Tales from the Hinterland: 2014/2015 edition

PeeTex wrote

You guys sure make the most out of a few hundred feet of Vertical.

You are too generous. Our vertical barely qualifies as "a few hundred feet." But thank you anyway.

One more pic of SBR from yesterday... The last crankin' turn at the bottom of almost a few hundred feet of vert...
Love the Chargers keeping their tips up!

Since the temperature was not minus bazillion, TD and I agreed to meet for an exploratory ski this afternoon. We know how tired you all must be of us posting about The Pipeline and how marvelous it is, so we decided to ski Beyond the Pipeline...



The map looks of the pipeline massif looks enticing. Pipeline descent is marked by the orange line.



We skied our usual route in and up, then followed the pipeline right of way towards the (alleged) high point left of the the blue dotted drainage, close to the river. Ten Turn Vern and Six Turn Sam did some farming on a short descent:



Skinless, the Chargers carried us up the other side.



Sadly, the cluster of contours leading down to the river turned out to be a shrub-choked shitshow interspersed with small cliff bands. We chose not to ski it. Instead, we contoured back around, checking out the steam bed from above and looking for possibilities. There are some very large hardwoods in this forest.



We did find a nice little glade, just off the pipeline leading into the drainage. With a little work, this could rival Bonk Hill and deliver at least twelve turns. Meanwhile, can you find TD?



Back we went, and finished the afternoon with a great and unphotographed run down the "real" Pipeline. Once at home, I rewarded myself with a Beau's Burnt Rock Vanilla Porter. Exceedingly tasty, especially with a side snack of leftover maple bacon. This winter keeps on delivering!

Glad we went yesterday.  Too  effin cold today... I want some global warming ... A nice -10 day would be great...

Jeff LeCheff and I returned to further SBR's and my exploration from the above post.  Today we hit pay dirt.  More than a few hundred feet of natural glades - in plain sight from certain viewpoints, but hidden enough to deter all but the most diehard bc skiers.  I called it Obvi Bowl.  Just because.  Our fun came to an abrupt halt when Jeff broke a cable on his binding.  Good thing for Voile Straps... Yet again.  

Jeff got some pics of me skiing some thickety stuff.  It was way more open than it looked here

My racing background apparently helped, though the gates sure aren't break away...!

Here's the Voile fix for a broken G3 cable


We'll be returning to Obvi Bowl real soon...

Telemark Dave wrote

... It was way more open than it looked here

We'll be returning to Obvi Bowl real soon...

That is all good news. I look forward to skiing Obvi Bowl soon. Did you use the "standard approach?"

Sick Bird Rider wrote

Telemark Dave wrote

... It was way more open than it looked here

We'll be returning to Obvi Bowl real soon...

That is all good news. I look forward to skiing Obvi Bowl soon. Did you use the "standard approach?"

Yes, continued in from Potential Glade, contoured with a bit of over shoot to the North, but a quick check of my handy dandy iPhone GPS/Google Map location repointed us in the right direction.  Theres a seasons worth of backbush to schuss there, and justification for some off season management.

BTW, and FYI, the topo is as accurate there as it was to the south of the gully, the aerial photo is a better guide if you're good with them.  Return visit Friday.  You, me and leCheffie.  Jeff and I are not going to do any promotion of Obvi nor hint at its location.  Thus the name.  Meaningless in the big picture.  

Telemark Dave wrote

BTW, and FYI, the topo is as accurate there as it was to the south of the gully, the aerial photo is a better guide if you're good with them.  Return visit Friday.  You, me and leCheffie.  Jeff and I are not going to do any promotion of Obvi nor hint at its location.  Thus the name.  Meaningless in the big picture.

Fen tor, bood guddy.

Sick Bird Rider wrote

Telemark Dave wrote

BTW, and FYI, the topo is as accurate there as it was to the south of the gully, the aerial photo is a better guide if you're good with them.  Return visit Friday.  You, me and leCheffie.  Jeff and I are not going to do any promotion of Obvi nor hint at its location.  Thus the name.  Meaningless in the big picture.

Fen tor, bood guddy.

Hmmm  perhaps...?

Telemark Dave wrote

Sick Bird Rider wrote

Telemark Dave wrote

BTW, and FYI, the topo is as accurate there as it was to the south of the gully, the aerial photo is a better guide if you're good with them.  Return visit Friday.  You, me and leCheffie.  Jeff and I are not going to do any promotion of Obvi nor hint at its location.  Thus the name.  Meaningless in the big picture.

Fen tor, bood guddy.

Hmmm  perhaps...?

Obvi, as he forgot a U.

Snowballs wrote

Telemark Dave wrote

Sick Bird Rider wrote

Telemark Dave wrote

BTW, and FYI, the topo is as accurate there as it was to the south of the gully, the aerial photo is a better guide if you're good with them.  Return visit Friday.  You, me and leCheffie.  Jeff and I are not going to do any promotion of Obvi nor hint at its location.  Thus the name.  Meaningless in the big picture.

Fen tor, bood guddy.

Hmmm  perhaps...?

Obvi, as he forgot a U.

Shows how much I know... I thought he was trying the American spelling of four... Drop the "u" just like yous guys do with "colour".   

Telemark Dave wrote

 Drop the "u" just like yous guys do with "colour".  

Well, one can't go around wasting letters all willy nilly.

After puttering around the house, biding my time until the temperature became less cold (as opposed to warmer), I went for a slowshoe in the backbush with the dog.



It was a bit awkward following our ski track. One shoe in, one shoe out, kind of limping along.



There are some wacky snow sculptures in the trees:



Tomorrow promises to be a much less cold day. We shall see, and we shall ski.

^ Great Dog.

That natty snow sculpture looks like the cats ass!!!!

Well, maybe your cat, TD. And thanks, Matt, he is a great dog, still going strong at 11.5 years old.

Due to the explosion of interest in skiing at some of our favourite backcountry areas, some of us have taken up the positively old-school habit of staring at the topo map and going exploring. Today, LeChef, TD and I went further into the local backbush:



This is very cool area, with some pretty big hardwoods and a very open feel. It definitely has potential:



We made some tracks:



LeChef inspects the damage we made to the snow cover.



TD had some skin issues but a couple of Voile straps had him fixed right up. Except for the lack of glide on that ski...



But hey, we skied to a river - it was a great day!

I'm to the point of saying right here on the Interweb..

Voile - Yay
BD - Nay.  

Third time this season that Voile straps saved the day - or at least made it manageable.

Here's a pic of SBRs same issue as mine from a month ago.  Same solution too.  

Here's some pics taken by Jeff today.  I'm shocked he stopped long enough to take any pictures...

Me - getting into thicketeering mode.  


SBR, happy, happy, joy joy - just because.


...and SBR again,  standing in the backbush, schuss completed.  


I've got a zillion pics I captured on the GoPro -  I'll post some more once I sort through them.  

Some more pics of the Backbush from the other day.  
SBR and Le Cheffie heading back up for more.

...and ready to schuss yet again.

On the way back out we had to drop Pipeline, I found some untracked on the fringe.
Who knew?  Just me and my shadow...