Nicholas skiing day 1

Pizza Pizza Pizza!!!!!  (translates to STOP STOP STOP!!!)

skiing

Went skiing today with the boys.  Nick and I got out for a few laps last week, and today we all made it up.  Nick has been TOTALLY amped about skiing ever since the first snow fell on the mountains in September.  Last weekend he insisted on walking from the truck carrying his skis.  Which is no small feat for someone who is barely 3' tall.  Today they both ripped it up on the magic carpet with Coen.

There is no question Nicholas is a skier.  He's determined to ski on his own, climb on and off the magic carpet by himself as well as take his skis on and off alone.  He's also trying SO hard to snowplow, but I think his little legs aren't quite strong enough yet to force his skis apart.

Tobin has improved vastly over last year and will be skiing on his own before the end of the month.  He's still a little shakey on his new skis, but like everything he does, he'll one day decide it's time to show these suckers how to ski and probably bust out a 360 or something.

Bring it.

 Sporting his new helmet

 

Our serious looks

This way dad!

Practicing his slopestyle

Exhausted and irrational on the way home.  Didn't want to take his boots, helmet googles or shark mitts off.  Clutching Diego like his life depended on it.

Mt Smart

Every good day starts with a wade across a creek

Heading towards the highest col on Smart, the summit is the high point, right of center.

I had my old lady legs on and couldn't break trail without cramping and wailing like a cat in heat. So of course Travis, the manimal, took the lead most of the day.

Almost there. It's STEEP here, well over 45deg, maybe more, I don't know.

Looong way down! At the far end of the slide path in the center of the picture were trees piled up in the forest and branches broken 50' above the ground. That's almost 3km from where we are! Must have been a huge avalanche! It was pretty white when we started down, which made the steep skiing pretty exciting!

Finally downloaded all the images off the camera, so here are a few.

Tobin and Nick chillaxin' in their fort

Getting ready for bed, Nick looking like wise and amused. Tobin saying "I wanna see!", the same thing he says every time I take a picture.

Tobin and Coen riding the gondola. Tobin looks like a deer in the headlights because I told him there was a deer down there, the only way he would look at me.

Same day, getting ready to rip up the magic carpet!

Super-awesome magic carpet. Evidently the only reason to go down is so you can ride the magic carpet back up.

Some scenery: Grizzly Peak and Grizzly Chute

Looking towards Abbott Ridge, Afton and Bonney in the distance

Troy, working his way to the top. You can see Roger's Pass 1300m below.

Major A.B. Rogers

I just got this really great book called 'The Great Glacier and its House'. It's all about the history of mountaineering in Roger's Pass as well as the history of the railway line. A good read and filled with some inspiring characters. Many of whom had mountains named after them. Major AB Rogers was one of the early surveyors who has been credited with finding the way through the Selkirks. Hence Roger's Pass. However, there's also a peak named after him and it's a classic ski mountaineering objective. I skied this yesterday on a bluebird, cold, windy and deep pow day. It was amazing. Skiing right off a 3100m summit 1900m to the car was a real treat.

A foreshortened view of Roger's on the left, Fleming, Swiss and Truda on the right. We skied the giant snow face.

Roger's is one of the highest around so we were looking down on everything except Sir Donald and Bonney.

Tupper, MacDonald (Sir John A) and Sir Donald

I forgot the camera so used the 'camera phone' to take these lousy images.

Even MORE Skiing!

SICK!!!!

Tobin is pretty amped about ski season and has been practicing by skiing around the living room. Earlier this week Ann-Marie took the boys up the gondola to check it out and to seed a bit of excitment.

Here's jolly old St Nick*

"Hey look, I can sit up!"

*a few hours from now, at about 2am, I'll be calling him 'Satan-Screaming-Angel-of-Death' child

more skiing...

Okay, to set the record straight I don't ski more than Ann-Marie, I just take pictures and make blog postings about my ski days... Sorry if this bores you, but I got to ski an exciting line today. This is also partially to torture you European transplants that are busy bettering yourselves academically.

Ski touring at -20 requires down and tea

ahhh, into the sun!

Looking over at a piece of the magnificent Ross

Summit of Afton, we had to cross a narrow catwalk to reach the top of the line we skied. Intimidating, but we belayed our way across. Sir Donald in the background.

Just below the summit, making our way down to the entrance... Glad to have skis on now.

Through the difficulties and looking at sweet steep powder right to the bottom!!!

1/2 way down. Stop for a rest and some phots.

Travis getting amongst it!

The fellas below our line, the central couloir that comes off the summit.

Skiing!

Skiing is really, really good right now. Here are some pics from our day today. Work time in the bank! Looks like I need to figure out how to fix the exposure...

Harry and Luc and diamond dust

Up on to Avalanche Crest

Enjoying the views...

Slaying sweet pow! Run #1