2018/2019 CANADIAN ROCKIES THREAD

[Singel]

Skied Revy today...maybe the worst I've ever had here (though I've had really good luck), but still average+ skiing overall. Hiking Lemming Line still offers really nice snow (though white-out most of today), most everything else pretty bleh. Looks like a storm is coming on Thursday (just in time for me to drive home)...

[miketheskier]

Just arrived in kicking horse after few days in fernie. They finally opened the peak chair. Snow was good but Jesus.. absolute jong show and the runs got closed soon after with all the rocks

[skimanguydude]

Guys & gals,

My SO and I are going to take a ~10 trip in BC last week of Feb into the first few days of March. We want to roughly spend 50% touring and 50% resort skiing. We don't have sleds but we do have good lungs. Looking for relatively mellow touring terrain with at least somewhat reasonable accessibility - we aren't looking to steal your rad lines on this trip. Something a bit steeper and bigger than Tincan in AK, for example. We are leaning toward splitting the trip into two different towns.

Where should we go? Revy + Rodgers Pass? How's the touring access around Fernie? Any suggestions would be great. If this is the wrong thread, sorry and let me know.

Cheers and thank you!

[pano-dude]

Guys & gals,

My SO and I are going to take a ~10 trip in BC last week of Feb into the first few days of March. We want to roughly spend 50% touring and 50% resort skiing. We don't have sleds but we do have good lungs. Looking for relatively mellow touring terrain with at least somewhat reasonable accessibility - we aren't looking to steal your rad lines on this trip. Something a bit steeper and bigger than Tincan in AK, for example. We are leaning toward splitting the trip into two different towns.

Where should we go? Revy + Rodgers Pass? How's the touring access around Fernie? Any suggestions would be great. If this is the wrong thread, sorry and let me know.

Cheers and thank you!

I would wait until closer to your dates to decide if possible, conditions would dictate where to go.

Purcell's,(Golden/Invermere areas) are not a great option right now, read the avalanche Canada blog.







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[Mike Rogers]

Guys & gals,

My SO and I are going to take a ~10 trip in BC last week of Feb into the first few days of March. We want to roughly spend 50% touring and 50% resort skiing. We don't have sleds but we do have good lungs. Looking for relatively mellow touring terrain with at least somewhat reasonable accessibility - we aren't looking to steal your rad lines on this trip. Something a bit steeper and bigger than Tincan in AK, for example. We are leaning toward splitting the trip into two different towns.

Where should we go? Revy + Rodgers Pass? How's the touring access around Fernie? Any suggestions would be great. If this is the wrong thread, sorry and let me know.

Cheers and thank you!

There is a lot of touring with easy acess around Fernie.

This blog is a nice pace to start:

https://seethenski.net/category/fernie/

and for a visual:

https://seethenski.files.wordpress.c...01-26-2019.pdf


I skied some trees off mammoth head (lift accessed backcountry from the resort) yesterday. They were skiing nice with creamy snow...not getting deep, but it was smooth.

The lower elevations are a bit rough at the moment. There's been rain, and I think it went up to +10c yesteray. Pretty hot for January. It's nice at elevation though!

[CaCaw]

Just arrived in kicking horse after few days in fernie. They finally opened the peak chair. Snow was good but Jesus.. absolute jong show and the runs got closed soon after with all the rocks

Polar chutes closed after a couple more people cartwheeled top to bottom through the rocks. It didn't really have much to do with ski conditions which were still pretty good... just firm so when people crashed they couldn't stop themselves till they were at the bottom. Patrol actually likes to have that terrain open as much as possible, but when people are continually getting seriously hurt in the same terrain, you kind of have to re-evaluate. Going to the hospital with a neck/back injury tends to ruin holidays more than the disappointment of having a few runs closed while the rest of the hill is wide open.

[Mike Rogers]

They opened the Polar chutes again yeserday...in the late morning. Maybe waiting for the snow to soften up a bit.

There was a patroller at the top asking people who looked less than confident if they knew what they were getting into. The first chute was incredibly busy and a many skiers and riders looked overwhelmed. I could see it being a problem. Further to skier's left was free of crowds. Conditions were nice, but it was warm!

