NSR Task for Lost Skiers at Grouse Mountain

The pager went off at around 6:30pm or so saturday night, and the team was paged out to look for a pair of skiers who had skied out of bounds at Grouse Mountain. The Father & Son team had pitched off the north side of Grouse Mountain to enjoy the couple of feet of fresh snow ... and neglected to think how they were going to climb back up into the resort area. They called 911, and our team was dispatched to find them and get them out.

The avalanche hazard was high that night - a team of about 9 of us went in ... Jeff, Curtis & were held back as an advance backup team while the others found and brought the pair out. While we were waiting, we set up a shelter system, and got some warm drinks going - ready for when the rest of the team brought the pair out an hour and a half or so later.

Jeff, along with the son & father in our shelter.

Although it was a straightforward rescue into an area that we've operated in before, suffice to say that the high avalanche hazard added additional risk to the team. The father & son really should have known better than to ski out of bounds in these conditions.

Not All Ski Days Are Fun Days

Killaine & I had a fun, but not terribly fun, day of skiing at Whistler. The skiing was good and conditions were great, but:

1. The restaurants were beyond packed out - packed lunches on the side of the ski run from now on!
2. We had to ride one gondola ride with some sort of wierdo who got overly excited in an angry way about a story he was telling (you had to be there)
3. We were accosted by some dweeb trying to sell us timeshares in Whistler
4. Another gondola ride with kids who "just about" pulled out their joints and started smoking them ... and
5. My truck was broken into while parked at Whistler Creekside (in the underground parking). Fortunately, "only" around $100 was stolen from Killaine's wallet.
   

Killaine praying for respite from the crowds in the restaurant.

My truck - without a window!

Boxing Day Powder

Boxing day was a clear, sunny day in Vancouver, albeit cool, and the previous day had dumped a fair amount of snow on the mountains. So, in the spirit of a lazy boxing day, Killaine and I headed up Hollyburn Peak (near Cypress) to ski the back side of it.

The ski up Hollyburn is incredibly popular amongst the snowshoeing crowd.

The recent snow was plastered all over the trees near the summit.

As I mentioned, the summit is very popular ... but (virtually) everyone stops here. Killaine & I dropped over the north side of the peak and skied the foot or so of fresh powder along the ridge that leads NE from the peak of Hollyburn, kind of up and above Tony Baker gully.

The runs were short, but the skiing was great, and it was a beautiful day - all in all, not bad for an afternoon powder run!

Christmas Day

What better way to celebrate Christmas in our new home by doing a short ski!

Killaine and I went up the Alpine trail on Mount Seymour - just for a single run 'cause we had to get ready to go for Christmas supper at Hugh's.

So, a short climb up, and a good run down in the new snow.

On our way up

Killaine tromping up the Alpine Trail.

A windy, snow blown Christmas afternoon at Brockton Point!

Christmas Eve

We had Killaine's family over to our new house Christmas eve for a special dinner.

As usual, Baxter & Mille were the focus of popular attention.

Sophie, Baxter, Mille, Lynn & Dag in the kitchen.

Hugh, Killaine & their Dad by the Christmas tree in our living room.

Killaine made an awesome vegetarian meal - very yummy!

NSR Avalanche Practice

On December 23rd, I got together with a number of other North Shore Rescue members to practice our Avalanche procedures up on Mount Seymour.

A number of us, including myself, are going to be taking the Canadian Avalanche Association's Avalanche Operations Level 1 course, and thus wanted to bone up on our avalanche transceiver search, Rutschblock, and snow profiling.

Analyzing our snow pit, under the guidance of Fiona.

Fiona doing a hardness profile of the snowpack.

Curtis doing a temperature profile.

Digging out a Rutschblock - yes, we've been getting alot of snow!

Mount Seymour Dawn Patrol - December 20th

The tradition continues ...

For "fun" (and, 'cause it's something you can do in Vancouver), once a week I try to wake up at 5:30am, drive up to Mount Seymour, and do a couple of laps of skiing up the Alpine trail and down the ski runs on Mount Seymour. I get around 560m of vertical in, finish up by about 8:30, and get to work by 9:30.

This morning, I started my first downhill run in the dark - skiing by headlamp. This picture kinda shows how awake I was that morning:

My New Bumper Sticker

Unfortunately, she isn't the Green Party candidate, but, hey, anyone but Bush in 2008! (Killaine ordered the bumper sticker especially for me!)

Our New House!

Here's our new house! Killaine & I just removed our conditions on the purchase this morning, and we move in December 14th! We're very excited!

(and, yes, it is asbestos free!)

First Ski Day of the Year

I (finally) got my first ski day in of the year ... I blew off work yesterday (tuesday) and headed up to spend the day skiing at Blackcomb.

It was a great day - 8" of fresh, cold powder, blue sky and about -8. Very unusual weather for this time of year (really, for November, it should have been misty and raining or snowing!).

