Sunshine Village Opening Day '08

Looks like a beautiful, sunny day. Last season was OK, but it didn’t snow nearly as much as previous years, and the avalanche conditions remained treacherous all season, which pretty much ruled out back-country skiing in the Rockies. Delirium Dive didn’t open until the spring. It was no 2006.

My fingers are crossed for this year. The latest avalanche forecast says that we might get more snow this weekend!

A series of storms are lining up off the west coast for the weekend. We will certainly see some more snow and wind but amounts will depend on how far south the storms will track.

I’m stoked. I have some new skis this season, sitting over at the very short-staffed Mountain Magic, waiting for new bindings to be mounted. I’ll be out there as soon as I’m able!

For your enjoyment, and for posterity, here is the Christmas Forecast:

Fantastic job, SM/MH!! Happy trails…

Unfortunately, the Angel and Continental Divide chair lifts were still not open, so its still just low elevation skiing. It was a lot less crowded than opening day, so there were plenty of fresh tracks to be had all morning. Despite the deep snow, one must be vigilant for shallowly buried rocks and stumps. Check out this nasty ski-eater that I uncovered. On rocks, you’ll either get too much traction, or not enough, depending on the shape of the rock and how you hit it. So be wary this time of year.

The back side of Lake Louise, and the Paradise Bowl opened this Tuesday, and I’m really looking forward to skiing there this Saturday! A liftie at Sunshine told me that they plan to open the upper elevation lifts (Angel, Continental) on Saturday as well. I heard dynamite blasts at Sunshine on Thursday; ski patrol is probably doing avalanche control in Delirium Dive. It would be fantastic if the main chute was opened this weekend.

The best line of the day at Sunshine, in my opinion, was any fresh track off of Headwall or Laryx (both of which are skier’s left of the Standish Chair top), maintain speed to get across the gully and Strawberry run, through the trees, and then down the west face, which until about 11am offered untouched, boot-deep powder snow. I outlined the approximate route in red:

My line of the day at Sunshine Village, November 16th, 2006.

See you on the slopes!

This summer, aside from trail running, I started participating in two new sports: mountain biking and rock climbing. One thing that they both have in common, if you’re striving to do them well, is how important it is to be aware of and in control of your level of exertion, and the efficiency with which you move. If you’re biking up a steep hill, you will find it much easier if your upper body is relaxed as much as possible. Just flexing the muscles in your upper body causes your heart to work much harder, and that leaves less energy for your legs, which need it the most.

In rock climbing it is even more important to be aware of how much work you’re doing; you need to use the minimal amount of energy to climb, or you’ll find that you will get tired very quickly. The fear factor of the sport, our natural reaction to heights, is a major obstacle to maintaining a calm, relaxed state of mind and body. The more relaxed you are, the better that you will be able to concentrate on the task at hand, and the more efficiently you will climb. So you must learn to ignore the fear, and concentrate, relax, and enjoy the moment.

The same principles apply to skiing. My first run of the season was a steep black diamond run, littered with moguls, drop-offs, rocks and trees. The powder was soft and deep, and I was having a great time pounding through it. I didn’t make it too far though, before I had to stop and rest — my legs were on fire. I thought that I was in pretty good shape before the season, so I was slightly mystified at the same-old burning legs syndrome. Then it occurred to me: how relaxed am I, as I dodge obstacles and race toward the precipice below? How is my breathing?

As it turned out, my body was very tense, and my heart was probably working twice as hard as it needed to. My breathing was either quick and shallow, or I was actually holding it. As soon as I realized this and corrected it, there was a profound difference in how my legs felt. No more burning. I could ski the runs top-to-bottom.

So the tip is: take deep, slow breaths. Relax your upper body, and tighten your abs enough to give good support and power for making turns. Flex your legs only as much as needed, and where they’re needed. You’ll enjoy skiing so much more!

Ullr, God of Snow

Conditions at the Lake Louise ski resort on it’s opening day 2006.

The head ski patroller remarked that it was the best conditions for opening day that he’s ever seen. I’m not sure how long he’s been there, but I would guess more than a decade (some patrollers have been there 20+ years). It was a full-on powder day, on the first day of the season. I think its going to be a great winter!

