[porter]

Day 1, Jan. 20, 2007

Get NWA’s 6.40 from AVL to MSP, where it is 5 above. Land in Spokane before noon. Enterprise has a Jeep Cherokee waiting. Spend a few hours in Spokane on errands, then head north toward Sherman Pass in the Kettle Range. I knew before hand that I’d need a Sno-Park pass to park at the pass trailhead -- but no one along the way sold them and practically no one had ever heard of them. A note to Washington State Parks -- if you want people to buy the pass, find a way to sell the things. Sleep in the car just off the summit. Beer and chips and sandwiches for dinner.

Day 2

Wide awake at 3.30 am MST. 17 degrees. Read until 6 then drive to the summit. At first light find the trailhead and begin skinning. Skin to Sherman Peak,



ski the south side, and climb Snow Peak. Brilliant sunrise over foggy valley bottoms. Clouds begin to move in from the north. Ski the northeast shot of Snow Peak,



climb back to Sherman, and meet a group of friendly locals. Ski the east face of Sherman and back to the car. Sandwiches and a beer for lunch. Begins to snow. Fill up with cheap gas in Kettle Falls then drive, after mild harassment, into Canada. Go to Red Mountain but decide not to ski -- a decision I later regretted, as everyone said it was awesome. Though too-cute Rossland, then Trail, to Salmo. Local ski hill closed. To Whitewater. Pay $5 to sleep in the car in the upper lot. Beer and chips and sandwiches for dinner.

Day 3

22 degrees, 6 inches new snow. Ski Whitewater. Whitewater is two chairlifts serving facing mountains and offering easy access to an immense amount of off-piste terrain.



Snows all day. Chips and a sandwich for lunch. At 4, drive to Salmo. I’m the only nonlocal at Salmo Ski Club Ski Hill. The 1,000 vertical foot t-bar opens at 6. A magical evening. Snows thick all night. The one main trail, a great roller coaster, is the only lighted run, but it’s easy to sneak off to the others.



Back to Whitewater at 10 and sleep in the parking lot.

Day 4

23 degrees. 5 inches new snow. Buy a single ride pass at Whitewater. In thick snow climb what I believe was called The Goat and ski it.



Then ski a few shots lower down in the trees. At noon, drive into Nelson. Briefly warms to 36. Shop, use the computers at the library, and get a mocha from the famous Oso Negro.



Nelson, strung out along a lake, is a beautiful and hip town. Drive north into snow and darkness through Slocum and New Denver. Pull in to Summit ski area but it’s not open and the snow in the parking lot is too deep to drive through. Cross a lake at night on a free ferry. One spotlight shone off the front of the boat, illuminating swirling snow and thin ice on the lake. Camp in a pullout.

Day 5

Woken at 3 am by a snowplow plastering the Jeep with mud, snow, ice and sand. I had fallen asleep with the window open and have mud and ice in my sleeping bag. 26 degrees. 4 inches new snow. Drive into Revelstoke, which appears to be one storm away from complete burial. Snow up to the eaves on some homes, and massive piles in the streets. Streets are briefly closed a block at a time while a massive wheeled snowblower hurls snow into a waiting dump truck, which carts it off. Drive to Powder Springs, soon to be Revelstoke Mountain Resort, a double chair mountain with 1000 vert. Pass on it and drive to Rogers Pass up the TransCanada.



Pay $6 trailhead fee. Foolishly tell the warden I’m skiing alone and am from North Carolina. He suggests I not ski at all. Undaunted, climb Grizzly Ridge to remarkable views of the Selkirks.



Deep snow on the way down. Camp at the Asulkan Hut trailhead. Crackers and sandwiches and red wine for dinner. Finish reading Marley and Me.

Day 6

21. Dusting of new snow. Drive into Golden, which is dark and has haul trucks lining the shoulders of the TransCanada. Power outage. Same up at Kicking Horse, though they run the gondola starting at 10 am and the power returns at 11. Mildly worried before the lifts open: area seems to be full of French who stand around smoking, say oui oui oui, break into laughter, and say oui oui oui again. But they all became part of the blur once the lift opened.



Basically, Kicking Horse is a 4,300 vert mountain served by a gondola and three chairs and it is steep.



Surely it is home to some of the sickest in bound lines in North America. Fantastic views.



Ski the gondola until they tell me it’s closed.



Down to Golden. Figure it’s time for a shower. Check into Mary’s Motel. $55C buys be a big room and 40 channels of cable. Do a load of laundry. Glorious shower. Eat a link of sausage and drink red wine.

Day 7

Clear. 17. 2 above and brilliantly clear when I pull into Lake Louise. Ski until 4, stopping for a sandwich and a beer back in the car. Lovely Alp like terrain and dig the views to Lake Louise, Temple and the Rockies.







The drive out:



Drive to Fairmont Hot Springs, a small ski area, but sleeping in the parking lot looked illadvised, so sleep at a rest area near Canal Flats.

