No Friday

I’m writing the bulk of this post in the car about eighty kilometers north of Cranbrook, BC on the way back from a four day ski trip in Panorama, which will now be known as the first annual heliskiing trip. We have about ten hours to kill and I’m not really feeling motivated to work, so this recap might be a little long and full of self-indulgent gloating. And there’s some unpleasant details about a roadkill incident. You’ve been warned.

Day One: The Journey

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The adventure started in Seattle last Thursday. Around eleven, we packed Ming’s Audi to the hilt, and Ming, Matt, and I started heading east across Washington state on I-90. We stopped for lunch at Quizno’s in Cle Elum, then continued driving, past Spokane and into Idaho. We stopped for “supplies” at a brand new and extremely bright Duty Free shop, and drove a kilometer to the border.

As we crossed the border in Eastport, Idaho, we could hear the car dragging something a bit. We quickly thought back to what happened about half an hour before we got to the border. I was driving and following a semi truck. As we crested a hill and started descending, I realized that we were, quite quickly it turns out, approaching some sort of dead animal on the road - not sure if the semi hit or if it was already there. We have no idea what it was, but it was larger than I originally estimated. Guesses as to the unlucky mammal’s identify included a wolf or a small deer.

[Drive Update - after we crossed back into Idaho, we passed something to the side of the road extremely close to where the incident occurred - we turned around, pulled over, and checked it out - small deer. At least we have closure, and I spared you pictures.]

In any case, I was driving about seventy on a two lane road bearing down on carcass, and didn’t have a whole lot of time to react or avoid the obstacle, so I ran over it. It was small enough that we mostly cleared it, but large enough that we definitely felt it and probably picked up a few pieces. Oh, we did.

I first suspected that there might be a problem when I could smell a faint burning odor when we parked at the duty free, but brushed it off as someone grilling some type of game - it turns out that would be the Audi. After we heard the dragging noise at the border (and fortunately didn’t arouse any suspicion with the agent), we parked a little past the border to investigate.

At this point, it was quite obvious that the smell was getting worse and was definitely coming from the car. We took a peak underneath and, sure enough, there were some gristly furry things hanging from the undercarriage of the car. The animal also cracked the plastic housing that protected the bottom of the car, which was the source of the dragging noise. Holding our noses, we tried to clear the plastic, largely succeeded, and continue the voyage north. But the animal would remain with us.

We stopped a few hours north in Cranbrook, BC, and had a fantastic supper at Burger King. When we got out of the car, the smell was almost unbearable, and I had one of my many near-hurls that would occur over the next few days. After polishing off the bacon double cheeseburger, we got back in the car, and geared up for the last leg.

We finally made it to town around 10:30 pm, which made it an eleven hour ride with stops. We picked up our keys at the office and headed to our townhouse. The roadkill was absolutely atrocious at this point, but we hoped that not driving and the mountain freeze would at least allow us to have a reprieve. Fortunately, for the most part, we did.

We unloaded the car, and met Jeff, an awesome Edmontonian who arrived earlier and quickly became part of the renegade snowboarder pad (Matt skis and so do I sometimes, but the label stuck a bit as the rest of the crew were all skiers). We headed over to the other townhouse to meet JF and the rest of the crew, had a few beers, and then headed back to catch some sleep for the upcoming adventures. So Thursday ended.

Day Two: Warmup

After shoveling down a banana, some pasty oatmeal, and coffee for breakfast, we spent Friday riding at Panorama resort. I spent the day on the snowboard - it was a pretty sunny day, so although they didn’t have any new snow recently, it softened up pretty nicely and we had some fun rides on the cruisers. We finished off the riding with some mountaintop beers in the sunshine, which was a very nice way to cap off day one on the mountain.

While we were hanging out, JF, our rambunctious Quebecois trip leader, mentioned that we would have to do twenty pushups as part of the fitness test for the heliskiing trip - and didn’t think I had it in me. I felt the need to defend my honor, so I finished off my beer and then did twenty - which JF videotaped. As it turns out, JF was yanking my chain - man am I gullible - and still a little sore.

We headed over to the RK heliplex to check in for the next day, get weighed in, and sign our lives away. We grabbed dinner and drinks at the restaurant there - turns out it’s the best place to eat in town (lasagna carbo load this night). After getting back to the townhouse, we grabbed our suits and some hot tub refreshments and headed over to the pools - hot tubbing on a ski trip is a fairly essential element, and this trip was no exception. We went back to the house, chilled for a bit, turned in around midnight and rested for our big first helicopter day.

Day Three: Wow

Saturday morning, even though none of us are morning people, the excitement was palpable. We made the quick drive back to the heliplex, got our avalanche transceivers, and enjoyed a nice breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, hash brown, and fruit.

After breakfast, we met our guide for the next two days, Graham. He did the safety lecture - I was immediately super impressed with the RK operation. When you’re getting into a helicopter and riding unpatrolled wilderness (with no avalanche control) with eleven other people, you’re really putting your life into someone else’s hands. It was clear from the get go that Graham was a pro, took his job and safety seriously, and was committed to making sure we had a good time.

