I went to Banff for the third time in two seasons this past weekend. Mountain Collective Pass holder. Last two trips were fantastic, but this trip was amazing .
Left New York on Friday afternoon, WestJet via JFK. Immediately have delays on our flight .it's a group of 11 of us, and we're meeting our twelfth in Calgary. As we board, we find out his connection in Toronto is 2 hours delayed. Oy vey.
Calgary is an efficient airport, but none of that matters when you need to wait for your last companion, who is also one of the three rental car drivers.
Sometime around 11:30 or so, we finally link up, get all the cars loaded, and start our drive. We were staying at the Inns of Banff, on Banff Avenue. Three double rooms and a 3-bedroom condo. The condo was well appointed, and we could have cooked in if we wanted .
Between the drive, some issues opening our door, and wanting something to eat before bed, those of us in the condo do not get to sleep till 3:30/4am. Not wonderful when you are planning to drive to Lake Louise in the AM.
Day 1 - Lake Louise
It had snowed around 50-60cm in the previous 7 days, so snow was in fine shape. Some areas with marginal conditions, clearly marked. Having been there before, I lead the advanced members of my crew over to Larch. We warm up with Old Ptarmigan (blue groomer), and I feel a little wobbly. It was my first day on my Line Supernatural 108s since April. Conditions were firm for out west, but far from the hard pack we have here in the North East.
Second run I take my crew into the glades off skier's left of Larch Liftline. Steep and soft. Not sick into the snow deep, but the fluffy remnants of a foot of snow.
Third run is through the rock garden, and one member of our party isn't confident about picking her line, so she bails out to the groomer. Rock Garden is well filled in, and fun, packed powder conditions.
When we get back to the lifts, there is a line for Larch, so we ride up Ptarmigan. We meet up with the rest of our crew, and decide on taking an easier way down towards Temple Lodge for lunch. That plan changes as I dip into the woods, along with two of my buddies.
Lunch is packed, but I need the rest. Food, even though it was just a premade salad, was what I needed. Our whole group is there, and we discuss when we are leaving.
We agree to ski another run together, off Paradise, and head out. To get there, we take Ptarmigan up, and the plan was to ski Pika down, but when I cut through the trees rather than following the switch back, everyone follows. Some of the less advanced skiers are pushing their limits. Cut through two more wooded areas, and arrive at Paradise. As we are riding it up, I see a cornice I want to try dropping, and the ladies in our crew decide they want to enter Paradise Bowl from elsewhere. We agree to meet at Paradise chair again. The three snowboarders and I head off through a gate marked Paradise Cornice. I don't find the cornice, and instead we are on a very steep face in marginal visibility. Really soft snow though. Several hop turns through a chute later, and we're back on the runout, and down before the rest of our group.
We go back to the top, and finish off the day with a couple of laps in the gully under the Top of the World 6-pack.
Overall a good day, and everyone likes Lake Louise. I promise them that Sunshine Village is better.
Day 3 - Sunshine Village
Most of the crew was going back for their second day at Sunshine. They had a good time exploring the mountain. I told them that if they wanted, I could really show them around.
It had been lightly snowing all night, and there were three inches of fresh on top of the already soft snow. Plus it was snowing all day while we were there, getting heavier as the day wore on.
We started with a blue run off of Wawa, with some shallow fresh tracks. Second run was birdcage, which had a little bit of firmness under the soft stuff.
After that, I took over with guiding, and we went over to the cornice off skier's right of Wawa. Two laps there, before heading over to Standish.
Personally, the terrain off of Standish is my favorite at SSV, and, considering the conditions of the day, had some of the best visibility, as the storm was just grazing the top. My friend Kristina did her first successful drop, about 2 and a half feet into soft snow, and I spent the day coaching her as we charged around the mountain.
Our relatively new to snowboarding friend Brandy did the steepest and most challenging runs to date for her, as I led the crew off the ridge to skiers right of the Standish summit.
After lunch, we did a bunch of laps in the steep trees and faces off Angel and Teepeetown. I was happy with my progression, able to hold consistent lines, through the tight trees, and making tight turns following small drops. Huge change from my ability when I was there last year.
It was snowing heavily enough, and the mountain is large enough that I was able to find is untracked powder on pretty much every single run of the day. Most of the crew agreed that it was the best day of the trip.