I found a nice knoll just below the top of the Crystal Chair to climb up and have lunch in the sun.

Very few people on the hill, at times, I had entire runs to myself. A great day, and great start to the ski year.

Bye Bye Skis

I sold my old skis (and boots and bindings and skins and ski crampons) tonight! Bionka drove down from Golden with her boyfriend Steve to pick 'em up. Bionka is just getting into backcountry skiing, so it looks like my skis are off to a good home!

Yup, It Was Asbestos

Killaine & I met with our realtor tonight - we found out that, yes indeed, the house that we had inspected did indeed have 1% asbestos in the vermiculite insulation.

I have no idea if 1% is good or bad - but the key consideration is that there is, indeed, asbestos in there. Man, we were lucky we had a good inspector.

A World of Plastic

For a particularly disturbing view of the vast amount of plastic circulating in the world's oceans, and the impact that all of this plastic is having on us, read this article:

Best Life Magazine: Travel & Leisure: Our oceans are turning into plastic...are we?

Mike n' Ellen Get Hitched!

My good friend from Canmore, Mike got married to his beau, Ellen, on November 10th!


They got married down in Texas, where Ellen's family resides. There were a few challenges making the wedding happen - a few "getting into the United States" issues for Mike, but all were happily resolved!

Mike & Ellen are now living back in Canmore - Ellen is going to attending nursing at

Yikes! That was close ...

Killaine & I are looking for a house. We looked at this house on 8th street in the lower lonsdale area of North Vancouver.
It's a nice house, very quaint, and quite well kept-up inside. It's on a quiet street in Lower Lonsdale, in an area of heritage homes, and close to the old Ridgeway school. The garden at the back is very large. All in all, this house had a lot going for it.

We made an offer on it, contingent on inspection - good thing 'cause the deeper we got into it, the worse it started to look.

Before we did the inspection, we read an old report that indicated the house has an old style of wiring called "Knob and Tube". Read the Wikipedia entry for details, but the short story is that it's an old form of wiring that many insurance companies will no longer insure. This set of the first of the alarm bells. We had electricians check it out - the wiring appeared to be technically safe, and we found that there are insurance companies that will cover houses like this - it meant that we now had "some concern" about the house.

We continued to have it inspected today. We had a great fellow do the inspection. During the inspection he found that:

• there was some rot on the house near the foundation on the north & east aspects;
• that the hot water heating system was using steel pipes (which have a history of eventually corroding through), and that some of the newer copper piping already was showing some very small leaks;
• that there was dampness on the basement floor, indicating the possibility of perimeter drainage issues;
• and a bunch of other smaller issues.
  

But, that's not the end of it. As we moved into the upper part of the house, the home inspector gained access into the roof of the house, and was able to inspect the insulation. After prodding around, he told us that there was fibreglass insulation, but underneath, there was an old vermiculite form of insulation. After we looked at him blankly, he told us that this type of insulation is very old, probably original with the house, and often contains asbestos. Although he could not be certain (it needs to be tested in a lab to know for sure), he did say that 90% of the samples submitted for testing do have asbestos in them.

Well, at that point we'd heard enough. The inspection was concluded, we received the report and we'll very shortly be telling the real estate agents that the deal is off - very, very off.

The hunt continues ...

2006 / 2007 Ski Season Summary

Well, I must have a little spare time at the moment ... so I've decided to summarize my ski stats from last season (winter 2006 / 2007).

A bit of background, for some unknown reason, I started tracking all of my exercise - I guess ostensibly so that I can compare progress (or, lack of) from year to year. Anyway, my ski data from last winter is some interesting data I've been able to pull out.

First ... some summary statistics:

• Total ski days: 44
  
• Total backcountry days: 30
  
• Total downhill days: 14
  
• Total vertical:
• ascended (i.e. backcountry vertical): 22,505m
  
• descended (backcountry & downhill): 100,498m
  
• Total amount of time spent skiing: 239 hours

Of course, some caveats to these numbers ... for a "ski day", I counted any day where I had skis on my feet and skiiing for more than an hour. So, a "ski day" includes the short trips I did up Mt. Seymour in the morning, getting a couple of backcountry runs in before work. It also includes evening skis at Cypress or Seymour.

Charts galore:

Month-by month breakdown of vertical, downhill (blue) and backcountry (green).

Season breakdown of days spent skiing by month, broken down by backcountry and downhill. Note that in January I spent a week (with Killaine) at Sorcerer Lodge, and then in April spent a week doing a backcountry ski trip in the Spearhead/McBride area. Also note the drop off in skiing in February and March (when it seemed like every weekend had horrid conditions).

Finally, a breakdown of hours of backcountry versus downhill. No surprises here!

A Vancouver Weekend

Killaine & I had a fun weekend. On Saturday, we headed up to Squamish to do some mountain biking (Killaine was keen to try out her new mountain bike).

