January 16-19, 2004, West Kootenays
1/16/04
2356
1
Blame it on my mother (nature, that is.) She gave me a dose of some fine white powder to snort just after New Year's Day and now I'm an addict again. ??? The high freezing level forecast for the weekend suggested a need to cross the Cascades and an international border to feed my habit.
A few phone calls and emails obtained transportation and lodging at the penthouse suite of the Pathfinder Hotel courtesy of gregm. We took I-90 to the Odessa turnoff, then traveled north via Davenport, Kettle Falls, and on to Rossland, BC for Friday night. Red Mountain provided no single ride passes to the backcountry, but with foggy conditions we decided to ski inbounds. A dusting of powder covered icy moguls on the steeper slopes, so we strengthened our quads on the groomed runs instead.
We enjoyed an inexpensive dinner and warmth at the Steamshovel (?) pub, then retired to the local youth hostel for some bedtime reading, before entering our unheated room at the Pathfinder. Next morning we decided to drive even further north to check out the famous Whitewater powder.
They did offer single ride tickets for $12 CDN, and we got a crack of noon start from the top of the Silver King chair (900' of vertical). From there it was about 300' to the ridge crest (6600') where we dropped into the north facing Five Mile Creek drainage for 1000' on 8" powder. The low visibility was not a problem since we had trees to guide us on either side of open shots. In the basin we chose a northwest aspect for two more 1000' runs from timberline below Mt. Ymir (pronounced whymer, rhymes with whiner or Rainer) before climbing back to the Silver King ridge and returning to our mobile home.
In Nelson, the nearest town, we just made it to the Patagonia outlet at closing time, got a free copy of Off Piste describing dirtbag touring the BC backcountry oddly enough. Then we found an all you can eat Chinese restaurant with bright light and empty tables, perfect for me to spend a few hours reading tourist brochures, greg to work the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle, and both of us to dry the wet gear we wore. On to the Dancing Bear hostel for ambiance and local info before another damp night in the penthouse.
Monday morning we found the earliest opening restaurant for breakfast, and headed back to Whitewater and Five Mile for more untracked runs. The basin sees many snowboarders, but they don't really like to traverse for new lines, so we had the more westerly facing slopes to ourselves. The weather cleared around noon and we saw three skiers heading up the final slopes of Mt. Ymir. We skinned up just one run, but a few hundred feet above timberline this time, where the wind had blown away about half the 8" of powder. Then down for lunch, back up to the ridge, and out to the car for a 2PM departure for the long drive home. By then the weather had closed in again so we didn't regret missing any bluebird runs.
Same driving route back took about 8 hours including some fog on the winding road from Kettle Falls to Davenport and on to Odessa. Even the first few miles on I-90 were foggy but fortunately the final 190 were clear and dry pavement. Anyone who has a suggestion for a quicker driving route, please reply here.
There is a guide book for ski tours in the West Kootenays available (only) at the Kootenay Experience shop in Nelson with several other tours listed. Some info can be found via google search for "Mt. Ymir" as well.
video at http://home.comcast.net/~silaswild/skiing/gm011904.mpg
A few phone calls and emails obtained transportation and lodging at the penthouse suite of the Pathfinder Hotel courtesy of gregm. We took I-90 to the Odessa turnoff, then traveled north via Davenport, Kettle Falls, and on to Rossland, BC for Friday night. Red Mountain provided no single ride passes to the backcountry, but with foggy conditions we decided to ski inbounds. A dusting of powder covered icy moguls on the steeper slopes, so we strengthened our quads on the groomed runs instead.
We enjoyed an inexpensive dinner and warmth at the Steamshovel (?) pub, then retired to the local youth hostel for some bedtime reading, before entering our unheated room at the Pathfinder. Next morning we decided to drive even further north to check out the famous Whitewater powder.
They did offer single ride tickets for $12 CDN, and we got a crack of noon start from the top of the Silver King chair (900' of vertical). From there it was about 300' to the ridge crest (6600') where we dropped into the north facing Five Mile Creek drainage for 1000' on 8" powder. The low visibility was not a problem since we had trees to guide us on either side of open shots. In the basin we chose a northwest aspect for two more 1000' runs from timberline below Mt. Ymir (pronounced whymer, rhymes with whiner or Rainer) before climbing back to the Silver King ridge and returning to our mobile home.
In Nelson, the nearest town, we just made it to the Patagonia outlet at closing time, got a free copy of Off Piste describing dirtbag touring the BC backcountry oddly enough. Then we found an all you can eat Chinese restaurant with bright light and empty tables, perfect for me to spend a few hours reading tourist brochures, greg to work the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle, and both of us to dry the wet gear we wore. On to the Dancing Bear hostel for ambiance and local info before another damp night in the penthouse.
Monday morning we found the earliest opening restaurant for breakfast, and headed back to Whitewater and Five Mile for more untracked runs. The basin sees many snowboarders, but they don't really like to traverse for new lines, so we had the more westerly facing slopes to ourselves. The weather cleared around noon and we saw three skiers heading up the final slopes of Mt. Ymir. We skinned up just one run, but a few hundred feet above timberline this time, where the wind had blown away about half the 8" of powder. Then down for lunch, back up to the ridge, and out to the car for a 2PM departure for the long drive home. By then the weather had closed in again so we didn't regret missing any bluebird runs.
Same driving route back took about 8 hours including some fog on the winding road from Kettle Falls to Davenport and on to Odessa. Even the first few miles on I-90 were foggy but fortunately the final 190 were clear and dry pavement. Anyone who has a suggestion for a quicker driving route, please reply here.
There is a guide book for ski tours in the West Kootenays available (only) at the Kootenay Experience shop in Nelson with several other tours listed. Some info can be found via google search for "Mt. Ymir" as well.
video at http://home.comcast.net/~silaswild/skiing/gm011904.mpg
Silas,
Good call. I'll be there next month at the Ymi Yurts and hopefully more snorkel type conditions.
Zap
Good call. I'll be there next month at the Ymi Yurts and hopefully more snorkel type conditions.
Zap
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