Photoset from Whitsler, Joffre Lakes

Finding turns in the Joffre Lakes Basin

I celebrated my birthday last weekend with a three-day trip to SW British Columbia, continuing the elusive 2013-14 search for powder snow.  We caught a great day at Blackcomb with 6-10" of fresh snow on top of a very firm base, with clear skies and amazing views.  The masses were stoked!  The next day, we explored the backcountry around Joffre Lakes and found a thin layer of windbuffed powder on top of a very thin, crusty snowpack with lots of exposed rocks.  In a NE facing basin at the height of winter, the light was tough, but I got a few shots of the peaks across the valley and some half decent images in the shade.  The temps were really cold - around 15 deg F - and we had to hike out because of the low snowpack, but we managed to log some mileage on our old-man legs.  On our drive back to Portland, we stopped in at Squamish and checked out the nesting bald eagles down by the Squamish River - so cool!  Coastal BC is drop-dead gorgeous and only a few short hours from Oregon - go check it out! 

Fairy Meadow Brain Dump

Bohle dropping the pow

On those cold, early mornings, standing above a face of untouched fluff, a chemical reaction inside my head starts to etch a permanent image of that moment in my memory.  I can recall those times when everything falls perfectly into place and I drop into bottomless, blower pow (or even coastal cement), as if it happened just last week.  Like a rolodex, I can flip back through 35 years of history, pulling out cards on individual runs, complete with notations on snow conditions, mental state, and partners.  The human brain works in mysterious ways . . . especially on powder days.

Ski Stoke

This is some of best ski footage I've ever seen. Check it out. It may be the best 5 minutes of your day.

Labor Day 2010 - Springbok Arete Backpacking Trip

Labor Day weekend - the end of a wet and soggy summer - I tried to squeeze in one last mountain trip.  Faced with yet another mediocre forecast, Doug and I played the denial game and convinced ourselves we just had to be there because you never know what you'll get.  30%, 40%, 50% chance of rain.  It's all the same really ... isn't it?  How are we going to know what its like unless we go and find out?     

Ridiculing the stupid weather men, convinced they predict a 30-50% chance of rain every single day just so they're always right, we packed up our gear and headed to the Anderson River range in SW British Columbia.  The objective - Springbok Arete on Les Cornes.  If you're going to fail miserably, you might as well fail on a big objective.