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 the lebellion doing what he does best. Credit: nah000 |
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i hope all of you found some good mind altering personal adventures during the colder, shorter and darker days of winter...
1. French/Haig/Robertson Traverse: a psychedelic dose
sometimes when you run a gauntlet, you just beat the hot spring sun’s effect on the requisite and directly south facing bootpack slope… and between that and all of the other intensities that a solo trip over three small glaciers brings, you end up with a depth of experience you likely won’t forget until the day you die.
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 1.0 looking across the french glacier to the robertson col a km or two away... Credit: nah000 |
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 1.1 rounding mt. robertson and its giant wind scoop on top of the haig glacier Credit: nah000 |
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 1.2 looking across the haig glacier towards the continental divide and in the distance, at centre, the blocky mass of mt joffre. due to our history i mentally said to mt joffre: "i see you"... [and then couldn’t help wondering: “you see me?”] Credit: nah000 |
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 1.3 atop the bootpack at the sir douglas/robertson col about to start the descent down the robertson glacier. Credit: nah000 |
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 1.4 photo evidence that one can make at least acceptable turns with a 160cm skimo rig... at least if the slope angle is 25-30 deg... ha! Credit: nah000 |
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 1.5 looking the few kms back up to the sir douglas/robertson col and where i'd just come from a half hour ago. Credit: nah000 |
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nuts and bolts: kananaskis country, ab; ~20km; ~1100m; 5.5hr; 11.03.2018.
2. The Tupper Traverse: three glasses of red wine
if the best solo trips can be like a psychedelic ally induced peering-through-the-looking-glass, then hanging out, nailing a classic during one of the few weather windows in weeks, with three solid ski partners, is something akin to sipping from a glass [or three] of your favourite red wine.
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 2.0 up on the hermit meadows with little sifton in the background. Credit: nah000 |
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 2.1 pretty much at the highpoint with what is left of mt. tupper's multi faceted peak rising above the glacier... Credit: nah000 |
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 2.2 under the dictionary definition of "manly" there is a picture of this guy... in that picture he's also riding a bull while taking a swig of jack daniels... ok the second half of that last line i might have made up... but the first half? truth. Credit: nah000 |
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 2.3 traversing after descending the sweet pitch down the backside of the tupper glacier... at rogers even when you "traverse" you still regularly get some tasty downhilling in... Credit: nah000 |
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 2.4 hussling to make it past a tiny bit of up before shortly thereafter reclimbing the shoulder of tupper to begin the final descent of the day down the connaught north slide path. Credit: nah000 |
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 2.5 nearing the end of the day: a lady and a macdonald... [but not a lady macdonald.] Credit: nah000 |
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nuts and bolts: rogers pass, bc; ~14km; ~1750m; 8hr; 24.03.2018.
3. Grand Daddy Couloir: a tulip of grappa
and for the digestif? the beauty of getting to the toppish of a goldilocks objective on an unexpected goldilocks of a day. a bit of cloud cover to keep the sun from beating on the things overhead while you’re hiking up, that then turns to a window of mostly unforecasted clearing, all while being neither too hot nor too cold. and the couloir itself was neither too steep nor too narrow and was filled with snow that wasn't too deep nor too stiff [although that was partly due to our opting out of the “shit” on the top and the possibility of missing the cloud clearing that suddenly happened and so skiing it from the clinch].
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 3.0 the part of the day where i had resigned myself to the possibility that there was a 50/50 chance we were on a "take your gear for a walk and then go back empty handed" type of day... Credit: nah000 |
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 3.1 as we entered the couloir this turned to the "well... maybe we'll get lucky and at least be able to see what's directly in front of us even if we can't see the whole line when we ski it" portion of the tour... Credit: nah000 |
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 3.2 x-23? Credit: nah000 |
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 3.3 and the lord decreed: "s/he who breaketh the most trail, shall have first right of refusal on first turns"... and so here is the breaker of the most trail cashing out some of his hard earned stock options. Credit: nah000 |
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 3.4 and after all of that time spent in the low lying cloud things stayed clear all of the way to the bottom of the primary open slope... [also, the entrance to the couloir is the high point in the snow slope at the upper right hand corner of the photo] Credit: nah000 |
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 3.5 and so it’s off to chase grand daddy long legs as he strides back to the convenience of the hostel. Credit: nah000 |
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nuts and bolts: banff national park, ab; ~5km; ~800m [~250m in the couloir]; 4hr; 07.04.2018.
4. Bonus... North Bowl of Mt. Cheops: a slice of chocolate mousse
sugar... likely the most often ab/used of the of the mind alterants. and no wonder...
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 4.0 while it's not thigh deep, sometimes surfing in the first few inches of a spring resultant chocolate mousse is just as satisfying... Credit: nah000 |
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nuts and bolts: rogers pass, bc; 25.03.2018.
