Ontario 2022

[Thaleia]

BM continues to be pretty decent this week. Pretty significant ice field at the top of Tranquility but other than that the now has been really good. Haven't made it to the North end yet.

Some fairly representative shots of the meagre mid week, mid day lines:





4 pm grooming, I had heard elsewhere they weren't doing that this season, appears they in fact are.

[petey_]

4 pm grooming? Weird. Wondering why they would do that. Was at Bromont back in the late 90s when they started grooming in the middle of the afternoon. Might have been because of deep snow on the slopes. Tons of patrollers loading people in sleds that prompted that?

[Mr. Multiglisse]

Last chair of the day.



We're earning turns tomorrow, once it warms up from minus ridiculous. Report to follow.

[petey_]

Sounds warmer than riding a chairlift. Hope the car starts in the morning. If this cold keeps up I'm getting a block heater.

[Thaleia]

4 pm grooming? Weird. Wondering why they would do that. Was at Bromont back in the late 90s when they started grooming in the middle of the afternoon. Might have been because of deep snow on the slopes. Tons of patrollers loading people in sleds that prompted that?

Well they have day and night skiing, and by late afternoon things are pretty bumpy, so it gets a reset for the evening crowd.

[petey_]

I seem to recall that Glen Eden used to do that and actually close between the day and night periods.

Sounds like my brother wants to meet up there on Thursday morning. Going to try and book a spot but not looking forward to the drive from London to get there.

[Mr. Multiglisse]

Three old guys and a teenage dog went skiing in the woods near Huntsville today. Opted for the 1 pm start to take advantage of somewhat warmer temps. The chair tells us that it a good day to ski, despite the ridiculous cold:



It was first turns of the season for LeChef, Telemark Dave and me, plus the first group ski tour for Moira the dog, so we adopted a mellow pace.



LeChef gets credit for first crash of the season. We've all been there.



Some careful turns were had:



What goes down must go up, the dogs waits somewhat patiently for the trailbreakers to head up the road home. My improved rope system works pretty well, except when it gets trapped underfoot in a tele binding.

[Thaleia]

Props, that look devine.

[petey_]

Nice looking outing Mr. M. Curious how much of your touring is on skins as opposed to wax? Hard to justify skins when yoyo-ing 200 feet of vert.

Looks like a week of typical southern Ontario weather on the way. The forecast keeps changing and trying to figure out when the snow will fall is like spinning a roulette wheel.

[Mr. Multiglisse]

Nice looking outing Mr. M. Curious how much of your touring is on skins as opposed to wax? Hard to justify skins when yoyo-ing 200 feet of vert.

You are right, skins are a pain in the butt around here but sometimes the only way up. You get really good at transitions. My pal Telemark Dave (in the bright green jacket) and I ski on Voile Charger BCs (sadly discontinued) which have fishscales. (Anything in the Voile line with "BC" in the name has fishscales.) They are pretty fat at 112 underfoot and have lots of tip rocker to keep you safe from sharks. Dave is patiently waiting for a pair of SummitCone Vagabond BCs which are similar but a bit skinnier. Anyhoo, they climb very well and eliminate 50% of skinning. We both still carry skins just in case. We even wax the tips and tails for grip to help. Downhill performance in powder is unaffected by the scales or grip wax. Our colleague LeChef (in the faded blue coat) goes old school nordic and waxes his G3s tip to tail with grip wax. He can't climb quite as easily as us fishscalers but this also reduces the need for skins.

[petey_]

Thanks for the info. I discovered many years ago that alpine skis work better when waxed tip to tail. Also have skins but don't get many chances to use them. Blue after it closes in the spring, a few trips into New Hampshire, and then breaking trail for snow shoers. Wax is the preferred method for most of my back country.

[paulster2626]

Nice work everyone, that all looks great - making the best of what we got is what it's all about!! Eager to get out on my new skins and AT setup this week before heading to BC next week. Would anyone be up for earning some turns this Friday? Caveat being if the drive early Friday morning looks insane, I won't be heading anywhere...

Otherwise I might just go out alone and take it easy. Figure with the proper amount of planning and prep, can't be much riskier than a solo algonquin camping session which I've done before.

[Mr. Multiglisse]

Nice work everyone, that all looks great - making the best of what we got is what it's all about!! Eager to get out on my new skins and AT setup this week before heading to BC next week. Would anyone be up for earning some turns this Friday? Caveat being if the drive early Friday morning looks insane, I won't be heading anywhere...

