Selkirk Wilderness Catskiing

So maybe I’ve been slacking on the ol’ blog a little bit. My reason? Nothing good really, but I’ve been busier than I ever thought possible during shred season and I couldn’t be happier. I could rattle off the events of the past few months, but that would be no fun, check out the vibrant images, colorful language, and moving pictures below to see what’s been up.

Making sure to spend any free time I have surrounded with awesome people, meet the Cambie House crew

I’ll kick things off with Dendrite’s, and my own, inaugural Cat Skiing trip.

Morning commute

The destination, Selkirk Cat Skiing located deep in the intricate system of dirt covered and furry animal littered heart of BC. Maxim Arsenault and Chris Turpin made up my car and after seven some odd hours of driving, a late night bowling trip to Revelstoke, star gazing inside the wrappers of A&W burgers (seriously try it), and 100k a dirt road driving while trying to heard elk and birds with a truck, we finally found ourselves in Meadow Creek, BC. I’d say look it up but this place is far from easy to find.

Maxim and Turpin checking out other galaxies courtesy of A&W

Every morning I was glued to the cat windows with too much excitement for my own good

I brought all my usual camping supplies and food expecting to get stashed in a side room of some distant log shed, but things panned out a little differently. Instead we were greeted with more delicious meals than I could believe, untracked pow as far as you dare to look, masseuses, yoga sessions, and even 4 o’ clock appetizers. Plush doesn’t even begin to cover it.

A far cry from the standard pasta and oatmeal

But all amenities aside, this place has the goods. We kicked things right off with deep pow, cascading pillow lines, and multi stage goodness.

Turpin and I pretty much played add on with pillow lines all week, crazy results

This trend continued for the next several days, with more stomps than I can even begin to recount. Spins, flips, drops, flaming trees, rope swings, road gaps, explosives, bloody faces, tweaked knees, and Selkirk tea sessions, all came into play but rather than go into too much detail, I’d say just watch the movie. Let’s just say it’s mo’ better than my writing.

Perspectives #9 - Selkirk Wilderness Skiing from Dendrite Studios on Vimeo.

Also for another perspective on the whole trip here's Dendrite's take on the whole experience. dendritestudios.com/2010/04/selkirk-wilderness-skiing/

All said and done now, but I can’t wait to get back up to this spot next season. Big thanks to all the guides putting up with our nonsense, and lodge crew for putting us all up and inflating our bellies well beyond the legal limit. Cheers boys and girls, cheers.

Powder Stoke! Yeah it makes me a bit crazy

I'll Kick You in the Horse

Two days of Revi are said and done, and it’s up early once again to head off to Golden, BC this time. A blanket of fresh snow with more on the snow is something that almost always gets me stoked as can be. It just puts a minor damper on things when you have to drive over one of the gnarlier mountain passes in that storm.


Sick for shred, not for driving


Terrifying

Several white-knuckle hours later we roll into the parking lot of Kicking Horse to find an epic scene of pow as far as the eye can see.


Peanut, tour mascot, stoked to ride

Unfortunately we run into a slight snag when a paperwork technicality means we can’t demo at Kicking Horse. O yeah and tickets? Those are out the windows too. So what do five shred bums with ADD do? Buy tickets…nope. Wait for a phone call so we can demo…no sir. Drive as high as we can on the hill, start a barbeque, and build jumps off houses…YAHTZEE!


Joel Whalen, poppin' ones

Kind of like a hood ornament for a house

So jib we did and after too many hotdogs for our own good we headed back into town. I could talk about it but just peep the video from Revi and Golden, for a better idea. Courtesy of Jah Raven Creation.

Quick Cut - Surface Demo does Revy and Golden. from Jah Raven Creation on Vimeo.

Back in Golden we stopped by 180 Board Sports for a quick waxing session on all the skis. The boys there hooked us up with access to their shop, which just so happens to be inside of an old bank vault, epic I know.


The crew chillin' in the vault at 180

Wax on, wax off, chug coffee

After some 20 odd pairs of waxed skis, and more coffee and shred stories than we could believe, we were out the door and off to Calgary.

