Snowboarding Forum - Snowboard Enthusiast Forums banner

Canadian Rockies Condition reports

39K views 459 replies 38 participants last post by  ryannorthcott 
#1 ·
Thought I'd make a thread for sharing the local conditions similar to the Vancouver thread here.

Dec. 14th - Castle Opening Day. This is my first time here and the hill has a very laid back vibe to it. Conditions were decent for early season. Huckleberry and sundance had mixtures on powder, chuky powder, crust thru out the run. Lots of little branches sticking out.

Red chair didn't open until afternoon and it was very rocky in places. had to stick around trees for best conditions.

The bad: chairs are sloooooow, and they sway a lot.
The Ugly: T-bar pub run out of draft and pizza before noon. My food never came :blowup:

Dec.15th - Fernie

Great conditions - untouched powder can be found in currie/cedar/siberia. Epic conditions up on top of mountain. untouched pow and sparse trees.

Good mixture of soft snow and groomers across the board. Many tree areas in lower elevations are closed off to conserve base. Tons of branches are sticking out. The last sections of groomers before base is riddled with tiny rocks. Slightly annoying.

I think it definitely has the best conditions compared to (LL, SSV, KH, Castle) can't comment on Revy but I'll be there next weekend.
 
See less See more
#312 ·
As we here in the east no longer have any chairs spinning, I hope you guys realize how lucky you are. Great to hear that you are enjoying great conditions and continuing to add to your seasons vertical. :bowdown:

I know, if you want to move west, move west............. :unsure:
 
#320 ·
Amazing day at nakiska - hiked out of bounds up and to the right of the gold chair. Came down a big bowl with knee deep powder into a ravine with a creek that ran back into the gold chair runs towards the bottom. Met two affable locals on the hike, one of whom woke up a skunk and got what was coming to him. Still, one of the best days of the season for me. Nice mix of pow, jibbing and bombers.:D
 
#323 ·
Ok, where is this? We were there on Sunday (probably the 3rd time I've been to that hill). It was good in the glades, for a while.. but I didn't even know you could get out off the main runs there!
is it a long hike? And I guess that its just further out to the right beyond the glades boundry? or are we talking skiers right and into the middle of the hill? :dunno:

P.S., has anyone tried the drag lift on a snowboard? the banking at the start looks a bit tricky :blink:
 
#326 ·
Hmmm, not impressed.... so the ski patrol get to ride up & down in the fresh powder all morning instead of working while everyone else isn't allowed up there?!? !
There are some runs way out to skiers right that look like you have to climb to the top then traverse the ridge to get to, is that true? certainly couldn't get there from the gold chair, just ended up on 'Eagle xsomethingx' (which is definitely not a double black by the way, I've been on steeper blue runs) :dunno:

Poutanen, did you try the chutes at KHMr? Does Nakiska have anything close?
 
#330 ·
It's nothing like Kicking Horse - that's my favourite hill in the world - but the hike and riding we had on sunday was as fun as anything I've done at sunshine.

when you get to the top of the gold chair, looking up the mounain you head along the path that takes you to the top of the glades - but keep going past the boundary gate.. Then we hiked straight up the hill to get to a microchute. This is where you end up at that point:

ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting

you can either drop in there and hit that pillow which had about a 8 foot drop on the othersie or you can traverse along the ridge, keeping an eye out for few cliffs (some of which are a lot of fun if the powder is there). This is what you'll see as you traverse:

http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/1185/photo3ep.jpg

you end up traversing along to that bowl which was amazing - as Nakiska had been closed all week and they'd had a decent dump of snow the rpevious weekend too.

You ride down into the gully - which is a creek (frozen for the most part) - you can see where the tree line drops into the gully here.

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/2607/photo4wtt.jpg

You ride down alongside the creek which is beautiful - but beware it opens up and one of our lot went for a little swim. you stick to the right and it natrually comes out at the bottom of the monster glades in bounds.

Here's what it looks like inside that gully

http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/8674/photo5fm.jpg

I did the hike three times during the course of the day and took a differnt line every time - but you always ended up in the gully, just at different parts.
 
#332 ·
Thanks man thats Awesome!
If your there this Sunday and up for a hike let me know, I'll keep you company!

We had KHMR season passes this year, even though the snows not been that good some of the slack country riding was amazing. Found deep powder every single weekend (at khmr) this year... and up to 38 days on the hill so far!!

