Humbled coming off five straight days of riding some of the most interesting lines I have ever ridden.

It started with 20cm of fresh two nights in a row. The lift line at kicking horse resort was in a quiet frenzy at 8:30 on a Monday morning, every one who could call in sick did, and those who couldn’t simply didn’t go to work. The first two days, sticking it between he ropes,. The adage of No Friends on a Power Day holding true with a dynamic group of ride partners in a constant state of flux, running solo but never alone. Milking  the natural features of the landscape of all their interesting lines.

Tuesday ended with three laps of terminator ridge, and a reoccurring theme of a chance meeting on the peak. The ridge is very representative of the entire dog tooth range, with the south side being mellow low angle power shots sprinkled with open glades, and the north side being steep and rocky, lined with shoots and couloirs. On the top of this ridge over the week I met, rode, blazed and passed the flask with people I have never met before, and I also became reacquainted with friends and strangers from my past. Up there Tuesday after noon I met Shawn form Alaska. We hiked the ridge one more time that day, sitting up there at four O’clock watching the patrol climb up for sweep and taking in the view before laying down turns in the shoot known as truth. 

After two days, with the inbounds being fairly eaten up, Wednesday was set up for a trip to the pass. Rogers pass is known for it’s snow, and didn’t let us down. The skin track was steep, no hippy trails here, set in to gain quick elevation and for the ability to lap. Once at the top we were faced with waist deep high angle Snow. So deep you couldn’t turn with out sinking up to your waist, and once your board got sucked down, it was there to stay. With a stream of snow  plowing up my chest and over my head, and a mass of sluff riding down the hill with me, the whole experience made me tingle. I’d never riding snow that deep before, and it isn’t easy. No railing turns, not fancy foot work between the trees, just point it fall line, lean back and hope for the best.

The week finished off with  Jonny Rocker and my self set out to lap the slack country of Kicking Horse. We hiked off the lift where we met a local guide and his partner, who were roping up, preparing to busted off the cornice hanging over the couloirs we were hoping to ride. There some thing very humbling about sitting on top of a huge feature you can’t see, have never seen before, but there was also some amount of confidence when you hanging onto the coat tails of some one that’s experienced. With a ten foot drop off the cornice I got a quick look at the surroundings before being sucked into the choke. The wall on this were huge and the slope was steep. One of the most imposing features I have ever ridden.

The next morning, after assembling a group in the local repair shop, and meeting up with Shawn again, we found our selves up there the next day looking to drop into a Couloir next to what we had done the day before. This one is steeper and longer then the one we had dropped the day before. The whole thing is close to 200 meters long and 40 degrees steep, with no tracks in it. I got to hit it first, dropping off the cornice, setting up a couple turns before dropping off the shoulder and swinging into the throat. Once I was in it was on, fast and straight, with no other tracks, the whole thing was surreal, one of those lines you dream if riding. I popped out the other side giggling.

We ended the day with three laps of the south side of the Terminator ridge, the group dynamics once again changing, till in the end it was just Jonny Rocker and my self carving rock star turns and feeling satisfied with the week. Now looking back on the whole thing I’m truly humbled, the mountains graced us, allowing us to ride and link together five mind blowing days in a row. And that is about as good as it get.