Can I ski with you?

[XXX-er]

Nice! At least there is work there. I bet ya'll met KtMac last year.?

if you come to smithers looking for a job you will fail ... come looking to fit in to the community of freaks and wierdo's

a sure bet is to volenteer for midsummers music festival because all the longtime members of the BVFMS are carpenters ... before you know it they are calling you to work

[carpathian]

Off to High Prairie, AB in the AM. Kept starting forest fires here in Canmore. Too warm, no snow...

The average is higher up there anyway so bring it on!

[carpathian]

We held off on driving north for a few more trees out in Spray Lake. There is more snow up there and lots of steep hiking. Pete and I have been splitting up for the day and tackling different sites as an effort to maintain an efficient and productive day.

Apparently the contract average has been 22 trees a day while we have been doing 48 on average. Finally! My dream of being a pro athlete has been realized! This really is the only job where I have felt truly valued as an employee. Or I should say that my particular skill set is coming in handy.

Pete took the quad, I took the sled.


This sled is pretty sweet. Only problem is that the throttle return spring is kind of weak so I tried rigging these bungees so the trhrottle does not tick on like a Toyota.

I did hit a tree though. NOt as bad as it looks. The front was already dented.


Later I managed to get my saw stuck in a tree. I had hammered in the wedge too deep and it pinched my bar. At the same time I realized that the break lever was broke and the saw was stuck on brake. I ran over and grabbed another wedge and got the saw out. The tree got hung up as i had to dismantle the saw brake mechanism and release the spring so i could at least go brakless.

I have been proud of my stumps lately.


Good work saw!


Good view Mountain!

[forest]

I love this thread. Skiing big mountains, chainsaws, skidoos, burning stuff. Keep it up.

I can't believe Alberta is doing the fall and burn though (sounds like its working out awesome for you) but we pretty much proved it doesn't do shit.

[carpathian]

I can't believe Alberta is doing the fall and burn though (sounds like its working out awesome for you) but we pretty much proved it doesn't do shit.

Yeah, it is pretty ridiculous! Apparently they do fly overs and find sites with aerial photos. I am hiking though the forest for hours past millions of trees in order to find seek and destroy THREE offenders.

I ended up using the boss' Tundra today. Pretty sweet work machine. I climbed up to almost tree line under those peaks there by foot.


Knee deep to waist deep slogging. Had to cross avy chute under hangfire.






Bane of my existence = snow stuck to logs. Burn baby, burn!


Eased the tension by laying some deep turns on the Tundra.




Locals

[carpathian]

Goodbye Canmore. Hello flat land.


Outside of Edmonton. Real beautiful country out here!


Lesser Slave Lake, which is huge. I bet there is good ice fishing out there.


I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.

[carpathian]

We woke this morning to a snow storm. Apparently the 'High Prairie gig' is a bit of a shit show. With all the warm weather we are basically experiencing an early breakup. The access roads have turned to muck so we are reliant on helicopter to get in and out. With the snow this morning there is low vis and potential icing...

Oh just got word, we're heading out!

[Atrain505]

Jake it has been a while since I've checked into this thread. Everytime I do it is filled with awesomeness. We had some good conversations back in the day.
So here's your shot at the big time.
Spend a couple grand on some equipment. A decent video tripod, a decent HD camera-get one of your buddies to film (teach him properly), and a GoPro HD helmet cam. Build your segment. If the footage is good it has a place in our ski film. Check out the dendrite studios link in my signature so you know its big time enough. There will be some requirements in order to ensure we get footage that captures your personality and philosophies, but we can talk about that.
Ya stoke. I always forget how rad this thread is. Now's your chance.
Athan

[splat]

Thar ya fukkin go, Jake!!! A shot at a film segment.
Plus, you're in with the next TGR, buddie.
Didn't even need a heli to do it.

[carpathian]

Alright, I'm in!

That doesn't mean I have to stop posting epic stoke in this thread, do I?

[XXX-er]

but isnt your camera person busy with the breastfeeding ?

[carpathian]

I do like helicopters, though.

This is REAL safety meeting.


Landing somewhere in there...


Oh Yay! More logs on more fires.


Fire spotted ahead to this snag


End of the day flight home


All our hard work up in smoke

[Atrain505]

Keep this thread alive! That is for damn sure, with pics and words. Video stays private until film is released.

[carvedog]

fkna....

[carpathian]

Did I mention how stoked I am?!

