A look at the last 4 weeks - Part 2: No time for rest - The Bow-Yoho Traverse!

On the way into the Bow Hut

Part 2: No time for rest!

The day after the races Igor, Bob and I were off to spend 3 days skiing the Bow-Yoho traverse. After dropping a car at Emerald Lake we continued on to Num-ti-jah lodge and the start of our trip into the Bow Hut.

Just over the Whale's Back

We left the parking lot at about 3pm and dropped our packs at the Bow Hut 1 hour and 45 minutes later. After a snack, we headed out for a quick ski on the headwall above the hut. It wasn't as nice as we'd hoped and ended up being in flat light on breakable wind slab. Not the best ski quality, but fun nonetheless. We had a quick dinner and tucked ourselves into bed for the big day ahead.

A nice cold day. I'm wearing all the clothing I have with me.

The weather report was only calling for one day of relatively clear weather and this was the day we planed to make the 20km dash over the glaciers of the Wapta Icefield to the Stanley Mitchell hut. The early start and cold weather had us wearing every item of clothing we had with us as we climbed up onto the ice of the Wapta. Because we had limited time for planning, we had no beta about the coverage on the glacier at one of the cruxes of the route. Rather than taking our chances and possibly eating up valuable time navigating through thinly bridged crevasses, we opted for a route variation that would take us over a moraine called the Whale's Back.

After climbing a few steep slopes and emerging into the sun, we stopped at the location of a proposed new ACC hut for a snack. From here we could see that our detour was unnecessary, but I guess I will just have to go back another time if I want to complete the missing part of this classic traverse.

Up to Isolated col

We still had lots of ground to cover to make it to the Stanley Mitchell Hut, including climbing the steep slopes to Isolated Col and descending the south face on the other side of the col into the Little Yoho Valley. By the time we made it up Isolated col it was getting warm, and we all had the south aspect on the other side of the col in the back of our minds. In the end it was not too soft and ended up being one of the best ski runs of the trip.


Six hours after leaving the Bow Hut, we arrived at the Stanley Mitchell Hut - which we had to ourselves for the night!

Some R&R at the Stanley Mitchell Hut

As forecasted, the weather the next day took a turn for the worse. This forced us to abandon our plans of skiing out to Field over the tops of the President and Vice President. We didn't want to ski out on the Yoho Valley Road as it is 23 kms long and involves 13 kms of travel on a snow covered road.  Instead we skied out the Skyline trail. This turned out to be a great exit. Staying high above the valley gave us amazing views of the surrounding peaks and glaciers between bouts of whiteout. It was capped off with a steep run down to Emerald Lake from high above Yoho pass.

I was happy to be back at the car, but my Rockies road trip wasn't over yet!

Next up: Part 3 - Redemption!

A look at the last 4 weeks - Part 1: Pushing Through

Part 1: Pushing through

Photo courtesy of KHMR

What a busy 4 weeks it has been! It all started with a trip out to Golden for the Gore-tex Continental Championships. I was really looking forward to this race because of its great course and the opportunity to race against some of the top North American skimo athletes.


I arrived the day before the individual race and spent some time checking out the course and the new snow with my friend Michelle.  It was apparent that we were in for a great race with all the fresh snow that had accumulated during the week. Something I have always liked about this race is that it starts midday, leaving more time to sleep in! Most high level endurance athletes need to eat 3 hours before an event to provide time for digestion or there is a possibility of being slowed down by stomach cramps. So if your race starts at 8am that means a 5am (at the latest) start to the day.


The race started with its classic Le Mans start and a ski down to the first climb. This first section of the course would be the only part that I would be in the lead for. I found out as the race unfolded that I was not as well recovered from Europe and the previous weeks of hard training as I had thought or expected to. After having to dump a lot of speed on the 3rd decent to avoid some public skiers, I arrived at the transition behind Ben Parsons. On the next climb Ben was having some trouble with the skin track and I was stuck behind him until I could exploit an opening to pass. The top 3 put a gap into me that I just could not close with my sluggish legs. After this the race did not change much for me - I was stuck in no mans land, forced to battle with my mind to the end. I ended up in 4th place. It was not where I was hoping to be but I was happy to have raced hard against great competitors and friends.