[Drive update - we're now crossing the border in Idaho - I knew I'd get carried away writing this]

We finished up inside, and continued the safety overview. First, the helicopter lesson - don’t carry your skis too high near the chopper, and generally it’s rarely a bad idea to keep your head low when approaching the whirlybird. Finally, we practiced using the avalanche transceivers with a simulated rescue in the parking lot. It took a little getting used to the Barryvox Pulse interface (mine is a BCA tracker), but fortunately it was pretty easy.

Adrenaline was flowing pretty strong by now. We met our pilot, Duncan, who was an amazingly competent pilot - the way that he was able to bring down the helicopter in windy, uneven, alpine terrain with only a few feet of clearance in between the designated landing spot and where we were perched never ceased to amaze us over the next two days. Watching the chopper fly away after getting dropped on the mountain never got old either. Duncan clearly loved his job, and hammed it up for us during the rides by buzzing by the terrain park at Panorama on our return and cutting though a really tight notch in a mountain pass (”I’m not sure if we were small enough to fit!” - Ha, yeah right). Given the complexity of operating one of those machines, it was very reassuring to know that we were in good hands with Duncan at the helm.

We were close to launch time. We posed for a few group shots, and then loaded up. The energy was high as we took off, knowing how much fun was ahead of us. We all snapped a bunch of photos (which were largely pictures of other people taking pictures inside a helicopter), gawked at the scenery, and tried to patiently wait for the big first run. After about fifteen minutes, Duncan put the machine down, Graham unloaded the equipment, and we disembarked for the fun of our lives.

I grabbed my board, found a spot to strap in, and waited for Graham to lead the way. We had a quick safety recap - go where Graham goes, stop above him, person with the pack goes last. Check.

And then we were off. Graham started making a few turns, and soon we were following. I was a little worried about the snow quality - we were paying some good coin for the trip, and anything short of epic was going to be a bit of a letdown to our buildup of the trip. Fortunately, my worries weren’t validated - the first few turns were a little windswept and crusty, but there was plenty of untracked powder for everyone over the next few days.

Needless to say, It was amazing to have run after run of awesome snow, with no one else out on the mountain except for us. It was a mostly overcast day, but it wasn’t too cold and visibility was great. The riding was epic. We had a pretty good mix of runs throughout the day - started off with some glacier skiing, followed by lots of tree runs. Most of the runs had a few kickers to huck off - those who know me know I am hardly a park rider, but with the amount of boot deep powder to soften the landings that we had, getting some air throughout the day was pretty much mandatory.

Although the runs were quite long, the day was going pretty quickly. We had four runs, then broke for a nice lunch on the mountain, followed by another two runs. This exhausted our five prepaid runs for the day (one was considered too short to count), but everyone was pretty much operating in a “play now, pay later” mentality, so most opted for one extra run - it was definitely worth it.

We returned to the chopper - Duncan took us back to the heliplex, and grazed through the resort at a really low altitude, just for kicks (suckers!). We hit the bar for some beers, and reveled in the excitement of the day, trading stories, comparing favorite runs, and swapping cameras to check out the glory. Several of us decided to stay at the heliplex again for dinner, which was a good call - pasta alfredo with prawns this night. Finally, we wrapped up our first heli day and headed back to the house.

We then made the transition to evening adventures. We repeated the hot tub ritual, then changed to go out on the town. We headed for the Crazy Horse Saloon, which is pretty much the main game in Panorama. The journey was interrupted briefly as we stopped to film two teenage snowboarders ride off the garbage station down the hill below, about a ten foot jump. They both landed nicely and we continued on.

To no one’s surprise, the Crazy Horse was filled with a lot of alcohol fueled skier dudes, of which mix we were about to be part. I am really happy that I don’t have to play the “try to find some cute girls in a ski town” game anymore, but it was plenty entertaining watching my friends and egging them on. Doctor Brian was a pretty staunch wingman for the crew. It was a fun evening - the only other highlights to note were meeting an Olympic skier (I won’t go into that here…) and my attempt to leave early being thwarted by getting lost in the parking lot and having the rest of the crew beat me home anyway.

We headed to bed, and got less sleep than we intended due to our staying out past our designated quitting point and due to the insanely early arrival of daylight savings time. So cruel. The loss was partially offset since, now that we were heli veterans, we could skip the hour long safety session, but nevertheless, morning came sooner than most of us really wanted.

Day Four: Even Better

Fortunately, knowing that another day of heliskiing awaits you motivates you to get out of bed really quickly. We drove to the heliplex, fueled up, and got ready to fly again. Sunday ended up being an even better day. The snow was just as good, with an added bonus of a bluebird day. We started the day off with some great powder tree runs in the morning, with some high alpine bowls in the afternoon. There were a number of crevasses to look out for, and a few crazy large cornices overhanging on some of the runs. Graham kept us in line, and we had eight awesome runs.

