Last night in Alberta so closing ceremonies underway. Solid day at Lake Louise though never saw any lake nor anyone named Louise. Just one helluva mountain and with it a nicely laid out ski area. Plenty of verticle and thousands of acres to rip it up on. The front side is mostly cruisers, groomed and today pretty "hard packed". Backside is steep, from wide open bowls to narrow "you better not blow it" chutes. About 2" of new snow was reported but depending on where the wind blew it, we actually got to make some tracks. I made a big mistake, waxing for cold snow, when in fact shouldn't have touched our ski's...Our first few runs were like being velcroed...Luckly I had scraper in the car. Spectacular scenery, magnificant baselodge, and they now make HOMEBOYS in their apres ski bar.

Driving away from KH this afternoon with its huge face in the rearview mirror was bitter sweet. It is the best mountain I've ever skied but after about 75,000' in 2 days my quads are aching...my back is sore...my lips are chapped. I can't wait to get back. Highlight of the day, after our short hike to the chutes feeding feuz bowl was being stopped by patrol. They were about to blast a twenty foot cornice and we dropped in just in time to have a front row seat.

Happy hour was spent on the road to banff with nearly a full moon elevating the sunset.

Three days into our Labatts adventure and it appears that the snowiest winter in recent canadian history has turned sunny and warm....Day 1 was a 40,000 + foot day at Kicking Horse above the town of Golden. You ski the gondola, top to bottom every run. Off the top, steep chutes with varying pucker factors followed by ripping nonstop groomers. How fast do you want to go???

We could have snuck in 2 more runs but thought the trip west to Revelstoke should be driven in daylight.. Apres ski happy hour on Can. Highway 1 would take us thru Glacier National Park. Stunning.

Days 2 and 3 were spent above the little ski area of Powder Springs, soon to be Revelstoke Mtn Resort, boasting a 6,000' vert. Snow cats would transport us to the top and it would be endless face shots, unlimited fresh tracks. The website's last "report" on snow conditions suggested bringing a snorkle. Unfortunetly, the sun came out and even at this latitude things warmed up. Southern exposures were completely unskiable with a frozen sun crust and as you worked around the mtn to the north, things only improved slightly. Old tracks were semi rigid walls of trouble.. Cats broke down, our group featured a few nimrods and the fabled ski out run was done on the cattrack to the top. Subtract that 5000 feet from our daily tally and we averaged about 6000' of so so skiing each day. Sure, there were a few turns on the steeps with the right exposure when it got pretty good but we didn't get lucky. Our guide did the best he could but his highlight was trying to set a dead fir tree on fire. Unfortunetly the tree he chose didn't cooperate.

Peterson Lumber
KickingHorse
A quick flight in the piper cherokee from BBL to Van Nuys airport and before i knew it was watching the sunset over Peterson lumber. From there, a couple of margarita's and a short nights sleep. To find deep snow and massive mountains a short 2 1/2 hour flight to Calgary Alberta is all it takes. The drive thru Banff National park was incredible on a bluebird day...but its all about Kicking Horse. 4000' + feet of vertical and 200 centimeters of snow. Time to go drink canadian beer, watch some hockey heh, and eat elk burgers.

The holiday season has come and gone but I did squeeze in one day off last month. A lack of any early precipitation and a twenty year yearning to go where we were not supposed to be... It would be too easy, poaching, if we didn't roll from home. Under the glory of a December full moon and a 4:30 ride time Derek and I launched our epic adventure.
Sunrise, just after our hour of brutal hike a bike. Derek, who has "ridden these trail's a million times", knew a short cut.
From the back side of Sugarloaf as the soft pink glow of sunrise shines on our goal. It has only just begun..
Thinking that it is December, midweek, no one would see this. There is one car parked at the trailhead and I am following fresh tracks. Shit. We do see 2 sets of hikers and have no issues.
11,502'. Big Bear is behind the second ridge. With our climb over Sugarloaf, vertical gain was 9000'+, ride time around 11 hours. When I snowboard this so cal wonder, I think its safe to say I can be the only one to complete the trifecta. Ski, peddle, and board.

It won't be much longer...BBMR has about 36 hours of moderate snowmaking since Friday and cold nights are forecast. We might even see a strong santa ana develop and get on a real snowmaking run! With 6 million dollars spent to upgrade the "old" system it will be very interesting and exiting to see how efficiant they can be.

Already, instead of a single ribbon of white snaking its way down Miracle Mile, Snow Summit has laid down an early base on 2 top to bottom trails...plus the beginner area and upper Westridge. I would definetly say they are producing more snow because conditions to blow have been pretty marginal.

November sure came and went. Motivation for ride time has been a struggle. Maybe the lack of daylight savings time, maybe a long summer with more miles or maybe I be saving up the jam for 2007... Winter miles will add up though, as I begin the bike commute tomorrow.

It's time for me to dig out my cold weather acccessory's...including 10lbs of lead that will float around nicely at the bottom of my backpack until spring thaw. This old mans version of a testosterone patch.

Our fireroads are more charred than your's.

Time for some bloggin!

My mountain bike race/announce calender is complete for the summer. No more roll ups, award ceremonies, or epic dual slalom qualifier's. Nor will I enjoy prerace portapotty sessions, hyperinhaled micro dirt particles or the post race afterburn of "Icouldabeenfaster." IT is now THAT glorius time of year.... 3 hour ride's are soft pedaled and savored and one finds the distance traveled to be insignifigant. Alittle bit of Penny Pines Trail... Seasonal weather as things cool off some but winter in still flying north of the jet stream . This has been a busy week with Jimmy Buffet, PioneerTown and Halloween. Pioneer town is a must do ride with Pappy and Harriets your icb hangout after 25 miles of fast and happy fireroad descent.

...and the view from Cougar Crest.

Hal Helbock, 40 yearold family man, pro rider, celebrates the biggest win of his career at state finals.