The following day was a fun relay race designed to show off the sport than rather than be a hard race. I arrived early to help set the course, which really reminded me of the great races and courses in Europe. After a quick lap around the course and some fun cheering, another race was over and I had an invitation to go on a 3 day ski traverse!

Next up: Part 2 - The Bow-Yoho Traverse!

Millet Cruise PWS Softshell

Nice big chest pocket

Millet is a French outdoors company that first took off in the 1930s with the popularity of their backpacks. Since the 30s, Millet has expanded from packs to clothing, sleeping bags, climbing footwear, and ropes - to name a few things. I have been using some of their products this winter and have really been enjoying them. One of my favourite Millet pieces is the Cruise Jacket, which I've worn almost non-stop since I got it last November.

The Cruise is made with Polartec PowerShield, which is similar to Gore WindStopper but with more wind permeability. This makes it more breathable and therefore better for active sports like ski touring. On more than one occasion I have gone out for a day of skiing wearing the Cruise and have not had to add or change layer all day.

The large direct-access chest pocket is great for everything from race skins to maps, and it's large enough that it's useful for more than a tube of chapstick. The cuffs have an extra piece of fabric sewn into them so when you open the velcro closure they open wide and can easily be pulled over gloves. The hand warming pockets are higher than on most similar coats, which allows them to be used if you are wearing a harness.  One of the best features of the Cruise is the hood. The jacket zips up nice and high in front of your face so you have good protection from the elements if needed. The hood also has a stiff brim and good adjustability. But hands down, my favourite thing about the Cruise (and Millet products in general) is the fit. The Cruise is well tailored for tall and skinny guys with its ample arm length and overall athletic cut. After many years of frustration, it's nice to have a softshell that actually fits me well.

Lots of protection from the wind and bonus points for ninja style.

No problems getting these sleeves over gloves!

In my opinion, the Cruise Jacket is an ideal softshell for ski touring because of its very well thought out design tailored to ski touring. It has just what you need and nothing more, and is by far the best softshell jacket I have used.

First speed traverse of 2013 - Garibaldi Neve in 5:32

Days before heading to France for World Championships I had a little fun on the Garibaldi Neve. My Friend (and excellent Skimo racer) Eric Carter called me on a Friday night. He wanted to get out on Sunday for a ski and suggested that we try to do the Neve in a day. Despite the poor weather forecast, I agreed,knowing that our chance of success was not that good if the weather forecast held true.

With an early start of 8:00am, we glided out of the Diamond Head parking lot. For most of the morning we skied in what I would describe as a cloud sandwich - valley cloud lingered between 200-600m and the high cloud started at about 2300m. We were in the middle, with the top part of the sandwich steadily descending toward us as the day progressed. One advantage to the cloud cover was the cooler temperatures that it had provided the day before and which gave us more confidence in the snowpack's stability.

We were able to make good time on the well beaten skin track to the Elfin Lakes Hut. A shout came from the front door of the cabin: "How long did it take you to get here?". When we replied that we'd been skiing for an hour and twenty minutes, it took some convincing for them to believe that we'd started from the trailhead and not the Red Heather shelter.

After a quick drink and snack, we were off and feeling slightly optimistic about our chances of success, despite the deteriorating weather. The remaining folks at the hut had informed us that a group of four had left the hut the previous day intending to traverse the Neve, and we knew that this fresh skin track would greatly aid our rate of travel.

By the time we got on to the glacier the visibility was closing in, but we pressed on and soon found ourselves at the rock feature just above the Shark Fin. There, we caught up with two ski tourers with large, heavy packs. Looking at the size of their packs, I was glad that we were going light and fast. I think they also must have been wondering about us. What were two dudes in spandex suits doing in the middle of a glacier?!?