[gatorontheloose]

Can't find any first-hand reviews on the new terrain. Curious if Rudy's north is even possible to ride out from on a snowboard. "Middle ridge" doesn't even look accessible when cross-cutting all of Ozone.

Any regulars want to point us to the goods during the last week of Feb. in exchange for lunch or drinks?

[Mike Rogers]

Ozone hasn't opened to the public yet. I think they'll want to use that terrain for the FWT event. I hope it is controlled and will be open to the public after the comp.

Middle Ridge South has been open since opening weekend. Before Whitewall opened, you could access from the first chute on fuez. You just followed the ropeline across the entire bowl. There were some ups and sidestepping involved, so it wasn't easy for snowboarders, especially after a new snowfall.

Since they opened the fans on Whitewall (and now the Whitewall area from the top), you can get to the middle ridge bootpack without any difficult traverses. Should be easy on a snowboard now.

The bootpack follows a ropeline that closes the Ozone area. You don't need Ozone to get to the ridge. Middle Ridge south is mostly mellow glades. Some fun lines on the north side. Neither side offers a lot of vertical, but it's a nice add on to your lap. If you have touring gear, the bottom of Middle Ridge North will leave you in a nice spot to add some OB ridges without a lot of effort.

If you just want so ski/board out of Rudi's, there's enough of a grade that you shouldn't have much trouble with a board. There are a few depressions that you might not see with low vis, but if it's clear, they are easy enough to identify. It's better than super-bowl anyway.

[Mike Rogers]

I'm just a weekender, but I spend most of my free days at Kicking Horse, Fernie, or Louise. I can let you know if Liz and I are around when you are. I don't know the place like a local, but I can get around alright.

[DougW]

I'm at KH almost everyday unless touring so shoot me a PM closer to the date when you arrive.

[skideeppow]

any beta on revi? heading up next monday for 5 days at selkirk tangiers, then another 5 at eagle pass.
Looks like it has been dry but can not really tell.
Thanks

[brraaap802]

That is pretty epic. What part of castle is that? Chutes? Left of red chair?

Sweet. Skin or bootpack or traverse? In Castle in ealry mid March for a kids comp so may have to check out a few lines if I have the energy!

[crashidy]

Decent day on 93n. New Suncrust on south facing, plenty of wind hammered slopes.

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[garyfromterrace]

Sweet. Skin or bootpack or traverse? In Castle in ealry mid March for a kids comp so may have to check out a few lines if I have the energy!

Short skin. I'll be here, love to ski with ya.





Castle skied pretty good today, and got to have a great morning with Shorty_J. Cool to ski her with a mag, hasn't happened here for me till today.

[Shorty_J]

^^^ yeah man... Great skiing with you too and awesome pics!

I'll be back again and hopefully I'll be in better shape and will last past 1pm.

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[jacob_dbu]

Looking for some suggestions for a Mountain Collective trip up to Banff/Revi in February. Basically we have 8 days to do whatever and we didn't love Lake Louise / Sunshine last year. Doing 3 days at Revi guaranteed.

Kicking Horse is definitely on the list. Is Fernie a must hit too?

Also going to have 1-2 days to do other activities and trying to make sense of the best options:
- Snowmobiling? Never done it, but heard it's cold and not that relaxing.
- Guided ski tour? My buddies are newbies to this, but I have some experience. Any good providers?
- Hot springs? Looking for some good hike-to hot springs that we can burn a day chillin' in.
- Fat biking? Cheaper than the others, but maybe not quite as fun - would it be cool to see Moraine Lake this way though?

Any suggestions are appreciated. I want to do a little more sightseeing than we did last year, but I'm not sure how much is viable / worth it over skiing the resorts.

[Shorty_J]

^^^ this earlier post covers a lot of your questions...