So nakiska's not that exciting so far but its free (part of my season pass now KHMR is closed) so I'm looking for something a bit more challenging..
 
#333 ·
I'm definitely riding on sunday - but I'm going to do what I did last sunday and check the reports in the morning before I set off. Sunshine was meant to get dumped last weekend and it literally changed it's mind on the night. I'll more than likely be riding solo too so pm your number and we can meet up.

I'm a bit worried about nakiska for this weekend as it's warming up during this week adn raining a bit before the next snowfall - could destabilize some of that out of bounds area. I'll see how it goes but I'll more than likely hit Nakiska anyway for the jib park.

I first went out to kicking horse on the 2nd January this year - they had 60cm+ in a day and the highway was closed so no one else could get out there form the revvy side. It was the best experience of my snowboarding life and the snow kept coming down for a few days. T2/3 and Fueze had been closed due to visability through the week and on the Friday they opened with a bluebird sky. I've never been as tired in my life by about 3pm that day - best powder day of my life.
 
#336 ·
This is a bit off topic but since it apply's to the terrain you're all discussing in here..........

How long were most of you guys riding before you started heading out to these areas as opposed to just riding the groomers at the hill? I'm only asking because I just started this winter (got a late jump in life I guess) and it's a ton of fun and I've been out about 8 times already since mid Feb. but all I can think about is how amazing it must feel to get to the top and just drop into the deep pillowy powder that I'll never find on the groomed runs.

I'm not a park guy at all and have no desire to be, I like just heading down and winding through the trees and just hopping off natural features. Even this weekend at SSV I was helping my fiance with her toe edge transition so we were way over on the side of the green run on Standish and because no one goes there I got to just go goof off in the deepest powder I've found on any run there. It's just a totally different experience and I can only imagine it's like that x100 where you guys are going.

Even if you can offer advice so I can better prepare myself to transition over from the groomers would be greatly appreciated. I feel like I've caught on very fast and improved a ton in a very short time but I'm smart enough to know when experienced people talk I should shut up and listen.:thumbsup:

Thanks guys!:)
 
#339 ·
How long were most of you guys riding before you started heading out to these areas as opposed to just riding the groomers at the hill?
Off-piste (not out of bounds, but glades, chutes, steeper technical stuff, etc.) and deep powder are very different from groomers at first. The principles are are relatively the same though, so it shouldn't take longer than a couple days to start getting used to riding in real powder, near some trees (riding beside the trees and getting closer and closer is a good way to start as opposed to just diving right in).

One of the skills you have to develop for off-piste riding has nothing to do with the mechanics of riding itself. You have to learn how to pick your line. Reading the run, the snow, the bumps, etc. is something that comes with time. Start on a slope that is generally a little less steep then your current limit on a groomer, but it has a few trees or rocks on it. Pick a line through the "hazards" and try it out. As long as you don't get tunnel vision and focus right on the tree, you'll be fine, and probably have a blast doing so. Repeat again and again with different terrain, getting steeper, more narrow, add in some small drops, then some larger drops.

At some point along the line the mountain becomes your playground. The trees are your dance partners and you gracefully swing around them without missing a beat. The rocks and cliffs are no longer "hazards" but a solid base for snow to form a jump on. Chutes are not scary but a way of deterring the scared away from the beautiful powder pockets awaiting you at the bottom.

No one can tell you how long until you get comfortable in the crazy stuff, you may be ready right now to start learning! I rode for 18 years in Ontario, Quebec, Vermont, New Hampshire, and once at Fernie before I finally moved here. So I was lucky enough to gradually build up to this kind of terrain.

Your learning curve will be steeper, but my GF is riding shit like this now without hesitation, after two full seasons in the Canadian Rockies:




THIS is your playground:

 
#338 ·
Within a couple month of getting back into boarding. Staying on the groomers severely limit the terrain available considering the mountains in Alberta and bc.

I think having Louise as a home base forced me to practice on any and all type of terrain. Basically it will make you a better boarder or break you. :p
 
#340 ·
^^
Knows

A good place to practice avoiding "hazards" with a few nice lips and rollers is heading down the middle from the standish chair and cutting through the little patch of sparse trees, then you come down a little steep bank on the right before going over the hill and merging with the other runs.
 