We did a somewhat "traditional" loop that I really like - the first 1/3 or so of the Test of Metal Course with the Alice Lake loop added in. Great mix of single track, lots of climbing, some logging roads, and a few steep descents. Much fun.


On Sunday, I took my kayak out for possibly the last paddle of the year.

I paddled over to Stanley Park from Kits Beach, around Siwash Rock and back straight across English Bay.

The wind picked up while I was out there (a little quicker and stronger than I liked!), but I got across and toodled back to Kits beach. A fun paddle on the fringe of the kayaking season.

I never win anything ... until last night

Killaine & I went to the annual Arcteryx factory sale and slide show last night. Chad Sayers put on a good slideshow of various photos from around the world - very well done.

At the end of the slideshow, there was a draw for an Arcteryx Acrux 65 pack - a very cool (and very, very expensive) waterproof pack. And ... I won it! I was shocked and surprised! It'll make a great rescue pack - pretty tough and "deluge proof"!

Deserts & Mountains

Killaine and I headed down to south-east California for a week of hiking and wandering through Joshua Tree, Mojave and Death Valley National Parks, and finished up with a 3 day hike into the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Rather than a long, drawn out story, I've uploaded selected photos to Picasa. You can take a look at 'em here!

New Personal Grouse Grind Patrol Record!

I'm so excited ... I set a new personal record for sweeping the Grouse Grind!

One of the (many) things that we do in North Shore Rescue is to sweep the "Grouse Grind" each night to ensure that there aren't any wayward hikers wandering around in the dark. I sweep it about once a week.

I shot up it in 48 minutes and 35 seconds last night - while still managing to distribute three lightsticks (accompanied with short, but stern lectures on the perils of not carrying a flashlight!), and carrying my (light) 6 1/2 kg pack!

Comment on the Weekend Sea Kayaking Tragedy

As you might have heard in extensive national coverage, there was a tragic sea kayaking accident on Sunday. Eight"experienced" adventure racers encountered very bad weather conditions, resulting in two kayaks capsizing - resulting in two of them dying, likely from hypothermia.

Here's a good report from the CBC on what transpired:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2007/10/08/kayak-death.html

Although I wasn't there and thus cannot comment fully on their capabilities, I can glean enough from the extensive news reports to make some recommendations as to what sea kayakers should be doing as a matter of course:

• Check the weather forecast beforehand - if the forecast calls (as it did on sunday) for heavy rain and strong winds, reconsider your plans;
• Know the area you're paddling through - some areas are particularly well known for channeling and intensifying winds (in particular, the channel between Anvil Island and the mainland);
• Dress for the water (i.e. if you ended up in the water, how would you stay warm?). A wetsuit is necessary for most times of the year on the coast - dry suits are needed in the winter;
• Carry a waterproof marine radio and, in intense conditions, ensure it is clipped to your life jacket.

In addition, carrying flares is a good idea. Unfortunately, the group does not appear to have followed any of these recommendations.

The trip that these guys attempted is an excellent trip in good conditions. I did it on my own earlier this year.

New Skis! (well, soon ...)

Yay! I just ordered my new skis!

I've ordered a pair of Black Diamond Voodoos. It took me a while to decide what kind of new ski to get ... I decided on the Voodoos 'cause they seem to optimize light weight & touring performance with width for flotation in powder, while still having some stiffness for busting through the crud.

Anyway, that's all very theoretical until I actually get the skis and get to try 'em out.

The other skis that I considered were the Black Diamond Stigmas, and also the Baron and Reverend from G3. The Stigmas seemed a little too sidecut and seemed to be a little soft (as per reviews from Telemarkski.com), while the Baron seemed a tad narrow, and the Reverend was too wide and heavy. Hence, the Voodoo seemed to fit right in the middle.

I've ordered 'em through North Shore Rescue, so they'll take a little while to get here ...

Winter Is Here

The Thanksgiving weekend out here was pretty wet and rainy. In advance of the big storm forecast for Sunday, Killaine & I decided to get out for a quick hike up to the first peak on Mt. Seymour to see the new snow ...







The snow started not too far above the parking lot.












It was decidedly wintery up at the peak.













Snow dusting on the summit.

Millie's Birthday

On Saturday, Owen and Sophie (Killaine's brother and wife) invited us over for a birthday party for Millie, his (now) 2 year old daughter:

Millie and her new bicycle (from Dag!).

Millie helps (?) Killaine open her gift - a Fisher Price castle.

Sophie (left) with Dag's girlfriend Lynne with Owen & Sophie's two month old - baby Baxter.

Owen with Millie & Baxter.

Killaine's brother, Hugh, with Baxter.

Killaine's brother, Dag - as seen on TV.

Lynne & Vince Sharman (Killaine's Dad).

Birthday cupcakes for Millie!

Me and "mini-Me".