The Stoke

[EDIT: Mindy Skinner just emailed me a picture of a slab avalanche in trees in the Revelstoke backcountry. This happened on December 30. Stay safe!]

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The forecast in Revelstoke is calling for 5-10 centimetres overnight, and another 5-10 centimetres during the day on New Year’s Eve. With a forecasted high of +1 in the town, it will likely only be about -10 Celsius (or warmer) up on the mountain, and there will be a fairly strong, steady wind. All of these factors mean that everyone needs to be careful about slab formation. Revelstoke Mountain Resort has some amazing barely-skied inbounds and slackcountry terrain, but you have to put safety first out there even if you think you’re safer for being in patrolled territory (or close to it). Ride with a beacon, a shovel, a probe, and at least a few hundred calories of food in your pack every time you’re riding off-piste. It’s easy to get complacent, and even the most experienced riders get into trouble sometimes.

If you’re planning venture out of bounds at all this season, take an Avalanche Skills Training course. They’re happening at Revelstoke Mountain Resort throughout the year, and are well worth it. They’re incredibly humbling, and you’ll leave with a renewed sense of awe at the power of snow. This goes for skiers, snowboarders and snowmobilers - the horrific avalanche near Fernie this weekend shows that there are definitely instabilities in the snowpack. Be careful, always ride with a group, pay attention to avalanche bulletins, and never get too overconfident.

Revelstoke Mountain Resort, in conjunction with the Canadian Avalanche Centre is holding Avalanche Awareness Days from January 9-11, 2009 at the resort, and on January 10 at Boulder Mountain - You’ll see avalanche safety presentations, demos and simulated rescues.

An open letter from Jeni Wolowic:

Dear Revelstoke,
I take it back. I take it all back. Revelstoke, you don’t disappoint. In fact, after 36 hours in town, I am starting to have a bit of a crush on you.

For all your cross country needs go talk to Brendan MacIntosh at Flowt Cycle and Ski. While the helpful guys at Skookum set me up with some rental classic ski gear I decided today to bite the bullet and invest in some skate skis. Brandon took time explaining the different kinds of skis, how you want them to feel, and how they work to glide across the snow. Having already scouted out shops in Vancouver, I was pleasantly surprised to find Flowt’s prices are competitive and the shop lacks the cutthroat sales pitches of its urban counterparts. Instead it is about service - sharing knowledge, stories, and the joy of outdoor activities.

With my skis freshly hot waxed by Brendan I was back at Mount MacPherson. I haven’t skate skied since I could count my age on my hands, and I rediscovered how difficult it is, but also how rewarding it is when you start to remember how it’s done. Granted I am probably the slowest and most ungraceful cross country skate skier in the province, but I enjoyed my afternoon. With the cloud cover a bit higher, the trails revealed the stunning mountains and the sun occasionally smiled down on me. The encouraging hellos from skilled locals kept a smile on my face, and I was even invited to come to the annual Lantern Ski on January 1st.
Thanks Revy. MacPherson is challenging and gorgeous and I have nothing but great things to say about the flock of Nordic locals amidst the swarms of alpine enthusiasts. See you on the trails.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: While most of us are content hurling ourselves downhill with the help of gravity, Jeni prefers to stay on the level. She's even content going nowhere at all. The super-friendly Brendan lent her his rollers for the week, so she's been happy to spin.]

Looking for plans for New Year’s Eve? Look no further! The Stoke is holding a New Year’s Eve in Revelstoke party and you’re all invited. Tight and bright apparel is required for entry, so throw on your best spandex and neon to party with The Stoke crew. Check out Facebook for details, or email for information!

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Jeni found cross country skis! Success. Still looking for friends to ski with though!]

Swoosh, chk. Swoosh, chk. Swoosh, chk. Swoosh, chk. Oh, the sweet soft sound of Classic Nordic ski success.

Winding trails, rolling undulations, snow crusted trees, and a few amazing views of town through tree trunks all combined for an excellent day of cross country skiing. Revelstoke did not disappoint. Hurray!

The local yesterday may only be half wrong. An email Karilyn sent last night to the head of the Nordic Ski Club directed me to a few shops in town that do indeed rent Nordic skis - Skookum Cycle & Ski, and Free Spirit Sports & Leisure. After visiting both shops, I walked away with classic skis, which was not my intended skate equipment. Their selections are also rather limited in size, but I got lucky and was fully outfitted with skis, poles, and boots for less than twenty dollars a day.