After navigating a small icefall and descending the slopes bellow the Shark Fin, we broke trail to the col that overlooked the last big hurdle: Garibaldi Lake. Once on the lake we found that the snow was too soft to skate and this slowed things down a bit. On the upside, there was a skin track which helped because we did not have to break trail. We kicked, glided, and generally smashed the our toes into the front of our boots to get across the lake down to the Rubble Creek parking lot. We reached the parking lot 5 hours and 32 minutes after leaving Diamond Head parking lot, and we were tired and hungry.

Our optimism had paid off this time and we made it through the clouds and the pain to the other side. All of our hard work training is coming together and hopefully there are bigger things to come. Thanks to Eric for the great day and the family that picked us up when we were hitchhiking back to Squamish. 

World Champ Recap

Day two started with 30cm of blower snow that fell overnight before the sprint race. This was the first sprint race I had ever entered and my first international race, so it was a full on experience to start my first World Championships. A sprint race is basically a three minute variation of an individual race. It combines all the technical aspects of the individual race with explosive power of a sprint. Everyone raced a qualifying lap, and the top 30 competitors advanced to head-to-head heats to determine the ultimate winner.

Mel in the sprint race.

The course was laid out with a short lower angle skin transitioning to a steep switchbacking section. This was followed by a boot pack transition (skis off of the feet and on to your pack) and a boot pack. After that, we put out skis back on our feet for a short skin to top, where we transitioned and began to ski down. After a quick ski down through the gates and a short skating section, we arrived at the finish line. All of this is finished in around three minutes, so even a small mix up can end the race for a competitor. Only the top 30 continued on to the heats and I was 11sec off of this.

Andrew near the top of the sprint course.

The day after the sprint race was a day off followed by the individual race the next day. The individual race was a blast with 1700m of elevation gain and loss in about 1 hour and 45 minutes (for me). The course was in a beautiful position, we we had bluebird skies and powder turns. I did not seem to be feeling in top form, but I pushed hard and was happy with my performance in the end.

The following day was the vertical race with 610 vertical metres of pain, which I covered in 30:51. The final day was the team relay. This was like doing two sprints back to back as the course was on the long side. Our team finished 9th, which we were very happy with.

Team Canada 2013

Mens Relay team.

World Championships was a great learning experience and I am very thankful to have had the opportunity   to take part. It was really good to finally race in Europe and see what is possible on skis. I have taken lots away from this trip and am now going to work towards applying it to my racing in North America and at Worlds in 2015. :)

Thanks for cheering!

World Champs - First days

Welcome to Pelvoux! We have been having great weather the last few days, and yesterday was no exception so Andrew, Reiner, Peter, and I went out for a ski to check out the first ascent and last descent on the individual course. It's great to see some well set skin tracks to race on, which will make the racing fast. A good skin track is lower angle and has had a few people go over it to pack it down, and there are double skin tracks set in most places here. It reminds me of the time and effort that is put in for the Dogtooth Dash.

After the ski we headed down to the opening ceremonies. It was cool to see all the different countries represented amongst the 200 competitors. We ended up leaving early to prepare for the teams race the next day. Stay tuned to my twitter feed for Canadian results in the teams race. There are two mens teams comprised of Peter & Steve as one team and Reiner& Andrew as the other. On the female side we have one team, consisting of Martha and Carla. Mel and I are resting for the sprint races the following day.

Off to Europe!

I am heading to Pelvoux, France to represent Canada at the ISMF Ski Mountaineering World Championships. 

Races begin this weekend on the following schedule:
February 9th - Opening Ceremonies
February 10th - Team Race
February 11th - Sprint Race
February 13th - Individual Race
February 14th - Vertical Race
February 15th - Relay Race

Results will be posted here:
http://www.ski-ecrins.com/index.php?lang=ENG

Hopefully I'll be able to keep you updated as the week progresses, but we'll have to see how easy it is to come by Internet.

After the races, I'll be spending a week skiing in France. We hope to hit up La Grave, but we'll have to see what the weather and the conditions are like.

I'm looking forward to it!