nelson

The Lawnmower Tour — Day 1

Posted on by Smoke

The Lawnmower? Well, I guess Die Rasenmarer is an OK name for a German biking tour company, but the translation is pretty funny. German freeride icons Holger Meyer and Karen Eller put together this trip and it’s a good one. Lots of funny characters on this tour. Karen couldn’t come out because she was so very pregnant at the time….(**UPDATE :: She gave birth to a little girl named Leni on October 3rd, which is also MY BIRTHDAY!!! I predict she will be good looking, stylish, and so suave just like all Oct. 3rd people).

After yesterday’s heli trip, the heavens opened up so I found some things wrong with my bike and skipped riding in the bike park in the slop.

Instead, I saved myself for the pool table in the evening. Unfortunately, Team Canada lost to the Germans, but our team was a lot prettier thanks to the Sugoi Women’s Dirt Series coaches being in attendance.

If you happen to be one of the Nelson crew, check out Peter, the guy on the right. Jumbo Shrimps’ long lost evil twin?

Kootenay Powder

Posted on by Smoke

Time to really get down to the business of deep powder. Enough of this pansy bluebird stuff. The weather was starting to turn as we drove south. Still sunny and cold, but that high pattern cloud was starting to develop, and the bigger peaks were wearing thier lenticular caps as the moist air began to make its way inland.

We drove over the hidden highway, Hwy 6, through the heart of the Kootenays. Barb’s dad lives in the village of Burton, just across the ferry on Arrow Lakes. Very remote. We had a nice little visit. If an old European starts offering you his homemade hooch, you better be careful.

As we left Burton, it started to snow. It was pretty heavy in Nakusp, but it was very localized. When we got to Nelson it seemed we had gotten in front of it.

Sure enough, the next day was still clear and cold, but again, the signs of snow were all around. We decided to do some more visiting and then hit the backcountry the next day.

We got out with my buddy Joe, who I’ve gotten into lots of trouble with in the past. Joe has a new girlfriend, who was coming skiing with us. I guess she skiis alright, so I would think she is sticking around for awhile.

We toured up Evening Ridge, near the legendary ski hill of Whitewater

for a short day. Last time we were here, we skiied 120 cm of fresh on this run. A little less this time, but still good. -16C again, with about 20-30 cm of ski pen in the softer spots. A few old sun crusts made some sections of the run a bit spooky, but stil nice skiing.

Hey Barb, look behind you! It’s like a penis, only smaller. Hopefully Joe’s new girlfriend isn’t too worldly and won’t notice….

Barb drops in. That’s the road to Whitewater below there.

That was all for this day. It was only OK skiing, but as you can see, the weather had definitely turned. The big snow was coming…..

And just in time too. We had driven all this way so that we could go cat skiing with Valhalla Powder Cats. It seems that we were in for a good one. There was hardly any snow in Nelson, and lots of wind. However, by the time we got to the pick up spot for the cat, there was alomost 20 cm of the lightest, driest snow the Koots could drop on us. We were meeting my dad for this one, and that crafty bugger managed to pay for the day. Thanx dad.

A half hour van ride, and then a half hour of cat road later and we did all our safety checks and transceiver training. Ah ha! The top at last. -12C, and 37cm of fresh fluff on a bottomless base! Days like this only come along every couple of years. Good score for us. Maybe my powder luck is returning…

Here’s the top of the cat road in the blizzard.

Barb, in deep.

Me, hamming it up for the camera.

Dad, returning to his childhood in Rossland.

Joe, having a rare day off.

Barb again, getting in deeper.

Droopy, our tailgunner. Lousy pic, but he’s a great skier and good guy to have around.

These smaller shots are stills taken from some videos. Barb, still getting deeper. It snowed hard all day so the later runs were crazy. It was getting hard to see at this point.

Me, absolutely choking on it.

Dad, finding his rhythm.

Poor pops, he had to skip the last run. It’s tiring work in that stuff, and the adrenalin rush is overwhelming at times. They let him ride up front in the cat though, which is pretty cool in itself.

Tired skiers playing in the snow.

…and the whole happy crew at the bottom.

Again, special thanks to Lindsay, Marty, Droopy and everyone else at Valhalla Powder Cats for the unreal day.

And Dad. Thanks bud, when are we going back?

To Yahk and Back

Posted on by Smoke

Yahk? Where the hell is that?

Too far, my friends, too far.

Had to go up there to collect Barb’s Mom. She’s been sitting in an urn in a garden up there for too long, and there was a bunch of furniture to grab as well. At least we pounded out a couple of trails in Nelson to justify the $300 in gas the trip cost.

It’s just opening up from winter there. We rode Placenta Descenta, Wake ‘n Bake, Pulmonary, and Slabalanche. All good. Not many pics to show you. We were in such a hurry the whole time.

This is Barb on Slabalanche.

A staged shot in a clearcut. Nice flowers you just ran over, Barb.

…and check out this truck that fell over on the Hope-Princeton Highway. Taken out the back window while driving. I guess I was lucky I wasn’t the next guy in the ditch.

Apart from that, I did a day of shots with Margus for Ryders Eyewear. Hopefully something comes of it.

This is a shot of Indian Arm just above the Cove.

This is Margus hanging on to the cliff. I rode the crack he’s standing on, but it looks weenie on film. Oh well, it was a rad move.

This shot may make the cut. Pretty cool juxtaposition. Shows how close to the city the radical trails of the Shore really are. It’s about a one hundred foot sheer drop off the edge.

Next up is Darcy’s birthday trip. I wouldn’t expect to hear from me for a week or so. Hopefully we will come back with some images that aren’t too hot for the internet.