Heading south along Hwy 23, I got excited when I saw skiers gliding on trails parallel to the road, and 20 cars greeted me as I entered the Mount MacPherson parking lot. Another pleasant surprise was the club’s Bombardier BR275 trail groomer heading out to groom the trails. Grabbing my gear, snacks, and water and I was off to visit “Bev’s Bungalow,” the trail head hut and I was greeted by - you guessed it - Bev! She’s friendly and warm and obviously amazingly dedicated to sit in a tiny shack for most of the day. She also complimented my bright yellow cycling jacket from Vancouver as I passed her the six dollar trail fee. I like her. After a short chat about my woes of yesterday, she sent me on to the trails with map in hand and advice to visit one last shop tomorrow in search of skate skis. For less than 27 dollars total, I was set for a very nice day!

Mount Macpherson trails are what the reviews say. The trails are “challenging and difficult” and awesome! By no means a flat trail system, the trails wind you up the mountain. Even the “easy” routes are not all that flat. One labeled “Novice Glide” I would actually call “Undulating Work Out,” but it keeps the trail interesting. Well mapped with plenty of signs, I enjoyed the trails. I also found the warming cabin at the center of the trail system, a few kilometers from the parking lot after exploring the southern loops. It’s a charming log cabin resting at the peak of a climb with views of the river peaking through the trees, and an excellent spot to take a break.

From here the course got more challenging. A cruise up and around the main loop I returned again to say hello to the cabin before I explored the northern loops. The positives of the trail system? Beautiful, peaceful, sprinkled with just enough people to make you feel both alone but assured that some one would pass by if you got in trouble. They make for a challenging workout with rewarding vistas. The negatives? Some of the trails were not groomed despite having sighted the groomer from the parking lot. Fortunately even the snow on the non-groomed trails were fast! Excellent glide from the rental skis made for a very nice day. Also, a few of the trails lead you from a green trail (easy) to a black diamond (difficult) hill at the edge of the trail system, but you are warned with “steep hill” and “sharp turn” signs.

After an amazing 2 and half hours, 15.5 kilometers, and 429 meters of climbing and I called it an excellent day. I would highly recommend the trails and look forward to exploring more again tomorrow.

Saturday and Sunday were filled with huge powder lines - while I didn’t arrive back in town until late last night, Simon and Sarah insist that yesterday was the best day out so far. Today was fantastic - not very cold, and there was some amazing tree skiing and runs through North Bowl to be had.

The forecast is for snow all week, so it looks like we’re going to have some incredible days. It’s the kind of snow where 5-foot drops don’t even make you blink an eye so everyone is looking to go big - the snow makes us all feel invincible.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, etc.! I hope those of you out skiing today have fantastic, snowy days on the hill. The forecast for Revelstoke until mid-next week is SNOW, SNOW, SNOW (Simon, Sarah and Janelle stuck around Revelstoke for Christmas and are cheering this news).

I’ve been getting in some turns at Loch Lomond in Thunder Bay

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- with only 750 feet of vertical, it’s actually kind of fun to run super-fast laps, and the snow has been fairly spectacular. Anyone back to skiing at their home hill this holiday season? How does it feel?

Care of Sarah M:

Greetings!

It may be the time of year, but everyone seems to be stepping a bit lighter around Revelstoke. Personally I think it’s because people’s joints are no longer frozen solid. FINALLY, after 10 longs days of mind-numbingly arctic cold, the temperature is starting to creep up (yesterday I used ‘balmy‘ to describe minus ten). I don’t think anyone escaped the cold without some sort of physical or mental damage - for me it was frostbite. On a toe (black nail), my cheeks and my nose. Frostbite = skin peeling, so I’ve been the one walking around town with pieces of my face flaking off. Yummy.

Karilyn asked me to update on the snow conditions - which seems reasonable for a ski blog, and I do ski most days [EDITOR'S NOTE: EVERY DAY BUT 2, SARAH?]. Problem is - though I try my best to pretend to be interested - I totally zone out when people start talking about snow conditions. Maybe its my east coast conditioning (Blue Mountain - Represent!) - but rocks = bad, no rocks = good. Everything else? Suck it up and ski! West cost people take a very different approach to snow. For five minutes today I stood with my toes re-freezing (ugh) while listening to a ski patrol hold forth on such technical details of winds, and drifts, and layers, and south and true south, or maybe north - and something called …fruff? Dust? I forget.

