Monikaâs Birthday Trip to the Pass, March 21-24
3/15/08
WA Cascades East Slopes North
4335
4
March 21-25, '08
Man, Monika is going to waste you. She is going really well these days. This accurate and succinct comment was laughingly relayed to me via the cell as I rolled toward the border on Thursday afternoon. Yea, I responded to my friend home with a newborn, but think of all the vertical I am going to get. Ah yes, sweet suffering.
At midnight I crawled into the back of the Saab outside of Reve, amongst the rattle of numerous diesel trucks idling away through the night. My arrival was delayed by a two hour wait at the border because of Easter weekend traffic. The drive was uneventful except for nearly getting locked into an Overwaitea after closing. I was sucking up a Canada Ski magazine in the back when the lights went out. Walking to the front of the store I found the manager in the only island of light in the store counting money at his desk. My howdy caused him quite a shock. When he asked me fearfully what I wanted I assured him that I just wanted to pay for my groceries. Apparently the youngsters working that night had neglected to announce that the store was closing and left after the manager arrived. Once he realized I wasnt there to rob the store we both laughed and he even let my buy my stuff for the hut.
The plan the first morning was to lap the hourglass up from the info center once and hook up with Monika when she came in later after visiting with friends in Salmon Arm.
I had one lovely run and thankfully Monika didnt show up. I was off the hook for one day. Hauled the sled into the Wheeler, dumped my kit and did a run up to Lookout Col.
in a whiteout. The snow is fantastic: 60 cm.s of storm snow settled down to a light and supportive 30 cm.
It is good to be out again. The winter has been tough on my ski day count. One of our Fairy Meadows crew showed up with a superstar flu incubating in her lungs. A nurse by profession of course. I spent two months coughing like a tubecular seal before the Doc tells me I have pnemonia. That plus the usual great skiing while your working and shut down on the weekend made for a frustrating January and February.
Monika shows up at the Wheeler that evening after three laps of the hourglass. When she tells me that she started at 2:30 the warning bells start going off. Hmmm¦.I quickly do the math: 1,800 ft a run times three in under 4 hours. Oh dear God, this is going to be worse than I thought.
Now I can hold my own with most people. But two things are working against me: My Age and her youth. My fifth decade is not knocking on the door but the tires are definitely crunching into the gravel driveway. While Monika has that rare combination of natural talent coupled with a fearsome will.
Monika asks me soon after arriving what the plan is for the AM. BIG day Monika, I respond, we have clear weather and great powder; were going up high. Her eyes lit up when I told her that we were going to try and climb Castor Peak above Sapphire Col and descend straight down the Asulkin Glacier back to the valley bottom at the mousetrap. Now Monika has a way of turning my BIG days into a sufferfest that last well into the evening. Glazed eyes, blood sugar non existent and wobbly legs are the usual outcome. Last year I hauled my Anti-pistes up and down Herman for a total of 9 k trying to maintain my ego and keep a straight face when she kept saying lets do another one. I was wrecked for a week. The joking line at Fairy Meadows this year when the appes arrived out was to save some for Monika and whoever else she convinced to do another run. By emphazising the BIG in my plan I am hoping that she will be satisfied with our agenda without coming up with more punishing vert.
Lying Ralph the weatherman is right for once and Saturday morning brings clear skys and -10 temps. We keep a steady pace up the Asulking Valley and by the time we hit the alpine we have passed everyone and are soon breaking trail up the Upper Asulkin Glacier next to the Cleaver. Monika spends most of her time out front and I shout out advice on the route now and then. We chug right up to the col and ascend towards the west ridge--a lovely continuous angle line with unaffected storm snow. After five hundred feet with the crampons on the skiis we switch to climbing.
Although I am a keen but untalented hack on skis, a misspent youth as a climber and guide makes for a fun climb up the steep snow and glazed neve and rocks of the ridge. I show Monika how to spread her weight by leaning on crossed poles and weighting her knees and feet. The setting is spectacular, cornices overhang the length of the ridge on the north and rocks roll 2,000 ft. away to the Lilly Glacier on the south. We arrive on the summit in a complete whiteout.
My good friend and ski partner Mike is a fantastic skier. He grew up racing in New Hampshire and can descend any patch of snow and ice clinging to the mountain. But climbing up most exposed slopes puts the fear of god into him. More than once I have heard his plaintive "Ah Gregg, I could use a little help here". I am the opposite. That explains my voicing deep concern about skiing down a 15 foot wide snow ramp between rocks and cornice. I tell Monika that I am booting down. "Let's just try it Gregg". Damn, I was afraid she would say that.