I say most because:
Day 2 - The Purcell Mountains
On the second day, Eric and Craig, two of our advanced snowboarders, and myself, woke up at 4:45. This is well before the crack of dawn, as sunrise was at 8:25am.
After a 2 hour drive from Banff, over mountain roads covered in snow in pitch blackness, we arrived at the lodge for RK Heliski, at the base of Panorama Mountain Resort.
Check-in was smooth, and they fed us breakfast. They did a quick inspection off their snowboards and my skis, and felt they were capable for the conditions.
Next was a safety briefly, and a brief training and practice on how to use beacons (always good for a refresher), as well as a safety talk on how to enter and exit the helicopter. Then it was a final bathroom break, and off we went.
Ascending to the top of a run in a helicopter was amazing. First off, the views beat anything you get from a chair lift, even though it was a low visibility day. Second, very quickly, we were in RK's tenure, and away from any semblance of civilization. Last, it was warm inside the helicopter.
My friends and I had paid for 5 runs, but there was only one group at RK that day, and they gave us an extra run. Amazingly, not everyone took the extra run.
Terrain of the day was both open bowls and glades, with some very tight trees at the bottom of some of the glades. Every run but the first required mandatory drops of up to five feet.
As for the snow. It ranged from knee deep to bottomless. On my 108s, I was still in as deep as mid-thigh and waist on some of the runs. You didn't even need to try to get face shots. Untracked every run.
Our guides, Mike and Nate, were personable and funny, and picked terrain that was definitely challenging, but within our groups ability. I'm a decent skier, but it was my first time Heliskiing, and my first time in powder that deep. The runs were challenging, but never did I encounter anything that gave me pause (I'm primarily an east coast skier, 5th season, 40+ days a season, with 2-3 destination trips).
By 2pm, when we got back to the Lodge, I could barely feel my legs. Since no other groups were out, the helicopter was waiting for us almost every time, though the one time it wasn't, and we waited, was awesome. Everyone gets into the helicopter huddle, and it came up over a ridge and landed right next to us. Made you feel like an action movie character.
All in all, it was the best day of skiing of my life. Below are some photos from the day.
Left New York on Friday afternoon, WestJet via JFK. Immediately have delays on our flight .it's a group of 11 of us, and we're meeting our twelfth in Calgary. As we board, we find out his connection in Toronto is 2 hours delayed. Oy vey.
Calgary is an efficient airport, but none of that matters when you need to wait for your last companion, who is also one of the three rental car drivers.
Sometime around 11:30 or so, we finally link up, get all the cars loaded, and start our drive. We were staying at the Inns of Banff, on Banff Avenue. Three double rooms and a 3-bedroom condo. The condo was well appointed, and we could have cooked in if we wanted .
Between the drive, some issues opening our door, and wanting something to eat before bed, those of us in the condo do not get to sleep till 3:30/4am. Not wonderful when you are planning to drive to Lake Louise in the AM.
Day 1 - Lake Louise
It had snowed around 50-60cm in the previous 7 days, so snow was in fine shape. Some areas with marginal conditions, clearly marked. Having been there before, I lead the advanced members of my crew over to Larch. We warm up with Old Ptarmigan (blue groomer), and I feel a little wobbly. It was my first day on my Line Supernatural 108s since April. Conditions were firm for out west, but far from the hard pack we have here in the North East.
Second run I take my crew into the glades off skier's left of Larch Liftline. Steep and soft. Not sick into the snow deep, but the fluffy remnants of a foot of snow.
Third run is through the rock garden, and one member of our party isn't confident about picking her line, so she bails out to the groomer. Rock Garden is well filled in, and fun, packed powder conditions.
When we get back to the lifts, there is a line for Larch, so we ride up Ptarmigan. We meet up with the rest of our crew, and decide on taking an easier way down towards Temple Lodge for lunch. That plan changes as I dip into the woods, along with two of my buddies.
Lunch is packed, but I need the rest. Food, even though it was just a premade salad, was what I needed. Our whole group is there, and we discuss when we are leaving.
