...

Many adventures behind! So, I'll try and put the winter so far in a nutshell (or a few paragraphs).

Winter began with huge amounts of snow falling in November. Ewen Clarke, good friend of mine made a video of our trip to Jumbo Pass hut over the Remembrance Day weekend:

Jumbo Pass - November 2009 from Ewen Clark on Vimeo.

After this crazy start to the ski season, I mellowed things out with some much needed girl time. I lead a group of 7 amazing women into the Alpine Club of Canada's Elk Lakes Cabin for the weekend. Emily Laycock helped me with this one, and did an awesome job c0-leading her first ACC trip! We found some awesome snow in a nice N facing alpine bowl to the S of the hut on Mt. Foch. Ridiculous amounts of cheese, drink, and chocolate PLUS all that skiing made for an all around wicked weekend.

The lot of ladies outside the humungous ACC Elk Lakes cabin (above).

In December my sister Julie came out to visit me in Canmore to try out ski touring for the first time. She is an awesome xc skier, so when she strapped on some downhill skis for the first time it looked pretty good! We spend a day skiing at Sunshine, where Julie found the green and blue runs "too flat and slow", so we mostly skied on the blacks and double blacks in the trees! Then we skied up Observation with another friend of mine, Brace Lee, who is a true ski bum if you have ever met one! We had a great day up there, even though we started off in -30C temperatures. The next few days Ian joined Julie & I for a few days at the Pass. The first night we stayed at Wheeler Hut, and then spent two nights at the Asulkan Hut.

Above, a picture of the three of us (well, our shadows) skinning up the triangle moraine on a spectacular December afternoon.

Above, Julie & I happy as ever on top of Triangle Moraine in the Asulkan Valley (Asulkan Hut behind us to the left).

Okay, more tomorrow- my banana bread just came out of the oven!

The Freedom to Ski

Skiing on Remembrance Day from one of the world’s most beautiful, remote alpine huts really was a privilege that I do not take for granted. One quick look around and I know that those Canadian soldiers couldn’t have had a hard time finding inspiration fighting for this incredible freedom I now have.

Each year this week marks not only Remembrance Day, but another special day as well: the beginning of my ski season. We left our warm beds in Canmore early Saturday morning and began the adventure with a treacherous winter storm as we drove along the Kootenay Highway. With chains and 4X4’s, we drove through more than a foot of snow to the trailhead for Jumbo Pass. Five kilometers and a few beers later (our bags were a little heavy), we were at the hut watching the snow dump down, discussing plans for tomorrow’s ski day.

A quick plot reveals we have over a meter of powder on our doorstep, and 20 cm’s of fresh overnight storm snow. Too excited to enjoy my coffee, I put my skis on and shuffle the 15 m to the right of the hut and take my first turns of the season in delicious, untouched virgin snow.

Looking West from Jumbo Pass Hut at Eagle Spire.

The beauty of Jumbo Pass hut is that it is surrounded by great ski runs in every direction, and offers everything from gentle 25^o treed slopes, to a cascading series of 35^o bowls, to thrilling couloirs. As the snow kept falling and widening our options, we managed to cover pretty much all the terrain around the hut throughout our five-day stay. Ridiculously good early season skiing.

The last day rolls around and I feel like my ski legs are just starting to come back to life. The clouds open briefly, and I look across the valley wondering if this place will be the same next year. There is a strong push for the development of a ski resort on the Jumbo Glacier, which will significantly impact the quality of backcountry skiing and hiking in this area. I like looking around and seeing endless evergreen filled valleys and untouched white peaks, but if you come here next year, you might see a resort town and gondolas ferrying people to the top of Jumbo Mountain. On the bright side, this 11, 000er will be easy to check off on your list!

So as I leave Jumbo Pass Hut, I recognize the spirit of the soldier in me, and vow to stand up for the freedom of access and preservation of these wild, remote places we have here in Canada to enjoy.

Jumbo Pass Hut, November 11^th, 2009. Long live ski season!