Day 8

Clear. 4 above. Drive to Kimberly. Fog down low. Kimberly is more of a family area. Smaller.



Front side base area has been apparently reconfigured to better suit real estate development. End result is all front side runs funnel over a narrow skier bridge which is scraped down to ice by noon. Park takes off in the late afternoon. Kids out in full force -- see some amazing air. Drive to Fernie, where all the cool kids are and pay $20 to camp in their parking lot -- high price buys me entrance to the maintenance building bathroom, showers and radiant heated floor.

Day 9

8 above and clear. Fernie is a series of four huge bowls connected by razor sharp ridges.



The bowls are often not too steep and make for nice cruising.



Unfortunately conditions are subprime and a bit scraped. Nice time, though.



At 4 head to Sparwood, where there is a community ski area. Find out the rope tow has been removed and it’s mostly used for sledding. It had about 300 vert and 3-4 trails. Drive the 18-mile dead end road to Elkford, where there is a much larger community ski area, close to 1000 vert and 8-10 trails. It’s closed for the day, however, and the access road is gated. Drive over Crowsnest Pass, by a string of frozen alpine lakes, and into Alberta -- technically, not a province I’m allowed in per the Enterprise rental agreement. Pass Benismore’s Pass Powderkeg ski area, two t-bars and a rope and 1000 vert, 14 trails. Closed for the day. Camp at an XC trailhead south of Pincher Creek. Nuts and wine and two sandwiches for dinner. Finish The Climb by Anatoli Boukreev.

Day 10

Clear. 9 above. Short drive to Castle Mountain.



Castle boasts a 135-inch base, but the summit lift bowl is practically blown clean. Lower down is nice. New lift this year opens up much needed cruiser terrain. A very fun mountain. SKi until the lifts stop. Drive back past Pass Powderkeg, which is not open for night skiing tonight, and the friendly clerk at the Esso in Sparwood calls Elkford to learn that area is also not open tonight. Back through Fernie, make a left in Elko, enter the US at 8 p.m. An overly official border crossing and a fairly thorough search of the Jeep, though my personal appearance by this point may have contributed to that. Camp on a lonely forest road. Nuts and two sandwiches and one beer and red wine for dinner.

Day 11

Cloudy. Minus 2. Drive through Whitefish and to Big Mountain, sitting above the clouds.



Work the mountain until 4, stopping briefly for a sandwich and a beer for lunch. Nice, especially the back, where the snow is soft, and the front cruising terrain, which is well groomed and soft in the afternoon sun. Since I’ve thought about moving to this area, scout out Whitefish (good), Columbia Falls (not so good) and Kalispell (so-so). Pass on a plan to ski West Glacier due to insufficient information. Annoying drive through Polson looking for a quiet place to camp -- nothing. Camp just outside entrance to Montana Snow Bowl. The usual for dinner. Finish reading Valley of the Dolls.

Day 12

14. Two inches of snow. Heard an ad for Higher Grounds coffee. Drove into town and got a double mocha with whip cream.



Back to MSB. Thin cover even though they advertise (correctly, I later found) a 56-inch base at the summit. Generally poor conditions on the front and nice conditions on the back.



MSB also suffers from subpar grooming. Mountain was 100 percent open despite some runs having all sorts of shrubbery poking through. Quit a half hour early and check out Missoula. Cool place. Check out a gear shop. Higher Grounds, again. Starts to snow. South to Lolo Pass. Find an excellent camping spot. Chips and a sandwich and wine for dinner, followed by a handful of figs.

Day 13

15. Two inches snow. Drive to Lolo Pass and pay $5 trailhead fee. At the pass there is 5 inches new. Ski what is apparently called the Montana Shot. Hohum terrain and uninspiring views



but perhaps the lightest snow I’ve ever skied -- could not have been more than 4 percent. Do a half dozen runs. Use the toilet and find the stalls are in personal, lockable rooms. A-ha! Grab my shampu and shaving kit and tidy up. Back to Missoula. Higher Grounds. I-90 east to Drummund, south. To too-cute Phillipsburg, which is backed by an extraordinary view of the new back bowls of Discovery.



Up to Georgetown Lake. In twilight ski along the lake edge and make a few turns. Purple sunset. 5 above. While packing my gear up temp drops -- and keeps dropping. Soon it’s 5 below. Find a great camping spot but it’s out of the way and worry that car may not start in the morning. Also worry that if the car gets too cold my booze will freeze. Camp close to Discovery lot. Regular for dinner.

Day 14

Temp fell to 8 below but under clouds rose to 2 above by sunrise. Ski Discovery. Work the mountain, practically by myself, all day. Nice mountain.