We agree to ski another run together, off Paradise, and head out. To get there, we take Ptarmigan up, and the plan was to ski Pika down, but when I cut through the trees rather than following the switch back, everyone follows. Some of the less advanced skiers are pushing their limits. Cut through two more wooded areas, and arrive at Paradise. As we are riding it up, I see a cornice I want to try dropping, and the ladies in our crew decide they want to enter Paradise Bowl from elsewhere. We agree to meet at Paradise chair again. The three snowboarders and I head off through a gate marked Paradise Cornice. I don't find the cornice, and instead we are on a very steep face in marginal visibility. Really soft snow though. Several hop turns through a chute later, and we're back on the runout, and down before the rest of our group.
We go back to the top, and finish off the day with a couple of laps in the gully under the Top of the World 6-pack.
Overall a good day, and everyone likes Lake Louise. I promise them that Sunshine Village is better.
Day 3 - Sunshine Village
Most of the crew was going back for their second day at Sunshine. They had a good time exploring the mountain. I told them that if they wanted, I could really show them around.
It had been lightly snowing all night, and there were three inches of fresh on top of the already soft snow. Plus it was snowing all day while we were there, getting heavier as the day wore on.
We started with a blue run off of Wawa, with some shallow fresh tracks. Second run was birdcage, which had a little bit of firmness under the soft stuff.
After that, I took over with guiding, and we went over to the cornice off skier's right of Wawa. Two laps there, before heading over to Standish.
Personally, the terrain off of Standish is my favorite at SSV, and, considering the conditions of the day, had some of the best visibility, as the storm was just grazing the top. My friend Kristina did her first successful drop, about 2 and a half feet into soft snow, and I spent the day coaching her as we charged around the mountain.
Our relatively new to snowboarding friend Brandy did the steepest and most challenging runs to date for her, as I led the crew off the ridge to skiers right of the Standish summit.
After lunch, we did a bunch of laps in the steep trees and faces off Angel and Teepeetown. I was happy with my progression, able to hold consistent lines, through the tight trees, and making tight turns following small drops. Huge change from my ability when I was there last year.
It was snowing heavily enough, and the mountain is large enough that I was able to find is untracked powder on pretty much every single run of the day. Most of the crew agreed that it was the best day of the trip.
I say most because:
Day 2 - The Purcell Mountains
On the second day, Eric and Craig, two of our advanced snowboarders, and myself, woke up at 4:45. This is well before the crack of dawn, as sunrise was at 8:25am.
After a 2 hour drive from Banff, over mountain roads covered in snow in pitch blackness, we arrived at the lodge for RK Heliski, at the base of Panorama Mountain Resort.
Check-in was smooth, and they fed us breakfast. They did a quick inspection off their snowboards and my skis, and felt they were capable for the conditions.
Next was a safety briefly, and a brief training and practice on how to use beacons (always good for a refresher), as well as a safety talk on how to enter and exit the helicopter. Then it was a final bathroom break, and off we went.
Ascending to the top of a run in a helicopter was amazing. First off, the views beat anything you get from a chair lift, even though it was a low visibility day. Second, very quickly, we were in RK's tenure, and away from any semblance of civilization. Last, it was warm inside the helicopter.
My friends and I had paid for 5 runs, but there was only one group at RK that day, and they gave us an extra run. Amazingly, not everyone took the extra run.
Terrain of the day was both open bowls and glades, with some very tight trees at the bottom of some of the glades. Every run but the first required mandatory drops of up to five feet.
As for the snow. It ranged from knee deep to bottomless. On my 108s, I was still in as deep as mid-thigh and waist on some of the runs. You didn't even need to try to get face shots. Untracked every run.
Our guides, Mike and Nate, were personable and funny, and picked terrain that was definitely challenging, but within our groups ability. I'm a decent skier, but it was my first time Heliskiing, and my first time in powder that deep. The runs were challenging, but never did I encounter anything that gave me pause (I'm primarily an east coast skier, 5th season, 40+ days a season, with 2-3 destination trips).
By 2pm, when we got back to the Lodge, I could barely feel my legs. Since no other groups were out, the helicopter was waiting for us almost every time, though the one time it wasn't, and we waited, was awesome. Everyone gets into the helicopter huddle, and it came up over a ridge and landed right next to us. Made you feel like an action movie character.
All in all, it was the best day of skiing of my life. Below are some photos from the day.