#341 ·
Yeah that's where I spent about half my day on Sunday. There and after the snow fence on Angel I cut way over to the left where you can basically work through the trails in the trees the whole way down. At some point I might have to hook up with you guys if you can put up with an amateur for a day. I think most of my friends are content to stay on the groomers and that doesn't work for me.
 
#344 ·
Yeah I've boarded with tons of forum members this year... Good times!

There are some great runs at Louise (since everyone else is talking about Sunshine) to start to learn about steeper, deeper, rockier, and tree-e-er?!?

Most of them I'll suggest will be off top of the world. Why? It's a high speed chair. Tons of runs mean tons of fun and tons of learning. Also there are groomers intertwining the off-piste so you can make your own runs with whatever degree of difficulty you want.

1) Approximately 2 towers down from the top, there is a set of glades that lead off to skiers right. They are fun and actually not over used, the pitch is mild, the trees are small and far between, there are a few rollers to jump off. I think this is the upper part of Run #37.

2) If you follow the spine to skiers left of the lift (the spine that follows the lift all the way down. You'll have some steeper glades, again with little spots to jump, etc. That will work its way into moguls on either side of the spine, which are important to learn. Don't do this for your first or second learning run though. This would be run 38 and 44. Starts mild and gets steeper and steeper.

3) Run #29 is called Wrong Turn. And it's a nice wide open blue that's rarely used I find, stay to skiers left on this run and you can dip into the trees all along the side.

4) Another good one would be run #23 all the way around. You head to far skiers right towards the platter, but turn to the left after the fence opens up. There's an easy blue run that's usually groomed, but on the right side there are some real fun glades. On heavy snow days watch out because it's not steep enough to plow through 1+' if you're not good at carrying speed.

5) Moving away from the top of the world chair, the rock garden is a lot of fun when the snow is good. Think of it as a mogul field with rocks and drops in it. The pitch is mild so the risk is quite low, but it's technical and fun for all. If you can make it down a mogul'd black run you can have fun in the rock garden. (skiers right off Larch chair)

6) Tons off stuff available off paradise chair, but there are some extreme sections so best to know your route before heading in. Some real fun glades and rocks to pop off on skiers right. Also some open stuff so people can take multiple lines for various ability levels. As you get better, hike out south from paradise and start to drop into ER3. It is steep (40-45 degrees) so have your steep off-piste riding down before you head here, but the rocks are far apart so the danger isn't huge. Again, KNOW YOUR LINE. There are ways of working yourself up to the big drops of Eagle Ridge 3.

7) Once you can do that, you're pretty much game for all the extreme stuff, there are spots ALL OVER Lake Louise that make me smile. Fernie even moreso. I'd say overall Fernie is my favourite hill, and part of that is the massive amount of medium and difficult (and yes, extreme too) off-piste terrain. It's a rugged mountain with gullys, chutes, pillows, trees, cliffs, drops, stumps, bowls, etc. etc. etc. all of various sizes. So spending a weekend there is a great way to break your powder virginity. I'd suggest a lesson. :D


Front side trail map
 
#342 ·
I'd be up for that. I moved out here recently and the only guys I know that come riding are complete beginners with no foreseeable future in fun. After a season of trying to get mmy issus into I've accepted that she just doesn't want to do it :thumbsdown: She's more of a beach and sun lover (so I don't know why she agreed to our move out here but there you go).

I usually go off on my own and meet people along the way.
 
#345 ·
Just cause I love showing off pics I took this year:

Front side of Lake Louise...


Fiance in the lizard bowl at Fernie...


Entrance to Corner Pocket, and the lizard bowl below at Fernie...


Somewhere at Lake Louise (think it's between Paradise and Ptarmigan chairs)...


Part of spot #2 mentioned above... left half of the pic is the spine.


In bounds fun at Whistler...


Same spot, but the view from the side!


Side view of ER3...


Near Corner Pocket at Fernie, I think this is High Saddle or something...


Left to Right at Lake Louise: ER6, ER7, Whitehorn I, Whitehorn II (Ultimate Steeps), Whitehorn III over the crest in the foreground...
 
#348 ·
A buddy and me hit up SSV today, managed to get 4 runs done on Delirium Dive, the main hill was windblown, hard and icy, but the wind had filled the Galaxy Bowl and it was really good...a bit sketchy to hike to as most of the walks to drop ins were sheer ice. On most of the runs, the only tracks were our own.

The rest of the hill is still decent, but definitely freeze thaw going on in full effect. Ski out is junk...avoid!!
 

Attachments

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top