Ski new snow on beginner slopes, then tracked powder on the intermediate mountain. I was the third person in when they opened the Granite chair at 1 pm, and cut that up until 3.30. Back at the base pulled my camera out to take a picture of an old snowcat, and my camera was gone. It’s the world’s worst Nikon digital, and among other things will not turn on when it’s cold, so I’d taken to keeping in a pocket on one of my base layers. It must have fallen out. Hate that damn camera, but the images on it! Scour the mountain, and finally find it -- a someone returned it to the liftie in the top shack on Granite. Phew! Celebrate with a slopeside mocha and drive back to Missoula. Wonderful sunset. Get hungry but press on. At 8 pm wind up Lookout Pass. Just me and the truckers. Snow piled roof high on either side of the highway, roadside hamlets pass buried in snow and lit by halogen street lights. Camp in Lookout Pass’ back lot. Usual for dinner.

Day 15

Woken by the groomers at 5.30 a.m. 15. Drive 5 miles to a rest stop. Enter and find a personal, lockable room. A-ha! Shampu and shave, though the sink needed a good scrubbing before I could stick my head in it. Buy a single ride ticket at Lookout.



Ski tight trees and some of their newly cut not yet liftserved runs.



Find out too late the real skiing is far to the south -- too much for the sort of short tour I’ve got time for. Drive through Wallace, coffee. Stop in Kellogg, where the Porterette and I spent two nights on our honeymoon a few years back. Silver Mountain seems to be growing, or at least their base village is. Check out Couer d’Alene. In unattractive Spokane stop at Taco Time. Drive up to Mt. Spokane. Night tickets start at 4. Begins to snow. Fogs. Night closes in around the amber lights. A wonderful time. Ski until they tell me I can’t ski any more.



Reached a higher level of telemarking. Exhausted, look for somewhere to camp, but I’m in the city now. Resigned, check into a Motel 6 near the airport, which I considered a failure of will. Finish reading Perfume, a remarkable novel.

Day 16.

26. 2 inches snow. Watch Father of the Bride, and pack. Wax has been skied off of the Crossbows. Jacket, jeans and pants are covered in mud, mostly from inadvertently leaning against the Jeep, which is so muddy and slush covered by now it’s not clear what color it is. Pack up a backpack full of trail maps, newspapers and real estate magazines. Shower. Find I have no socks suitable for wearing in public. Contemplate buying a new pair, but decide the ones I have will make it another 12 hours. Clear out the Jeep, make two sandwiches with the remainder of my food, and drive to the airport. Drop off the Jeep, which I put 1923 miles on. I now feel entitled to say a few things about this $30,000 SUV. 9,200 miles when I picked it up. Traction in snow excellent. Powerful. Gas mileage averaged 18.5. Good heater. Persistent loud rattle from front passenger side wheel. Check engine light was a constant companion for about 300 miles. Dearth of interior lights. Good stereo. At GEG learn NWA to MSP is 3.5 hours late. In MSP I’ve missed my connection. Shuttled to Days Inn Bloomington West, a miserable, horrible cinder block motel. Dinner coupons get me my first real meal in 17 days -- beef fajitas and happy hour Newcastles at the bar.

Day 17

Clear. Minus 26. Spit and it freezes in midair, hitting the sidewalk with a satisfying plink. Some problems at the airport, mainly with things being frozen. Uneventful rerouted flight to DTW, where is is minus 2. 3 pm flight to AVL noneventful for first 30 minutes, when cabin door opens, filling the plane with a horrible, ghastly sound. Plane turns around on a pin, descends, and lands back in DTW.



One hour delay for a new plane. Arrive in Asheville at sunset, some new snow in Mt. Mitchell. The Porterette is there to greet me. Enchiladas for dinner. Collapse into bed, utterly exhausted.
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www.parisbaconpesto.blogspot.com

[teleVTpow]

beautious

[Kristin S]

Now that's a road trip.

Wow.

[scharny]

That re-defines the term "whirlwind tour". You got a lot of energy, dude. Great TR.

[TomTeryx]

Wow. That's what I'd call "an excellent adventure".

Thanks for the great shots and the accompanying commentary!
_________________
"Live as if to die tomorrow. Learn as if to live forever." - Gandi

[bigdaddy]

wow wow we wa that sounds like a great trip!

[Dirk]

Wow. What an excellent read. Thanks!

That's a whole lot of jeep sleeping . . .

[SkaredShtles]

Awesome! Keep up the good work, man!

[Sierra Fred]

Wow! TR of the Year nomination right there.

Tired me out just reading it.

Think I'll go wash up in the sink now.
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Heh, I know this place. You know you are on a telemark site when peep's concerns about new gear center on the "downside" that the new gear might make skiing somehow easier or different.
-Cowdog, Sept 8, 2009

[GTSnowracer]

Man, do you ever get tired?

[Rich A]

Nice TR and pictures.....thanks for sharing.....what an adventure!
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Go your own way........the lines are shorter

[freedan]

Awesome road trip! When you were at the Fairmont Hot Springs you should have hit up the hot spring fed Olympic sized pools.

Oh, and I'll have a sandwich, chips and beer - to go

[Valdez Telehead]

wow ....great road trip.

[MattB]

Nicely done! Jealous!
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There cannot be pleasure without pain. -Skerik

Matt

[edgeworker]

Now that`s what I`m talking about!!! Way to go!!