Revel in the Stoke

Limping into Revelstoke at some time before midnight we found ourselves at our new temporary residence for the next few days. About a quarter of the way through the tour and still no hotels, count it! The residence belonged to Photo Strain’s aunt and uncle and let me just say I never though people so into taxidermy would be the nicest people on earth.

What better place to lift weight, than next to the dead bears? RAR!

The seven odd bear pelts on the wall were complimented with a nice warm fire and dinner, the wolf carcass splayed on the wall contrasted by the eerily similar dog walking around the house, and the countless antlers on the walls only went right along with the Revelstoke feel in the end.

The wolf beast mounted on the wall

The Shayne beast mounted on the floor

Woke up at the crack of whatever to find a nice little sprinkling of powy goodness on the world around us and quickly made our way to the hill. After meeting up with Surface shred dogs, Joel Whalen and Rob Heule, we made our way into the only building in the immediate area and made our way up the hill to enjoy our first demo free day of the tour.

Team Surface gondi ride

Joel Whalen 180'ing over the powder waterfall

Revelstoke as a place and as a mountain is simply dope as hell. Japan pillows under the chair go hand in hand with the cliffs, drops, and tree jibs as far as the eye can see. Nothing is really permanently closed and the pow is always in full effect so long as you know where to go. Even the cat tracks back to the lifts have some of the funnest wall hits and mini jumps along side of them to keep us ADD kids entertained.

Fresh drops for everybody!

After the fact, 50 feet down and one pillow tap in the middle

The following day the name of the game was demo, and demo we did. Tent was up at the top of the Gondola and the masses couldn’t have been happier. Having cliffs right next to the demo tent made for some good times as we were able to session em’ up in between tightening screws.

Back to work

50 feet from the demo tent, taking a lil' break

The highlight was definitely the kids out on the hill. Lil’ ripper not just ridings, but tearing the mountain a new one with skis twice their size. Revelstoke breeds epic so watch out. Next stop Golden!

Big thanks go to Strains Aunt and Uncle, everyone at RMR, as well as Jim Bay and his entire family for showing us around the hill, and having us for a great dinner. Can’t wait to come back.

Big and White

Off through Kelowna in the dark once again, destination, Big White. Bluebird morning was complimented all too well by the harmonica rendition of Piano Man by Andrew Strain with Shayne Metos playing a backup snoring machine.

Sing us a song, you're the piano man

Big White is defiantly something else, just as you think you’re on the mountain, the hill becomes a city in itself. We found a nice spot between all the shops, stops, and props to finally nestle down in for the day.

Nestled in tight but still looking fresh

Dark figures about to drop in off the ridge behind cliff chair

More stoke, more demos, and more shred were to be had by all. Took a couple laps with Mr. Strain and after a lap through the banger park we found ourselves on possibly the windiest ridge of our entire lives. Boards had to be tied down, shred sticks were flying through the air, and I’m pretty sure I saw at least one small child soaring through the sky.

Windy much?

Yup, definitely still blowing

Once we dropped off though we managed to find some real fun snow and cliffy-poppy zones to mess around in for the afternoon. Amped on the freshies two days after a storm, always a sign of a chill resort.

Sunny pow slashes, always the best

Once again we packed up late as our new homies rode their skis to the bitter end of the day, and then we were back to Kelowna.

Moustaches for all!

Shop of the day definitely goes to Venture Sports in Kelowna. Any shop can sell touring gear and skis but Venture has Alyn, the head honcho heading out for 6am tours before coming into work for the day. Also got some good knowledge on backcountry access in the area for future reference, those guys know their ISHT.

Last night in Kelowna and stocking full of candy and junk food are on the menu. I’m too excited for words right now.

Very excited, yes. Very tired, also yes

New Journey, New Reward

I'm not 100% sure why I'm here, but I hope I can instill some knowledge, stories, and general good times on any and all people, small critters, and general individuals who stumble upon this lil' guy.

Enjoying life has its look

I personally am young and may have little to offer in the ways of deep insight into the world. but I hope that through these rantings and possible ravings we can take that trip as one and hopefully both attain that insight along the way.

P.S. I heart skiing, the mountians, and life in general. As such a lot of my posts might just be weighted towards those wonderful things and the people that exist around and within them. Enjoy