COMP - Kootenay Road Trip

A long time in the planning, four of us set out from Vancouver on a search for legendary Kootenay powder. Of course we stopped for pie at the Chilliwack Airport…

We arrived in Nelson, checked into the Alpine Motel, and started calling around to see if any local friends were eager to join us. Unfortunately everyone was busy with kids, jobs and other responsibilities, so we were on our own…

We started with a decent day of inbounds skiing, but quickly realized that despite the amazing terrain, the area was seriously lacking snow. The next day we ventured into the slackcountry, and managed to find some pockets of snow amongst the crust.

From Nelson we headed to Kootenay Pass and had a great day exploring the Ripple Ridge side, then stayed in Creston, then checked out the North side the next day…

Steve getting sniffed by a giant dog…

We took the next day off, doing laundry and visiting the Columbia Brewery, the home of Glacier-fresh Kokanee. (moments later the guards turned the hose on Steve)

Then we headed down to Sandpoint, Idaho to check out the town, and considered skiing Schweitzer, but decided it wasn't worth it with the lack of snow. We stayed in Radium, and decided to check out Vermillion Pass, and ended up skiing out to Boom Lake, which was beautiful, but a long way in, with poor snow conditions. Crossing the lake was freezing cold, with a low-lying mist, so we headed for the sunshine and had lunch.

Steve, always on the lookout for stuff to jump off, found an icefall, but the landing didn't go so well…

From there we headed to Rogers Pass, where on our last ski day we finally found some deep powder, and had a great time.

We then headed to Steve's parent's farm near Armstrong, where we were well fed, and spent some time shooting 22 rifles. The farm policy is to eat any animals shot (hence the grinder), so despite a squirrel taunting us from a nearby fence, we stuck to cans…

To bring the trip full circle, we headed back to Chilliwack for more pie.