Otherwise I might just go out alone and take it easy. Figure with the proper amount of planning and prep, can't be much riskier than a solo algonquin camping session which I've done before.

I can't make it out Friday but if you make the trek to Limberlost, there is a good chance that someone will be there. Or post your plan in the AHBS group and see who chimes in. Worst case, if you head there solo, park at Buck lake Landing, follow the ski hill trail to the top (where the cabin is) and find your down from there. It is pretty straightforward.

Don't forget to fill out their safety form ahead of time.

[paulster2626]

I can't make it out Friday but if you make the trek to Limberlost, there is a good chance that someone will be there. Or post your plan in the AHBS group and see who chimes in. Worst case, if you head there solo, park at Buck lake Landing, follow the ski hill trail to the top (where the cabin is) and find your down from there. It is pretty straightforward.

Don't forget to fill out their safety form ahead of time.

Well, looks like the roads should be clear, got someone to take the kids to the bus stop, new boss says I should go skiing, and got a full tank of gas and the will to shred. Limberlost is where I'll be.

I'll try to get some solo footage a-la Les Stroud for the masses.

In the meantime looks like another pow day at Glen Eden on Thursday morning. See y'all out there.

[Thaleia]

Blue was absolutely rammed yesterday. Quite a change from a very mellow last week. Not sure if it's the change in restrictions, or an early reading week or school break or something, but is was border line intolerable. Spent the afternoon on the north side where the line wasn't so insane. Avoid Kandahar and Dieppe for awhile unless you bring rock skies.

[Johnny P]

Got to busy for me at Blue yesterday. Was gone by 11am. Good chance to wander in the bush on the Hoks though. Shreddin the escarpment 3 turns at a time.

[Mr. Multiglisse]

^^^^ Nice image, Johnny P, that looks like a fine line, if a bit twiggy. Be careful, Hoks are the gateway drug to serious BC skis.

[petey_]

Good old escarpment. Hopefully that snowpack is enough to cover the rocks and sticks. Sometimes the back seat is your friend.

Treacherous out there this morning. The rain on the pavement is freezing up even though the air is still above freezing. The car slightly stuck to the ground when I stopped for gas. Weird. Anyways, hope to get that 20 to 30 they are calling for. Time to scrape the kick wax off the powder boards.

[Johnny P]

Sporty drive out my road this morning. I could have skated on it.

[Johnny P]

^^^^ Nice image, Johnny P, that looks like a fine line, if a bit twiggy. Be careful, Hoks are the gateway drug to serious BC skis.

Ha no doubt! I decided to get out on these as most of the skiing around here looks like that shot. To tight for any thing to long most of the time.

[paulster2626]

Got to busy for me at Blue yesterday. Was gone by 11am. Good chance to wander in the bush on the Hoks though. Shreddin the escarpment 3 turns at a time.

Looks good. Anyone ever ski that spot of escarpment between Alpine and Georgian Peaks ski clubs? Ontario.ca tells me this is crown land.

[Johnny P]

I have a few times. Need the right conditions though. If not your skiing on shale. Some of it is private land though. I was told I can’t be up there a bunch of years ago and There is a private property sign in a tree up there.
Pics from last years shut down.

[Vmango]

I have a few times. Need the right conditions though. If not your skiing on shale. Some of it is private land though. I was told I can’t be up there a bunch of years ago and There is a private property sign in a tree up there.
Pics from last years shut down.

I am a GP member. I do a lot of skinning at the club but want to explore the chutes on both sides of the club. If anyone wants to explore that shit let me know. Headed to BC Tuesday but will be back late FEB.

I hear from a lot of people that skinning at the Ghost Talisman club can be rad too.

Looks like you can hit that spot on the left side of Minute Mile pretty easy from the top there. The right side looks like more of an adventure to get to but if the snow was right those lines look awesome. I just got my touring setup this year and have started exploring. The club has a skinning trail up Champlain and you can go wherever from the top.

[Johnny P]

North side is pretty scoured last I heard. A friend was up there last week and the pics showed it as shale at the top with no snow. Haven’t been to talisman this year but was good during the shut down last year. Lots of fun to be had around here if your willing to look.

[Mr. Multiglisse]

Groundhog Day. What groundhog? Still snowing here in Muskoka.