Short story: Mountain is skiable (with my version you get to keep your toes).

This year, probably more than most, Revelstoke has attracted a random group of individuals from far and wide. As a result, a bunch of us here are not going home. Getting in and out of Revelstoke is a bit of a hassle and rarely cheap in time or money. As well there is a general consensus that after doing all this work to get here to go skiing (quitting jobs, driving across the continent, flying across oceans, illegally immigrating) - leaving here to *not* go skiing seems a bit counter-intuitive.

If you are one of the lucky souls skiing here this Christmas - there are things for you to do!

Revelstoke is holding an orphan’s Christmas dinner - which confused me, because when I think of orphanages and food I think of Oliver Twist which doesn’t sound like a fun Christmas dinner. I was then told that *I* was the orphan. Which did warm the cockles of my heart a bit (and I admit, as a kid I’d sometimes secretly wish I was orphan. Or at least abducted - very large family, middle child) . The main issue for me is that it’s potluck. I don’t cook. And when I say that, it’s not in a self-depreciating ‘i really cook but like to pretend I don’t’ way. I mean I really don’t cook. The social anxiety that strikes when I need to prepare food for anything with less than four legs is crippling. The toaster is about as far as I go. If I invite you over for anything more complex - don’t be surprised if ‘I suddenly remember something I have to do’ after suggestively opening the oven door.

For those sort of reasons, I’m probably going to chill at Karilyn’s place with her roommates and eat their inventive meals and sugar cookies (I bring the alcohol, and no one’s complained yet).

Revelstoke has a theater - so catching a movie or two might be a plan. Last night, I attempted to go to ‘Four Christmases’ which looked to be a sure bet to put me into the spirit. The Roxy is a quaint little theater with terrific heat lamps. I get there in the nick of time, leap out of the car in front of the theater to discover that alas, ‘Four Christmases’ will not be coming to Revelstoke because ‘Greyhound lost it.’ Greyhound lost my bike when it WAS ON THE SAME BUS AS ME. So this I believe. (The CSR told me that not only do they not guarantee the bike will arrive at the same time as you, they won’t even guarantee it will arrive at the same place as you. Think on that for a package delivery service.)

Ok. I’m sure I’ve done enough damage. Regular scheduled blogging will return when Karilyn gets back from Thunder Bay (you see? WHY???????)

WISHING EVERYONE HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

Love,

Sarah aka Firestarter aka CatTrack (my Revelstoke nickname - given to me when I repeatedly failed to negotiate the sudden appearance of a cat track in the middle of my run. On my first day I splattered myself like a scrambled egg not once, not twice, but three times on cat tracks (”Stop doing that!” my ski friend John suggested). In fact, the third time was memorable for involving two cat tracks. One to cause the initial splatter and subsequent tumbling launch off the other edge, and one more to come to an abrupt halt on). Cat tracks: far and away Revelstoke’s least desirable feature.

[EDIT: Ryan McLauchlan won the first contest on The Stoke - he found and identified where the Burgundy's sign is located. Check the comments for where it is! See you on it this year.]

A new run has been christened at Revelstoke Mountain Resort - the first person to find the sign and tell me where exactly the newly-named Burgundy’s is wins a pitcher of beer from The Stoke!

Leave a comment to win.

The view of the Columbia River from up at Revelstoke Mountain Resort was striking today.
“Arctic sea smoke” happens when frigid air moves across warmer water. Evaporation condenses and freezes, and then sublimates into the air. John and I took a drive down Airport Way looking for a place to take pictures of it:

We ended up finding a beautiful beach - after laying on my stomach to take a few pics, I laughed at the fact that I was covered in snow and sand.

We love our homemade ski rack:

John and Janelle built it, and Simon put it up.
Here’s how it was created : We started with a 2×6, cut in half. This will give you two racks, each holding five pairs of skis. John used a mitre saw on the corners for a little bit of visual appeal. Drill five pairs of 3/4″ holes per rack (set each pair an inch and a half apart). Drop some wood glue into each hole and then hammer in a 3/4″ wood dowel. The racks were then drilled into some heavy-duty wall anchors.

The height is important: it has to be positioned high enough that it is below the shovel of the smallest pair, but low enough that it’s above the bindings on the longest pair. Our skis range from 165 to 193, so the rack is mounted about four and a half feet up. Remember: the skis aren’t hanging - they are resting between dowels. Send in pictures of your own homemade ski or board racks!