Fernie is a super rad place to ski on a pow day. If its been dry prior to you coming then I would recommend Lake Louise. It will ski much better during a drought as its a big mountain and you get explore and cover lots of ground! If its firing, then Fernie rocks. During storms not much opens which is great cause you can storm ski under the chairs and come back the next day or two for the goods. Nice to have a local showing you around.
Castle... Is awesome. What skiing used to be before starbucks, and 17 dollar burgers. Many sleeper days at Castle as a few cm and the right wind and the sift is legendary... Long sustained fall lines will challenge your legs. Castle and Fernie are not that far away from each other and can be combined in one trip.

TL;DR If no snow, go to Louise...

If you don't want to do Louise, I'd put kickinghorse in its place for the no snow recommendation.

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[eldereldo]

Neither Kicking Horse nor Fernie are on the Mountain Collective if that matters. What didn’t you like about Lake Louise? I can understand not thinking much of Sunshine if you weren’t going into the free ride terrain or Ob, but depending on conditions LL has some pretty good inbounds terrain.

[jacob_dbu]

Neither Kicking Horse nor Fernie are on the Mountain Collective if that matters. What didn’t you like about Lake Louise? I can understand not thinking much of Sunshine if you weren’t going into the free ride terrain or Ob, but depending on conditions LL has some pretty good inbounds terrain.

Actually, I thought LL was fine, but we had awful vis on the day we went. Sunshine sucks with the Gondola setup imo though. Also had terrible vis there. We will still likely hit a day at each of LL and Sunshine because of some price sensitive friends.

Good to know on the recommendations about Fernie / KH. Honestly, will probably skip Fernie since it's so out of the way. We'll do a day at KH though since it's right on the way and I want to check it out.

[mntlion]

Looking for some suggestions for a Mountain Collective trip up to Banff/Revi in February. Basically we have 8 days to do whatever and we didn't love Lake Louise / Sunshine last year. Doing 3 days at Revi guaranteed.

Kicking Horse is definitely on the list. Is Fernie a must hit too?

Also going to have 1-2 days to do other activities and trying to make sense of the best options:
- Snowmobiling? Never done it, but heard it's cold and not that relaxing.
- Guided ski tour? My buddies are newbies to this, but I have some experience. Any good providers?
- Hot springs? Looking for some good hike-to hot springs that we can burn a day chillin' in.
- Fat biking? Cheaper than the others, but maybe not quite as fun - would it be cool to see Moraine Lake this way though?

Any suggestions are appreciated. I want to do a little more sightseeing than we did last year, but I'm not sure how much is viable / worth it over skiing the resorts.

snowmobile: day tours avail in both panorama (toby creek) and in golden (can't rememember) fun to do, but not cheap

ski tour: http://mtnguiding.com/contact/ for banff/rockies area. Good guys can do rad to newbie

hotsprings: Commercial in banff, Lucier near radium (free, shot hike, can be also busy) not much else

Fat biking: rentals in banff and canmore: $50ish/day no way to get to moraine lake its 16>km each way, uphill, thru avi terrain. you will be punched. best for trails in banff or canmore



worth trying SSV or LL on a clearer day. hard to beat for low/no snow usually.


also see my thread on how to ski banff for more info
https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...w-to-ski-banff

[miketheskier]

Can anyone help on best way that I can find some people to tour with? Am riding through Canada on my own and am in Revy for a week next week. Got a couple days at start with a guide but forecast looks like Rogers Pass will be better off than Revy.

Got my own car/gear that I know how to use. Done few seasons in Alps/Japan so can ski most things but not a hucker.

[garyfromterrace]

^^
You could try backcountry yyc FB group

[Mike Rogers]

@miketheskier

A couple Facebook groups that might be useful

Https://www.facebook.com/groups/8145...385/?ref=share


https://www.facebook.com/groups/5322...611/?ref=share

[kungpow]

Can anyone help on best way that I can find some people to tour with? Am riding through Canada on my own and am in Revy for a week next week. Got a couple days at start with a guide but forecast looks like Rogers Pass will be better off than Revy.

Got my own car/gear that I know how to use. Done few seasons in Alps/Japan so can ski most things but not a hucker.

In a similar situation. Will shoot you a PM.