2011/2012 Canadian Rockies Roll Call and StokeThread...

[Fat Mike]

Why do all these Calgarians have weekdays off? ;-)

because we're sick of letting the townies have all the fun

Neither Whitehorn 2 nor Boomerang opened today - so tomorrow should be great if they drop the rope.

On another note - I had the pleasure of watching 2 snowboarders poach ER5 top to bottom. Not surprisingly they were riding right next to each other, and I'm guessing had no idea they were cruising past multiple crowns. There was a heli and ambulance pulling in right around 4pm (after I was off the hill), so hopefully the shit didn't hit the fan.

I was on paradise chair when those morons dropped in. The first guy bit it on the second turn and I thought "this is going to be messy". Heard lots of the patrollers talking about it throughout the day too, wonder if they got nabbed eventually.

I also heard they are doing some heli bombing in whitehorn II and boomerang today. Should be tasty when it does eventually open.

[f2f]

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151370334620532

footage from the heli of the dive slide.

"content currently unavailable". was it a link to somewhere like youtube/vimeo?

[MustangSVT]

Thinking either Lake Louise or SSV this Saturday. Which one do you folks think is a better bet?

[mntlion]

Was a FB video. Not sure if it is avail anywhere else This weekend. Either is fine. Soft pack and tracked

[Ramsey]

Looks like they're gonna open the Dive this arvo.... "Better than expected" from patrol's tweet.

[Ramsey]

http://www.rmoutlook.com/article/201...-near-sunshine

Two snowboarders spent a cold night waiting for rescue after losing their way in searching for prime snow near Sunshine last weekend.

On Friday, the pair, one man from Calgary and another from Halifax, left Sunshine to head toward an area known as the Wizard, “but they ended up quite a way down the ridge,” said Parks Visitor Safety Specialist Marc Ledwidge. “They were two or three kilometres away on tricky terrain.”

Very fortunately for the boarders, they found themselves in an area where there was cell phone coverage and were able to call 911 at about 4 p.m.

Rescuers first tried to use a helicopter to get close enough for a long-line rescue, “but there were violent winds and we had to bring the team back,” said Ledwidge.

A team headed for the boarders on skis in the dark at about 7 p.m. and tried to manoeuvre into an area above the skiers, but that team as well had to turn back to the possibility of triggering an avanlance above the two skiers. At the time, the avalanche warning scale was pegged at high.

After the aborted attempt in the dark, the boarders, who had no GPS or safety gear, said Ledwidge had to spend the night and wait for a Saturday morning rescue attempt.

On Saturday, though, wind and weather were worse, which again meant no helicopter attempt. Safety specialists then skied up Healy Creek to a frozen waterfall, which they believed they could climb up to the boarders. Again, though, said Ledwidge, safety concerns caused the rescue team to turn back.

Finally, at midday on Saturday, specialists were able to use snowmobiles to get close to the stranded boarders, then skied to them and lowered them by rope to the valley bottom, where they were taken out by a Sunshine snowmobile.

“They were cold and wet, but no frostbite or injuries,” said Ledwidge. “But it could have been quite different if there wasn’t cell phone coverage where they were.”

On Wednesday (March 7), the avalanche risk for alpine and treeline area remained high for Banff, Yoho and Kootenay Parks and through Kananaskis Country.

Parks Canada urges outdoor enthusiasts to make informed decisions when travelling into the backcountry and to be prepared with proper equipment and check avalanche and weather forecasts regularly. The Avalanche Bulletin for Banff, Kootenay and Yoho National Parks may be found at http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/ab/banff/index.aspx

[scotia]

Spot the beaters:

[Ramsey]

Spot the beaters:

Fail.... Go back two pages.... Do not pass go.... Do not collect $200.....

(Seen it before.... you're a bit late to the party)

[f2f]

Spot the beaters:

why thank you for this timely post

[scotia]

I looked back too

Thanks for not making the matter worse and avoiding quoting the video right below where it was posted

[f2f]

there's nothing wrong with the video. i watched it 15 times and posted it on 12 other forums. it's you that's at fault. you've been bad and you should feel bad

[LSeed]

Sick day skiing at Louise today Whitehorn II was epic all day and to the bastards poaching boomerang I hope you wind up in the bomb hole at the bottom of G gully lol. Fun riding with everybody today will be back up at the hill tomorrow around 9:30

[time2clmb]

Lseed and all thanks for the laps, fun day for sure.

After WH2 opened tried to cut high around a shoulder and kicked this little fucker off...damn near knocked me over and for a sec there I though I might get knocked over some rock. This is inbounds, open terrain between gullies, really small pocket but really fucking heavy, had a hard time staying on my feet.

