Thread: 2011/12 BC Interior stoke thread

Someone put up a sexy skin track up Swanzy's SE face. Whoever you are sir I hope you declared yourself the best skier on the mountain before you dropped in. In other news Saphire Col is pretty tracked and the top quarter is wind buffed. If you head that way and want freshies hop onto the cleaver and ski down towards the end of it before it cliffs out for the best skiing.

Saturday was sunny, we went skiing.

Nice Vid Hefe, looks like a good day in BC

A little TR action from Coreshot. My buddy Jeff went to Sorcerer Lodge for a few days: http://coreshot.tumblr.com/post/1730...rer-lodge-2012

saturday looked like this...

sorry to hear about your shop.

how do the tours compare to the dukes? my guy's dukes are toast. mostly inbounds.

eta- hmmm, my quick search says probably not the best ones for him.

Yeah for mostly in bounds i wouldn't recommend the tours.

Sorry to come in here and JONG up your roll call, but wanted to see if anyone could provide some beta? The lady friend and I are thinking of flying into Spokane around the 25th and heading north for a week in search of snow. Red, WH20, Revelstoke and KH are all on my short list, but I'm hoping to stay as flexible as possible based on conditions. (IE - drive to Red or WH20 first for a day, then north for the rest of the week). We'll have touring gear, but will most likely keep in inbounds (no avy training or gear) unless we hire a guide (recommendations?) or score a standby seat with a cat operator. Would be interested in any recommendations for hike-to terrain inbounds though.

How are conditions in general? Worth the ~$700 for the flight and rental car? Can anyone comment on the drive from Rossland>Revelstoke>Golden as well? Google says 6 to 23 - does this get closed for control often or is it a pretty safe bet? Also, if there's anything touristy/cool worth checking out along that route, I'd welcome suggestions.

Thanks guys, hopefully the makings of a solid TR here.

I posted this in the PNW thread as well.

Anyone wanna tag along on an Asulkan hut trip in a few weeks? (Details for the uninitiated: http://www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/facility/asulkan.html) I have it reserved for February 25, 26, and 27 (Saturday, Sunday, and Monday nights). Our original crew coming from Portland, Seattle, and Colorado has shrunk dramatically due to the typically maladies: torn acls, job changes, and weakness of mind and spirit.
We are rallying from seattle on friday. Ski in Sat AM then out Tues AM and back to reality.
I would love to find a group of 5-6 skiers to tag along (one large group or a few smaller groups) to enjoy the sweetness.
PM if interested.

Originally Posted by nfaust

Sorry to come in here and JONG up your roll call, but wanted to see if anyone could provide some beta? The lady friend and I are thinking of flying into Spokane around the 25th and heading north for a week in search of snow. Red, WH20, Revelstoke and KH are all on my short list, but I'm hoping to stay as flexible as possible based on conditions. (IE - drive to Red or WH20 first for a day, then north for the rest of the week). We'll have touring gear, but will most likely keep in inbounds (no avy training or gear) unless we hire a guide (recommendations?) or score a standby seat with a cat operator. Would be interested in any recommendations for hike-to terrain inbounds though.

How are conditions in general? Worth the ~$700 for the flight and rental car? Can anyone comment on the drive from Rossland>Revelstoke>Golden as well? Google says 6 to 23 - does this get closed for control often or is it a pretty safe bet? Also, if there's anything touristy/cool worth checking out along that route, I'd welcome suggestions.

Thanks guys, hopefully the makings of a solid TR here.

WW and Red don't really have hike-to inbounds, it's all ski-to. There's easy to access sidecountry, but you'd want avy gear and skills. We have a lot of lower consequence treed zones. For single day stand-by cat, try Valhalla and Wildhorse.

Conditions are dry right now, but the bases are good. It should start snowing again, right? We don't usually have long dry spells, this one has been around 10 days. Right now I'd say not worth it, but 2 weeks from now, maybe yeah. We're often good with Feb and March storms. It also depends on what you are used to... if you're from New Jersey, you might think it's great.

The drive from Rossland/Nelson to Revy is fine, you take the 6 north to Nakusp, up to the Galena Bay ferry, then the hwy up to Revy. Between Nakusp and Revy the highway is less cared for, so maybe like a paved rural US road. Ask for snow tires in Spokane. Btw Revy & Golden (Roger's Pass), it's more likely to be closed if it's snowing a lot. You aren't likely going to hit any closures getting to Revy from the south (there's one potential but I can't remember it ever being closed).

Stuff along the route... there's a few hot springs north of Nakusp- Nakusp, Halcyon, and Coyote Springs. Coyote has untreated water and private cabins you can rent with their own tubs. It's my fav. There's cute little town along the way- New Denver and Silverton.

Originally Posted by nfaust

Sorry to come in here and JONG up your roll call, but wanted to see if anyone could provide some beta? The lady friend and I are thinking of flying into Spokane around the 25th and heading north for a week in search of snow. Red, WH20, Revelstoke and KH are all on my short list, but I'm hoping to stay as flexible as possible based on conditions. (IE - drive to Red or WH20 first for a day, then north for the rest of the week). We'll have touring gear, but will most likely keep in inbounds (no avy training or gear) unless we hire a guide (recommendations?) or score a standby seat with a cat operator. Would be interested in any recommendations for hike-to terrain inbounds though.

