Mountain Skills & Guided Adventures…

The Stikine Icecap was wow!!! Here are a few photos from our recent adventures to this awe-inspiring landscape near Petersburg Alaska. This little slice of seldom visited paradise is tucked away in Coast Mountains on the BC-Alaska border. Glaciers, distances, and prominence are comparable to the near by St-Elias mountains without the high altitude. This area is known for alpine rock climbing on nearby Devil’s Thumb however, and as we found out, it is also very suitable for ski touring and ski mountaineering basecamps.⁠
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A winter that keeps on giving! April ski conditions in BC have been excellent. Like many of you, we have been taking advantage of it! Winter 2022 was busier than anticipated, thanks to all our guests for skiing and climbing with us! As we wind down our regular Winter programs, we are changing focus on Spring ski-mountaineering trips at higher latitudes and rock-climbing programs at valley crags in the Kootenays. Let us know if you would like to join an upcoming program or course, we still have room on summer 2022 and Winter 2023 trips. Wishing you all a fantastic Spring!⁠
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So nice to be sharing a backcountry lodges with a mixed group again. Here is a glimpse of our Dec 4-11 Carlyle Lodge ski week which was a mix of AST 2 skills and guided ski program. It was rejuvenating to have old and new guests sharing the backcountry experience under the same roof once again. Fingers cross that we can continue to do so as the pandemic evolves. It was visibly healthy both mentally and physically for everyone who joined. Thanks to our awesome groups and amazing staff who contributed to making the start of the season so memorable! @carolafond @sweetgrassp @pistol.pan @jazminerosalynn ⁠
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Coming soon to a mountain near you! We had a great start to the Winter 2022 ski season on the Farnham Glacier in the East Kootenays on Monday November 1st, 2021. So fun to be skinning and sliding on snow again! Here is a little bit of snowpack information from our day: There was about 20cm of snow on the ground where we drove to with a regular SUV at 1800m. We skinned up the road to the cabin at 2250m where there was about 50cm on the ground. We continued up the Farnham glacier to a summit at 2900m. We found 80-100cm of settled snow on the Glacier. The many open crevasses were easily detected, thanks to the good visibility. Still, we roped up in a few areas. A test profile at 2650m on the glacier (north aspect) showed some interesting layers but no significant shears. The snowpack consisted of 30cm of fist to 4 finger resistance snow over 50cm of 4 finger to 1 finger resistance snow overlying a 10-20cm complex of basal crusts and softer facet layers just above the glacier ice. Minor wind effect in specific terrain features in the Alpine was observed. Ski quality was good and weather excellent. Many lurking sharks below the glacier where we 'skied' gingerly. Overall, a fun way to start the season!⁠
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Autumn splendor! We are really enjoying this colorful Fall transition, how about you?! The sky, leaves, shrubs and larches have been wonderful recently in the mountains of Southeastern BC. For us, it revitalizes the anticipation and excitement related to Winter snow & ice sports. That said, we are still savoring every moments of this beautiful season while remembering recent highlights. Happy Fall season to you all! ⁠
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"Yuh-hai-has-kun", The Mountain of the Spiral Road. It was an honor guiding Lance up the king of the Canadian Rockies last month. This was his third attempt in the last 5 years. It was pretty emotional being up there with him after a successful ascent via the Kain face. As you can see in these photos the weather was amazing. That said, it was very hot during the day and we ended up climbing sections of the route during the night to stay safe. ⁠This day will remain a summer highlight. ⁠
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Summer 2021 is coming to a close! It has been a good one despite the smoke and pandemic. We are slowly transitioning from alpine climbing to valley cragging and eventually towards ski touring. We still have a few climbing programs in the works but are increasingly focusing on upcoming winter programs. It will be interesting to see how Winter 2022 unfolds. Our Canadian guests are already booking their winter adventures with us. There is still much uncertainty with international travel but with borders slowly opening up, it is looking promising. ⁠
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Stay tuned, over the next few weeks we will start promoting our winter and avalanche skills courses as well as some of our guided ski touring trips including; basecamps, lodge trips and ski mountaineering expeditions. Contact us if you have interest in joining specific trips or courses. Wishing everyone a wonderful Fall transition!⁠
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The joy of the "alpine start"! The act of getting up at some ungodly hour (read; really early!) to scale a mountain or a long climb. It is difficult to get up a 2am for this purpose but the satisfaction you get from seeing dawn up high in the mountains is unparalleled. Here are some photos from last summer taken by our guiding team. In french we have a saying: "l'avenir appartient à ceux qui se lèvent tôt" which translate to: "The future belongs to those who prepare themselves for it". That feeling is often synonymous with alpine starts. We hope you had some memorable ones this last summer too! ⁠
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Alpine rock climbing is our favorite! We feel very lucky to be able to call this local venue our home range. There are not too many places you can go and climb splitter cracks in the alpine and not see anyone else for 3 days. Summer is here in the high country, enjoy and stay cool!⁠
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Summer is here! We spent summer solstice in our favorite local alpine rock climbing area. There is still heaps of snow in the alpine however, it is melting fast with he current heatwave. Conditions are shaping up for a great start to the summer season with sunshine and dry rock. The ultimate way to beat the heat! ⁠
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