4 Great Days in the Shames Backcountry

March 21 - Brad and his first few turns in Big Bird to the north of Oscar Peak. The snow wasn`t the greatest so we were forced to jump turn most of its 300m vertical. It was fun but my legs were burning and ready for the much more open slopes of the lower section.

March 21 - We startled a few goats near the top of Big Bird. They had been busy testing the cornices and entrances to the three couloirs for us.

March 21 - Oscar Peak area.

March 21 - Brad got this shot of me looking west towards Mount Poupard. Yet another area to explore.

March 20 - Out for the day with Elissa on the bump above Geronimo Bowl. We were a bit too early to get good snow but it was fun being out there as always.

March 18 - Saturday with a stable snowpack, powder on north aspects and sunshine. The masses were out and these were just the late starters. A great day for a ridge walk.

March 18 - Kris having fun on a windlip above Hidden Lake. The snow was fantastic. Mount Kenny in the background.

March 18 - Mount Kenny above Hidden Lake and across the Zymagotitz River (most people call it the Zymacord though).

March 21 - Brad and I headed up for a lazy day in the Oscar area skiing a new and fantastic run we are calling Big Bird. This couloir is on a ridge to the north of Oscar Peak proper and drops 3000 feet north down into Poupard Creek. There are three entrances to this thing of which we have now skied the skiers right and left. The middle is still untouched. We are calling the area from skiers right to left, Bert, Ernie and Big Bird.

The skinning into the area was easy enough as we really have the approach dialed in having tested all the options. We even startled a few goats up in the alpine which were testing the cornices above the couloir for us. Looked stable so we dropped in finding a bit grabby snow in the couloir itself but fun powder down to the choke near the bottom. It was fun to tick this run off and get right into the belly of the most ascetic of the 3 couloirs. A good 6 hours out.

March 20 - The sun kept shining and the avalanche conditions since Friday had dropped to Moderate, Low, Low which means go, go, go and finally a big go. Ellissa and I marched out for a ridgewalk with big intentions however her coughing forced us down Geronimo a bit too early so we were not able to enjoy the soft afternoon snow of a solar heated aspect. Turns out she has been touring around the mountains the last while with pneumonia. Oops.

March 19 - Ellissa hosted a great party Friday night in which I even danced for a few hours but after a lazy start Saturday morning Heather and I headed up to do a lap off The Dome into North Bowl. The snow was fun and we had a fun time out. That was my first time actually skiing this bowl as I am usually heading out on a ridge walk and bypassing all that great easy terrain. We were both pretty tired though from a late and active night of dancing to great music.

March 18 - Took Friday off as the weather was turning bluebird and the conditions were hopefully going to really good. Kris and I motored out on a ridgewalk to Hidden Lake skiing a few fun runs on the steeps above the lake. We did one test run next to the trees and then stepped it up a bit for our second getting a small spine feature. The snow was surprisingly dry and fast which was strange considering how warm it had been the day before. We skied some crusty but very skiable snow out Fish Bowl and that was our day being out there for about 7 hours. A good way to start a long run of incredible skiing.

We even had a celebrity meeting of the legendary John Baldwin. A nice guy that has been returning to this area over the years to ski the great terrain and fantastic snow. He and friends were on their way to ski Super Bowl which after seeing their tracks looked pretty damn good.