How are conditions in general? Worth the ~$700 for the flight and rental car? Can anyone comment on the drive from Rossland>Revelstoke>Golden as well? Google says 6 to 23 - does this get closed for control often or is it a pretty safe bet? Also, if there's anything touristy/cool worth checking out along that route, I'd welcome suggestions.

Thanks guys, hopefully the makings of a solid TR here.

We just did this trip in mid January and it was great, it's a really nice area. There are enough cat/heli ops in the region that you can always get on with someone.
Just Go!

^^ going to post when I have a little more time aka break from slave work im doing. but im making the same trip that last week in Feb. Flying to spokane, driving to red for a day of skiing/night stay, then on up to Revy for the remainder of the trip. already have one day of cat reserved, waitlist for one more. cant afford heli unfortunately, but should be some solid stoke filled fun.

nice change of scenery from the normal J-Hole, Silverton, Snowbird trips. when it gets closer ill post up, see if anyone wants to share some turns with a job. avi beginner, but will be coming with all my gear. pray for snow!

Sparkle - thanks for the info. I think we'll probably pull the trigger this weekend and hope for the best.

Shredhead - Did you rent a car in Spokane? Any tips on getting a snow-capable vehicle there? (Was hoping to use hertz, but open to recommendations).

Steezy - what cat op are you going with?

Originally Posted by nfaust

Sparkle - thanks for the info. I think we'll probably pull the trigger this weekend and hope for the best.

Shredhead - Did you rent a car in Spokane? Any tips on getting a snow-capable vehicle there? (Was hoping to use hertz, but open to recommendations).

Steezy - what cat op are you going with?

I rent from Hertz all the time in Spokane. I just get their "Ford Escape" or equivalent, and that usually gets me an AWD Chevy Traverse, Chevy Equinox or similar. Both are very capable snow vehicles, I didn't have any problems. They also have M+S tires.

Usually about $500 for a week, but the damned airport taxes and fees take up at least $150 of that.

Little vid my brother made of him getting sluffed out last weekend. He played "plinko" with the trees. I don't necessarily agree with his suggested tactics at the end but it is a good reminder of what sluff can take you over/off

No real snow in a week. Rode the lift with a guy from the east yesterday who claimed the 5cm overnight was his best day ever on skis. I guess it's all relative.

Pretty large Surface Hoar out there that's fun for now..........

Originally Posted by nfaust

Sparkle - thanks for the info. I think we'll probably pull the trigger this weekend and hope for the best.

Shredhead - Did you rent a car in Spokane? Any tips on getting a snow-capable vehicle there? (Was hoping to use hertz, but open to recommendations).

Steezy - what cat op are you going with?

Got back Sunday from a 9 day trip on the area, fantastic. Flew the Calgary from portland to meet chitown buds a bro from slc

2 days lake Louise
3 days kh
2 days revy
1 day sunshine

My favorite was kicking horse, due to ridge options up top and fall line down low. Revy close second but seemed like a bit more work to get around and into similar terrain.

Seems to be a anti kh feeling from revy people and kh people like revy and give it props. Is that a east side roger pass versus west side thing.

Roger pass shuts often from what I noticed, couple days while we were there. After you drive through you'll know why. Perhaps you can find a bc guide to take you out in Rogers pass, terrain is insane and snow double minivan high at the road.

Enjoy! I'll be back next year for my birthday trip! Is mid march pow season?

Ps made the trip in a caravan with radial tires. I'm used to ice driving in the cascades.
Similar

"Is mid march pow season?" yep, last year March was insane.

I too rented a Dodge Caravan w/XM, AC power inverter and ton's of DC jacks from Alamo for $400/9 days.

None of the rentals in Spokane have snows and while 4wd would be nice, I don't think it's necessary.

I would check out the mid week white sale at WW if the dates work.
http://www.skiwhitewater.com/store/i...ation_packages

All thrifty locations in Spokane have 4wd suv's. $500 ish for week. Was worth it when we went to Revy

Hoping to keep the rental car with Hertz, Avis, Budget or Enterprise. I'm 24 for the next month, and therefore in the eyes of American rental car companies, unfit to operate a rented vehicle, so to avoid the BS underage fees I have to go through one of them. I was able to line up an Escape with hertz for $350 for a week, which seems like a pretty decent deal.

Midweek WW deal seems pretty good, thanks for that, Shredhead. I think we might be able to make that work for.

Seems like we're probably head for WW first, do a few days there, and then commit the rest to Revelstoke. If the road's good and we're up for it, maybe try to get over to KH for a day/night, but I'm too much of a pansy to fly out there without knowing where we're going to sleep.

Check the snow reports in the AM - Red's not a too far drive from Nelson, and Occasionally we get more than WW. If they get the same - I'd go to Red - but that's just me.

Just woke up in Nelson with a headache...partied with some legends last night.
In no hurry, but going to make the most of the 1" new and cloudy at WH20.
In BC for the week if anyone is up for a tour.
Got a rental Yukon from Hertz in Spokane, made it across the boarder, and no plan but to ski and have a good time.

research stoke!

Did some valentines day scouting with my wife and another couple.