Screen shot from Gopro as the debris is running passed.


2 metre crown in ER5, debris took out some poachers tracks that were rope ducking the other day. Scary looking shit sliding out there...everywhere.

[time2clmb]

As for fumbling with a camera to get the shot that would have been the last thing on my mind - just happened to have the GoPro set for pics

Probably wouldn't have looked like much on the Gopro anyhow, such a wide angle at a distance.

B and C gullies were the money lines for sure. Beyond C was slabbed up, however F gulley in the long narrow section was money also. The crowds from Monday and Tuesday had dispursed, but it still didn't take all that long for WH2 to get beat down. Was funny watching people ski through the slab section further along. If you go watch out for the bomb holes, their big enough to swallow your skis and send you in to rag doll land.

[goldenshowers]

FYI: Free skiing on Sun Mar 25 at KH with proof of residence in Golden or Area A.

[TOLOCOMan]

2 metre crown in ER5, debris took out some poachers tracks that were rope ducking the other day. Scary looking shit sliding out there...everywhere.

I was cringing watching those guys poach thinking it was going to go on them. Guess they were lucky by less than 24 hours.

[time2clmb]

I had no idea poaching was so prevalent at LL...it's totally obscene. Hopefully they see the debris over their tracks and think about it a bit.

[Spooky]

That looks about right. Like a bunch of ants all just sprayed by Raid trying to scurry away...
I knew it was a gong show, but that puts an interesting perspective on it.

Prime example of why I love the gear restrictions at SSV. It can still be a bit of a gong show on highly anticipated openings but generally it's nice and peaceful with fresh lines to be had for that much longer.

[Spooky]

I had no idea poaching was so prevalent at LL...it's totally obscene. Hopefully they see the debris over their tracks and think about it a bit.

I think it's the same most places- as soon as some people get that powder day frenzy they'll do anything to get a few extra untracked turns. A few weeks ago one patroller I know had swiped 15 passes from poachers by noon. Apparently there was a bit of a line up to have them pulled at the exit.

[TOLOCOMan]

I had no idea poaching was so prevalent at LL...it's totally obscene. Hopefully they see the debris over their tracks and think about it a bit.

Seems worse than ever this year, especially in 5. Thing is, those guys ALWAYS get things open if they can. If it's closed at the Lake, it's for good reason. Don't understand the poaching at all.

[peters]

Nice post Peters. Glad to hear you made it out okay. Moments like that sure can focus your perspective. Glad you focused yours in the way you did. I would "like" your post, but I have no idea of what this "Facebook" thing/place you speak of is...

Hahaha... thanks 2stix.
If you feel more comfortable voting on the forum you can do it at this link:
http://backcountryskiingcanada.com/f...o-winners-help

If anyone else wants to check out the post you can do it here:
http://backcountryskiingcanada.com/f...mp-perspective

[Nottmurno]

Lseed and all thanks for the laps, fun day for sure.

After WH2 opened tried to cut high around a shoulder and kicked this little fucker off...damn near knocked me over and for a sec there I though I might get knocked over some rock. This is inbounds, open terrain between gullies, really small pocket but really fucking heavy, had a hard time staying on my feet.

Screen shot from Gopro as the debris is running passed.


2 metre crown in ER5, debris took out some poachers tracks that were rope ducking the other day. Scary looking shit sliding out there...everywhere.

My gopro grab of what popped just after I skied out of that.

[himavan]

Going to be at LL tomorrow morning and maybe Sat if anyone wants to make some turns. Blue jacket, brown pants, black variant brim...

[Fat Mike]

I was cringing watching those guys poach thinking it was going to go on them. Guess they were lucky by less than 24 hours.

I had that same feeling, like I didn't want to look but had to watch! Did you notice when they got to the bottom, they just stood there looking up at their line for a few minutes? Hopefully they saw the two slide paths they split and thought "hmm, maybe that wasn't such a good idea". lucky fuckers!

There's been a lot of people poaching the rope line along ER5 this year. A few weeks ago there were two guys (I guessed) from the southern US poaching Upper 5 about 20' outside the rope. They were hooting and hollering the whole way down. When they got to me, one guy bit it and took a few minutes to get up. I mentioned (very politely) that area was closed and asked if they knew, which I was promptly told to fuck off. It was fun to see the patroller waiting just below that little roll over where you can access lower 5...that was the end of their day

[teamdirt]

With all the avalanche warnings for the backcountry and adjacent sidecountry I decided to get progressive and hit the Calgary Front Country. Thats right front-country.

Figuring that they say the backcountry is dangerous I thought it was obvious that the front country would be safe then. Its taking it to the next level.

I like to call this zone: Nenshi.