So stoked I decided to start a huge fire in the middle of no where


Those are like 100 foot flames from far away.

Naw someone else let this fire get out of control. They called in the first attack and now today we have a day off so the government folks can have a meeting to decide wether to continue working in these oddly warm temps. The access road has turned to muck. Pete and I are flying right from the hanger, I have no complaints.


Might have to move south to Swan Hills. Sounds lovely, but I doubt it.

[carpathian]

So I scored a few days in the bird with a pro film guy. I figure 2 good days will get the job done. Here is what I am thinking:



I am going to focus on Hudson Bay Mountain as there is a lot of terrain to choose from. You pretty much start early in the AM and follow the light as the sun cross lights the different aspects throughout the day.

Probably go straight for Middle Peak. I have skied it a couple of times on foot and it would be good to feel out the snow. Next up would be to jump over into Kathlyn Glacier:



The 'Y Couloir' would be a good gauge of the snow in the Kathlyn Basin. I have had my eye on two lines fall-line off the true summit. Would like to trust the snow for those.

After those are in the bag, head over to the 'Sunny Chutes'. This aspect is prone to over warming from the sun, so would have to time well to avoid early ice or late sludge.

By the afternoon my nerves might be shot so maybe a couple of easy laps on Transformer Ridge. Towards the end of the day we would head around the west side of the mountain and poke around the 'Backside Y' and maybe into Tobaggan Creek...

In the meanwhile i am still in mutha effing High Prairie so I have to live vicariously though Google Earth.

[carpathian]

We moved to Swan Hills a couple of days ago.



Since the road went to shit we are now exclusively using the heli for access.



It has been super warm and the snow is mostly melted now. It makes it difficult to make huge fires that don't get out of control.


We started doing 'back burns' in order to clean an area before putting a real fire there.


Oh, and we are in a 'pumpkin patch' now.




We found this tree hanging in the next tree, like the root wad was about to rip out.


Had to cut the other tree.


Now we get to buck and chuck...

[carpathian]

"And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that Thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, and that Thine hand might be with me, and that Thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested."


We finally got out of the pumpkin patch where we had brutal days with 25 trees or less. Went to a new pinner patch and cleaned up with a 116 trees for today. Could be another record...

We only have a few days left, gotta make the best of it.

[carpathian]

It sure is nice being out of the bush and back in the mountains.

Skinned into Hankin to see what is up with snow.

Climbed up to treed saddle and came back slong ridge to steep trees at right.


Wind hammering though area kept us from going high. Weird refrozen warm layers with skiff of new snow.


Brutal skiing on outrun. At very bottom got soft.


On the way out a sucker hole opened long enough for sunny shot. Windy. We skied the far right tree covered cone.

[Karl Stall]

wow! just amazing! thanks for sharing!

[carpathian]

Getting free heli time is harder then you might think.

[Atrain505]

Jake take video of that check with your kid and with the check and with that one liner you wrote above in hd. Hell do it with the GoPro.

Gold. Pure Gold.

[carpathian]

Remember the day of free helicopter skiing that Vesna won way back when? She finally got to cash in on the goods as we made our way to Bell II and last Frontier Heliskiing.



All ready to go! Skis? CHECK... Multiple head cams? CHECK...
Helicopter?...


Eenie, Meenie, Minee, Moe! I think she picked the silver one to match the car.


My job was to keep the baby alive while Vesna made some turns


Where to go... where to go...


That could be fun. I think they went for the broad saddle on the left.


Thanks for the lift!


Can't go wrong with fresh powder.




Mike the guide.


Load the skis, unload the skis, load the skis...


Over 16 runs for the day. The Carpathians put in some quality miles out there.


Vesna looks ready for another run. How about a little 'Pale Ale' to finish the day?


40,000 vertical feet later Rosie sure was glad to see momma!


Hanging out at 5 star resorts is fun!~

[LeeLau]

Ningunsaw is amazing. Thanks for the taste. Will there be more? I regret scrapping my trip there this year but the snow would have been sub par early season. Maybe next year. I'm shooting for Terrace - Smithers in mid August btw - hope you'll be around to play tourguide and be filmed

[carvedog]

Remember the day of free helicopter skiing that Vesna won way back when? She finally got to cash in on the goods as we made our way to Bell II and last Frontier Heliskiing......

40,000 vertical feet later Rosie sure was glad to see momma!

This TR, this photo, brings the smile. Well done.