December 24, Simcoe Mountains, Satus Pass area
12/24/15
2352
3
I skinned up 1.5 miles and 1000 vertical feet into the Simcoes last Thursday, the 1st break in the weather. There was 3 feet of unconsolidated powder and snow drifts that seemed bottomless. I broke trail. The 1st person in there - hence the meager numbers..., but actually those are pretty good numbers! Gosh it felt good to get back on my All Terrain 4X4 ski gear.
The main issue was my dog Otto. We debated wether I should bring him and decided to give it a go. It was immediately apparent upon getting out of the car that he was going to have trouble as he sank to his shoulders. I've trained him to follow in my skin track, which helps some, but is still quite sinky, so I had to find a line where the wind has scoured the snow into a hard stratugi. Fortunately there was quite a bit, but even then he was sinking.
After all the fires the last few years, there is new skiable terrain which was really nice because I did not have to climb too far to find some turns. Otto actually stopped and laid down and curled up at one point even though I was still going. That was a first for him and a clear message that my climbing day was done.
We had our usual rest break with Chai tea with cream and honey (manna in this context) and dog cookies. Otto started crying which had me worried. Was his shoulder acting up? Was he just done? So I ripped off the skins in prep for the downhill and Otto TOOK OFF like a bat out of hell SWIMMING through the deep snow like frickin' porpoise! He was completely submerged at times and turned totally white. Otto knows where the fun is.
Overall a good first day back on the skis after 2-3 years. I am so happy that the Simcoes are available for BC skiing again!
The main issue was my dog Otto. We debated wether I should bring him and decided to give it a go. It was immediately apparent upon getting out of the car that he was going to have trouble as he sank to his shoulders. I've trained him to follow in my skin track, which helps some, but is still quite sinky, so I had to find a line where the wind has scoured the snow into a hard stratugi. Fortunately there was quite a bit, but even then he was sinking.
After all the fires the last few years, there is new skiable terrain which was really nice because I did not have to climb too far to find some turns. Otto actually stopped and laid down and curled up at one point even though I was still going. That was a first for him and a clear message that my climbing day was done.
We had our usual rest break with Chai tea with cream and honey (manna in this context) and dog cookies. Otto started crying which had me worried. Was his shoulder acting up? Was he just done? So I ripped off the skins in prep for the downhill and Otto TOOK OFF like a bat out of hell SWIMMING through the deep snow like frickin' porpoise! He was completely submerged at times and turned totally white. Otto knows where the fun is.
Overall a good first day back on the skis after 2-3 years. I am so happy that the Simcoes are available for BC skiing again!
Nice going, one of my back pocket plans is to ski as many of the old Washington ski areas as possible, and I know there was one around there, looks like it would be a good winter to get that one!
Just to the right of the tree in the foreground of picture #1, you can see the (now overgrown) old ski hill. It is still skiable, but won't be for long as the trees are taking over. Yes, this is a good year. It is very brushy so it needs a significant base.
It's always nice to see a report from one of the less-visited, dare I say, "exotic" areas. Thanks for posting.
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