skiing

Powdah….

Posted on by Smoke

Yup, it’s been a long, dry winter.  I took this shot on my last powder day.  Wayyyyy back in January.  Since then we’ve only had a couple of little dumps.  For a season that started quite well in the South Okanagan, it’s sure gone nowhere…

Interestingly, I went out on this day just to check the snow profile, as the avalanche hazard has been so high all winter.  As it turns out, this was the most stable it’s been all season. Awesome turns, and I’ve had about ten great pow days so far, but they were a long time ago.  Almost time to pull the bike out….

Shreddin’ With Brettro

Posted on by Smoke

Can you believe it?  I missed riding Sun Peaks yesterday.  It’s not like I partied that hard, but we were feeling kinda laid back.

Couldn’t do that today.  Even though it was seriously cold this morning (-32C at the top), we were out early.

Seems like everyone else was too.  The lineups at the bottom were HUGE.  But when we got up to the top…..nobody was around.  I guess they just want to sit on the high speed lifts.  Who cares if there’s lots of pow to shred.

Granted, it was a bit cold up there, but so worth it.

Tippie and his ca. 1993 Rossi race deck.  Now you know why we call him ‘Brettro’.

Well, that and also cause he’s old.

A self portrait at sunset.

And the sunset itself.  Just hitting the summit for the last run at nearly 5PM, and it’s a long run down.  It was nearly dark by the time we finished.  Good thng Brett is so charming, or we’d have been in a lot more trouble with the ladies.

The Bowls Are Open!

Posted on by Smoke

The snow continues to fall, and the bowls are open early this year.  I’m not saying I didn’t hit any rocks (it is Apex, remember).  I’m just saying that 135cm is actually pretty decent in the Okanagan. 

It’s a whole lot better than whatever Whistler got so far this year.

This is some random guy I did a run with on the Wildside. A bit more exposed with the southern aspect so not as deep.

I was choking on it on the north side….

Funny that I’m not running into any regulars.  It was the last day of our stay that I finally ran into some familiar faces, and even then it was ski buddies from decades ago.  I even did a run with a (formerly) little girl that I used to coach way-y-y-y-y-y back in the 80’s. She was a tiny 8 year old ripper with a shy smile and a big helmet.

She’s all growed up now and kicked my ass. 

Ahhhhh, life.  Good times.