Monika goes first and the snow looks good. I take one turn and realize that the snow on the way up, sometimes up to our waist, is perfect for turning in. We arrive at the bottom of the ridge giggling over one of the funnest descents of the season. You could slam into a 5 ft. high wind ridge and the whole thing would just explode around you. Care was taken to not get too close to the edge as the cornices are massive. So much fun.
We complete the descent to the door of the bivy hut, admire our tracks in the clearing weather and step inside for a lovely lunch out of the wind. Clicked in and dressed for the descent, I feel tugged by the 800 ft. slope above the hut on Dome Peak. Monika needs no convincing and we climb up to add more vertical and do justice to the lovely slope above the Sapphire. Secretly, I am also hoping that the girl will be happy with our upcoming 4,200 ft. descent in cold smoke and not make one of her cruel suggestions. Halfway up I notice that our climb or descent of of Castor has remotely triggered a class 2 on the north face. Guess the avy report is correct.
The turns on our appetizer run are pure powder magic. We side step up 30 meters to the top of the neve proper and start descending down the middle of the Asulkin in brilliant conditions: cold, very cold knee top powder on a huge untouched slope rolling away way down to the valley. Sir Donald and a spread of mountains rise up from the chasm below us. Having never descended this way, we take our time and connect the compressions zones and avoid the steep slopes because of the high hazard. At the bench level with the bottom of the cleaver Monika suggests we go back up and repeat the descent from the top of Dome Peak. Anyone else tells you this you think its a joke. It is 5 PM, we hiked a 5 k valley, climbed 6,200 ft. and punched our way up a ridge to a 9,200 ft. summit and she innocently suggests that we climb up 2,500 k for another run.
Sure, sounds good!
The sun descends behind Swazne when we start our last run. Using the knowledge gained from the first run we drop 4000 feet of to the mousetrap. For me it is the best powder run at the pass ever.
In the parking lot a few days later, a French skier asks about skiing "Yung" peak the next day. Since he and his friends are staying at the Wheeler, I suggest he join my friend staying there on her birthday. She is a bit slow on the uptrack, I tell him, but she is a good skier.
Add: This thread is useless without pictures pictures here;
http://picasaweb.google.com/GreggCronn/CastorPeakAndIllicelliwaetValley
Man, Monika is going to waste you. She is going really well these days. This accurate and succinct comment was laughingly relayed to me via the cell as I rolled toward the border on Thursday afternoon. Yea, I responded to my friend home with a newborn, but think of all the vertical I am going to get. Ah yes, sweet suffering.
At midnight I crawled into the back of the Saab outside of Reve, amongst the rattle of numerous diesel trucks idling away through the night. My arrival was delayed by a two hour wait at the border because of Easter weekend traffic. The drive was uneventful except for nearly getting locked into an Overwaitea after closing. I was sucking up a Canada Ski magazine in the back when the lights went out. Walking to the front of the store I found the manager in the only island of light in the store counting money at his desk. My howdy caused him quite a shock. When he asked me fearfully what I wanted I assured him that I just wanted to pay for my groceries. Apparently the youngsters working that night had neglected to announce that the store was closing and left after the manager arrived. Once he realized I wasnt there to rob the store we both laughed and he even let my buy my stuff for the hut.
The plan the first morning was to lap the hourglass up from the info center once and hook up with Monika when she came in later after visiting with friends in Salmon Arm.
I had one lovely run and thankfully Monika didnt show up. I was off the hook for one day. Hauled the sled into the Wheeler, dumped my kit and did a run up to Lookout Col.
in a whiteout. The snow is fantastic: 60 cm.s of storm snow settled down to a light and supportive 30 cm.
It is good to be out again. The winter has been tough on my ski day count. One of our Fairy Meadows crew showed up with a superstar flu incubating in her lungs. A nurse by profession of course. I spent two months coughing like a tubecular seal before the Doc tells me I have pnemonia. That plus the usual great skiing while your working and shut down on the weekend made for a frustrating January and February.
Monika shows up at the Wheeler that evening after three laps of the hourglass. When she tells me that she started at 2:30 the warning bells start going off. Hmmm¦.I quickly do the math: 1,800 ft a run times three in under 4 hours. Oh dear God, this is going to be worse than I thought.
Now I can hold my own with most people. But two things are working against me: My Age and her youth. My fifth decade is not knocking on the door but the tires are definitely crunching into the gravel driveway. While Monika has that rare combination of natural talent coupled with a fearsome will.
