Selkirk Mountain Experience, March 2020 (Part 3)
- Keith Nussbaum
- Mar 21, 2020
- 6 min read
March 11th, 2020
Today we woke up to 29cm (close to a foot) of fresh pow and lifting clouds. Since the weather forecast told of worsening weather conditions throughout the day, Ruedi made the executive decision to spend the day below treeline. Tree skiing has always been very special to me and I was excited to start the first steep tree powder day of the trip.The morning sunlight and lifting clouds gave us a window during which we could tour up to lower parts of the high alpine so that we could make a 1000m run down to treeline and then continue all the way down to the creek that runs through the valley below. When we made it up to Moon Hill, the high alpine winds were roaring with gusts up to 70km/h, but unlimited visibility and many distant peaks almost shining in the early morning sun.
During the transition of skin to ski, we had to be careful that nobody’s equipment was lost to the roaring wind. We quickly descended away from the alpine to treeline, shielded from the harsh winds, greeted with glades and slopes of beautifully protected powder. The run down Missing Jack all the way to Carnes Creek in the canyon was by all accounts a perfect run, straight from a tree skier's dreams. Face shots, controlled falling, and endless powder. We skied through a couple areas that Ruedi had traveled through a few days prior with a tree saw in order to clear out some trees for more open faces in the otherwise very dense trees with many chutes, waiting to be skied. Where the run met the creek in Jack’s Canyon, we took a break and then walked along the creek as we steadily made our way back up 1000m to the chalet.
We had to be cautious for a large portion of our skin up, as we were actually in a large avalanche debris area from a couple class 5 avalanches that destroyed the area back in 2011 and 2012. These avalanches took out close to 30 hectares of forestation, more than 1200m below the breaking point of the avalanches.
eWe ate sushi and cake for our snack and I proceeded to attempt to wash some of my clothes in the shower since things were starting to get stinky after five days of use. The weather was continuously changing and the lighting growing ever more dramatic as it got closer to sunset so I stood outside taking in the view from the back deck for close to an hour. in the valley and was blowing snow off of the trees to an amount that it looked and felt like it was snowing heavily, even though it wasn’t. We eventually made our way back up to the chalet at which point the guides offered an extra run for those interested. Of course I went, the tree skiing was so good that I had to go again. Our guides decided that we could actually ski off the back deck of the chalet directly into a steep line through the trees below. This area was extra loaded with snow because it was the area to which excess snow would be pushed from snow shoveling of the walkways around the chalet. With some extra built up speed, dropping in with some airtime was welcomed with a soft landing and fast turns through the rest of the section. Our original extra run plan was to only go down a few more turns, but the snow was so good that we actually kept going all the way back down to the upper parts of the creek. When we made it back up, Ruedi expressed that he was very impressed with us for climbing more than 1700m for the day, which was the biggest that any of us had ever done.
We ate sushi and cake for our snack and I proceeded to attempt to wash some of my clothes in the shower since things were starting to get stinky after five days of use. The weather was continuously changing and the lighting growing ever more dramatic as it got closer to sunset so I stood outside taking in the view from the back deck for close to an hour.
I was in bed by 8:30, smiling ear to ear. Today's skiing was some skiing that I will never forget. I was ready for sleep as much as I was ready to tackle the next day, especially if it's anything like what today was.
March 12th
I woke up at 5 feeling restless and sore, so I did yoga for about an hour until other people starting waking up and moving around. We got about 15cm (6ish inches) overnight and the forecast was pretty similar yesterday, high winds with variable visibility throughout the day. While the other groups braved out the windy conditions in the alpine, we took a similar route up to Moon Hill so that we could play around in the lower trees again since we had so much fun yesterday. I left my camera at the chalet, wanting to tour for a day with a lighter load.
We skied from the top of Moon Hill all the way down to the creek with a short skin up part way through and had this awesome run on the lower section of this gladed run called Zigerschlitz, which featured both the best snow and the steepest skiing of the week so far. We started in a very steep chute the opened up a powder face on which we were inhaling powder as we skied all the way down to Carnes Creek. Some areas were so steep that it felt more like controlled falling than skiing but everything felt so smooth with some incredibly bouncy powder; the stoke was high. At the creek we stopped for our lunch break and Ruedi showed me and Ben a style of Swiss wrestling and we ended up having a short match in which we decided was a draw (Ben got the take down but I got the pin) and from there we toured back up to the chalet. Once we reached the top, everyone in our group was tired, but me and Ben wanted to do just a little more. Shep offered to take us off the back deck again for a couple turns so we all took our turn sending it off the cliff from the back deck, which didn’t have of nice of snow as it did yesterday. Shep took us on a quick tree run that went down just a hundred meters or so but we hit some fun jumps along the way, including one that resulted in me busting my ski pants at the seam which was a hilarious discovery as we put our skins back on to make our way back up. Back at the chalet, I used duct tape to temporarily fix my pants that I’ll replace when I’m home. I’ve been talking a bunch with other guests and Ben a lot recently a bout how quickly this week has actually passed us by. On Sunday and Monday, it felt as if this week would never end, but now we’re on the eve of our final ski day and it’s difficult to come to terms with the fact that we all have to return to our normal lives. Some of the guests up here are fortunate enough that they’ll get to keep on adventuring from here (like my parents), but most of us have to return to a world that seems to have been changing a mile in a second. The COVID-19 epidemic was quickly evolving and it seems to have taken up everyone’s mind, with international borders closing (in Europe) and many big events getting canceled (March Madness, NBA, taste of Washington, etc).The world that we would be returning to in two days will not be the same as we left it. This week has been absolutely transforming. After doing 1700m of vertical yesterday, doing close to 1500m was a breeze. I feel stronger and more efficient with my climbs each day, and I’m taking in as much as I can because I’m not sure when I’ll be able to do something like this again.
With the weather looking optimistic for tomorrow, Ruedi is hoping to take us up to the peak of Mt. Ruth, which would be a perfect capstone to the week because it’s a very special peak to Ruedi. I’m almost at a loss for words for how special it’s been to have Ruedi as our guide for the week. He is the legacy of this place and these mountains. Improving all of our touring abilities with some incredible guiding, he been an important teacher for all of us.
Here’s to one more big day tomorrow with some extra airy pants!
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