Sunshine opened the day before, on November 10th. The conditions there were pretty good too, in the morning at least. It was super-crowded, as it often is on opening day at Sunshine. The Angel & Continental Devide chair lifts were not running, leaving only the lower elevation areas open to the public. So there were line-ups at the Standish and Wawa lifts for most of the day, and by about 11am, there were no fresh tracks to be had anywhere.

It has been snowing on and off since Saturday, and I see that Sunshine is reporting 26cm of new snow. It has been snowing in Banff most of the day today, too, so tomorrow should be excellent. I’m crossing my fingers in hopes that the Angel chair is open. If its not, I might make the journey back to Lake Louise tomorrow! :)

While I was skiing a steep mogul run in some thigh-deep powder at Sunshine on Friday, I thought of a new type of post that I could add to my blog: Ski Tips. I always enjoy reading the ski tips in Ski Canada Magazine, so maybe there are blog readers out there who will appreciate some tips from an avid powder hound. I’ll start a new category, Ski Tips.

Lake Louise is also set to open on the 10th, and I’ll be there all day on Saturday. It would be great if the back bowls are open, but I’m not counting on it, with only 45cm of base, as of today.

Rumour has it that Lake Louise will open on November 10th this year. Last year, ski-patrollors were in the back bowls by mid-October. This year, I intend to join them!

Although the September snowfall is encouraging, it often happens for a brief period this time of year. Indeed, the forecast for next week is sunny. With the lower temperatures, particularly at night, with any luck, the snow will remain in the alpine.

I skied in a t-shirt most of the day, and managed to get a fantastic farmer’s tan. All I need is some straw to chew on. If you’re thinking of coming out, Sunshine is open until the 22nd, and this weekend, BC/DC will be playing in the Village. Its awesome to ski when bands are playing there; you can hear the music all through the mountains. BC/DC is somewhat famous in the ski world, especially since their appearance in the Teton Gravity Research film, Tangerine Dream. I’ve always wanted to see them, but I’ve never managed to be in the right place at the right time.

The Slush Cup will be held on Monday as well. Its pretty entertaining. Bring the kids! There is usually lots of nudity and excessive debauchery.

You’ll notice that some of the images are a little blurry. Thats because someone–*cough* Maryke *cough*–has their camera set to low-resolution mode. Sorry about that.

Blue skies and loose powder at Sunshine today, following a week of nightly snowfall leaving 46cm of pure fun all over the mountains. This day was beyond words; see a few images from today here.

The Banff weather forecast predicts more precipitation for the next 4 days, so Easter weekend should be excellent all around. This year, the closing date at Sunshine is May 22nd.

From what I’ve heard, Norquay is pretty much finished for the season, with only a couple of runs remaining open. Sunshine and Lake Louise have only closed a couple of runs each, with both resorts offering over 100 runs to its sparse population of spring skiers. I’ve heard that the snow in the backcountry is excellent, but avalanche dangers are fairly high, depending on the microclimate and underlying terrain.

Back to the subject of massive terrain, from wawa I took a photo of the Delirium Dive area, and then from Delirium Dive took a photo of Wawa, to illustrate how much area we covered in only 3 hours. The red squares in the photos indicate the locations from which I took the shots. Here is Delirium Dive, shot from Wawa Ridge:

The conditions in the Dive were pretty good in general, considering the lack of snow over the past few days. There was about 15cm of loose snow at the very top, then some difficult crust closer to the first set of rock-bands, followed by packed powder that made for some nice turns. We took a skier’s right at the bottom and skied Fat Boy, where there was about 20cm of nice loose snow on top of a soft crust; IMO the best skiing in the whole area.

Here is Wawa Ridge, as seen from the top of Galaxy 1 chute in Delirium Dive; the red square indicates the area that the above shot was taken from:

The Wawa-Delirium circuit provides a nice little mini-adventure that, with the appropriate gear, can be easily covered in a morning.

There was 5-10cm of new snow, which had formed a surface hoar that made for fantastic skiing. The places to be, IMO, were in the back-bowls, A-H gullies. However, even the often-icey front-side offered packed powder and pockets of loose snow, so it was generally good all-around.