Monika asks me soon after arriving what the plan is for the AM. BIG day Monika, I respond, we have clear weather and great powder; were going up high. Her eyes lit up when I told her that we were going to try and climb Castor Peak above Sapphire Col and descend straight down the Asulkin Glacier back to the valley bottom at the mousetrap. Now Monika has a way of turning my BIG days into a sufferfest that last well into the evening. Glazed eyes, blood sugar non existent and wobbly legs are the usual outcome. Last year I hauled my Anti-pistes up and down Herman for a total of 9 k trying to maintain my ego and keep a straight face when she kept saying lets do another one. I was wrecked for a week. The joking line at Fairy Meadows this year when the appes arrived out was to save some for Monika and whoever else she convinced to do another run. By emphazising the BIG in my plan I am hoping that she will be satisfied with our agenda without coming up with more punishing vert.
Lying Ralph the weatherman is right for once and Saturday morning brings clear skys and -10 temps. We keep a steady pace up the Asulking Valley and by the time we hit the alpine we have passed everyone and are soon breaking trail up the Upper Asulkin Glacier next to the Cleaver. Monika spends most of her time out front and I shout out advice on the route now and then. We chug right up to the col and ascend towards the west ridge--a lovely continuous angle line with unaffected storm snow. After five hundred feet with the crampons on the skiis we switch to climbing.
Although I am a keen but untalented hack on skis, a misspent youth as a climber and guide makes for a fun climb up the steep snow and glazed neve and rocks of the ridge. I show Monika how to spread her weight by leaning on crossed poles and weighting her knees and feet. The setting is spectacular, cornices overhang the length of the ridge on the north and rocks roll 2,000 ft. away to the Lilly Glacier on the south. We arrive on the summit in a complete whiteout.
My good friend and ski partner Mike is a fantastic skier. He grew up racing in New Hampshire and can descend any patch of snow and ice clinging to the mountain. But climbing up most exposed slopes puts the fear of god into him. More than once I have heard his plaintive "Ah Gregg, I could use a little help here". I am the opposite. That explains my voicing deep concern about skiing down a 15 foot wide snow ramp between rocks and cornice. I tell Monika that I am booting down. "Let's just try it Gregg". Damn, I was afraid she would say that.
Monika goes first and the snow looks good. I take one turn and realize that the snow on the way up, sometimes up to our waist, is perfect for turning in. We arrive at the bottom of the ridge giggling over one of the funnest descents of the season. You could slam into a 5 ft. high wind ridge and the whole thing would just explode around you. Care was taken to not get too close to the edge as the cornices are massive. So much fun.
We complete the descent to the door of the bivy hut, admire our tracks in the clearing weather and step inside for a lovely lunch out of the wind. Clicked in and dressed for the descent, I feel tugged by the 800 ft. slope above the hut on Dome Peak. Monika needs no convincing and we climb up to add more vertical and do justice to the lovely slope above the Sapphire. Secretly, I am also hoping that the girl will be happy with our upcoming 4,200 ft. descent in cold smoke and not make one of her cruel suggestions. Halfway up I notice that our climb or descent of of Castor has remotely triggered a class 2 on the north face. Guess the avy report is correct.
The turns on our appetizer run are pure powder magic. We side step up 30 meters to the top of the neve proper and start descending down the middle of the Asulkin in brilliant conditions: cold, very cold knee top powder on a huge untouched slope rolling away way down to the valley. Sir Donald and a spread of mountains rise up from the chasm below us. Having never descended this way, we take our time and connect the compressions zones and avoid the steep slopes because of the high hazard. At the bench level with the bottom of the cleaver Monika suggests we go back up and repeat the descent from the top of Dome Peak. Anyone else tells you this you think its a joke. It is 5 PM, we hiked a 5 k valley, climbed 6,200 ft. and punched our way up a ridge to a 9,200 ft. summit and she innocently suggests that we climb up 2,500 k for another run.
Sure, sounds good!
The sun descends behind Swazne when we start our last run. Using the knowledge gained from the first run we drop 4000 feet of to the mousetrap. For me it is the best powder run at the pass ever.
In the parking lot a few days later, a French skier asks about skiing "Yung" peak the next day. Since he and his friends are staying at the Wheeler, I suggest he join my friend staying there on her birthday. She is a bit slow on the uptrack, I tell him, but she is a good skier.
Add: This thread is useless without pictures pictures here;
http://picasaweb.google.com/GreggCronn/CastorPeakAndIllicelliwaetValley
Great report, great pictures -- sure need to get back up to the pass soon. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the report Greg, just why I read TAY - we were thinking twice about a trip up there next week due to Avy danger in BC, but it doesn't look too bad at at the pass. Look for our TR in a week or so.
AMAZING!!!!!!!!
Sounds like a great trip.
Happy belated birthday, Monika!!
Happy belated birthday, Monika!!
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