Speed was the theme of the day, especially for the snowboard crew. With visibility and snow quality generally awesome, it was fun to just point it and rip. Who needs to turn anyway? My favorite run of the day was a steep line where I bisected a nice powder eight laid down by two skiers in front of me with Ming ripping behind, close in tow. The last run of the day was a perfect open tree run with a nice jump at the end. Epic day again.

We met Duncan at the chopper, loaded up for our last ride, and basked in celebration of another glorious day. Duncan promised us a fun ride home and didn’t disappoint, cruising through a narrow mountaintop notch and buzzing the terrain park again. We knew that we would be returning to reality soon and would be riding the resort the following day, but we held off thinking about that just now, and enjoyed the moment.

Sunday night, apres-ski was largely spent at the heliplex. We had a few pitchers with our guide Graham, and it was really cool to chill with him afterwards, since he was very much responsible for the awesomeness of the experience. After he headed home, we moved into the dining room for a large group dinner. Meal #3 at the heliplex was by far the best, a huge filet mignon wrapped in bacon. This trip was all about going big, and dinner wasn’t going to be an exception. We settled up, and headed home.

We then geared up for the obligatory hot tub experience, and after three days of hard riding, it was definitely in order. After that, we kept it fairly mellow, and returned to chill at the house and called a relatively early night.

Day Five: Chillin’ and Grillin’

Monday was a much slower morning. Although we tried not to be powder snobs, we knew the return to reality was going to be a bit of a jolt, so the snowboard condo took it easy. We got up around 9:30, picked up Dave (who had trimmed his beard into a fantastic porn stache, which he sadly eliminated shortly after our arrival), and gradually made it to breakfast in the village. We then headed back to the townhouse. A few people headed straight for the hill, but Ming, Jeff, and I vegged for a little while longer. So much for not being powder snobs. We were just waiting to the sun to soften up the snow a bit.

I finally geared up and was pretty stoked to be on skis for the first time this trip. We hit the hill around one, and it was super warm, which was great for the conditions. We ran into JF, who was giving a ski clinic on the mountain. Ming and I rode together for most of the afternoon, racking up about six runs before we decided it was time to crack into the beers that we had wisely packed before leaving. The rest of the crew soon joined us, and we had one last session on the mountain. It was great to be part of such an awesome group of people, enjoying life outside.

The vacation routine continued when we got home, and the next obvious step ensued - hot tub. This time, we had a genius idea of bringing my portable travel speakers and iPod to the pool, which added to our already high level of hot tub entertainment. Four days of riding, hot tub, friends, some beers and music - it’s really a hard to beat combination.

Our last night continued with a group dinner at JF and Cat’s townhouse, which was fantastic. It was great to have one last time together with everyone. The fact that there was lots of grilled meat made it even better. After dinner, we checked out lots of the photos that JF had collected on his computer and the work-in-progress movie for the second day of heliskiing.

After dinner, several us headed back to the Crazy Horse for one more night on the town. This night promised to be exciting as it was “staff night”. Sure enough, it was pretty crowded, and it reminded me a bit of the winter I lived in Whistler. After a few rounds, we packed it in and headed back.

Day Six: The Return

Today, Tuesday, with no riding to look forward to and a long drive back to Seattle, we weren’t in any hurry to get up, and slept in pretty late. We finally got moving around 10:30, cleaned, packed up, and loaded the car. Jeff got a pretty early start back to Edmonton - I think I heard him leave around 6:30 or so. We hit the road around 11:30 and stopped for lunch at the Bistro Restaurant in Invermere, which is a short bit away from Panorama.

First order of business, after lunch, was getting directions to a local car wash, since we needed to attempt to do something about the festering roadkill smell, which was not going to get more pleasant during an eleven hour car ride. Time will tell if we got all of it, but we did the best we could with the power wash, and so far the stink seems to have faded. The car wash was located in a fairly industrial area of a remote mountain town, and the two guys washing some fairly beefy and beat up trucks must have had a laugh watching the three city kids with the Audi and ski gear trying to clean the underside of a car.

Well, we’re now back in the States and getting closer to home. We stopped for one last bit of epic ridiculousness and scrubbed our fast food dinner plans for a Red Lobster experience when we sighted one in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Other than that, we’re slowly descending back to reality. I’m a little sad that an amazing vacation is over but fortunately I have a pretty sweet life in Seattle and a fun trip to Jackson Hole with Meagan to very much look forward to.

Thanks to Ming, Matt, Jeff, Dave, Eric, Brian, Rob, Lloyd, Cat, and JF for an unbelievable trip, and to our RK heliskiing crew, especially guide extraordinaire Graham and hotshot pilot Duncan. Special shoutouts: Ming and Matt, for inviting me on the trip and being great driving buds. Cat, for putting up with ten dudes in a chopper for two days in a row. Lloyd, 70 years young, you’re an inspiration - I hope I’m still tearing it up as well as you are forty years from now. And last, but not least, JF, thanks for making this trip happen, letting an American snowboarder crash the Canadian ski trip, and putting together the awesome videos.

I can’t wait to do this again real soon.

This entry was posted Wednesday, March 12th, 2008 at 8:02 am and is filed under snow, travel. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.