And so it begins or continues?

After what could be called one of the best indian summers we have ever seen in BC there were fears that the ski season wouldn't come. Then almost overnight the weather pattern switched to rain and cold. Webcam watching was in full force and plans were hatched. Early season missions were the reason for my purchase of this beast below. Getting anywhere in the province, up whatever logging road is very easy with the help of a big set of tires and a nice lift!

Timing was key to this awesome early season day. A new adventure and a trip to Heliotrope ridge was a solid call. This is an area that has been on my radar for years but I have always opted for more familiar terrain early season. After making the quick 2 hour drive to the trailhead we saw that a few people were looking to get after the early season conditions. There were 4 cars in the parking lot when we arrived.

I was surprised at the ease to get to the real skiing a 2 hour hike on a well trodden trail lead to the first turns of the day. It was hard to believe that face shots can happen in October. There was well over a metre of snow in windblown areas and only a few beauty marks were made in the skis.

It wasn't pretty....

Stopping just below 7000ft when faced with a big crevasse it was a pretty worthy first day of the year. Heliotrope ridge is one of the nicest early season places to grab some quick turns. A great road to the trailhead and a well established trail and quick access to the glacier add up to a great day.

We met some guys from Seattle who were taking advantage of the great conditions... Ya! Boys going deep!

This was without a doubt the best skiing I have had in October (last year was good too, see here : Garibaldi Oct 2011)You can't complain when you ski pow so early in the season. It is unfortunate is looks to be short lived, a warming/wet trend is coming in for the weekend. I will just have to wait a little longer for the next fix. But.... you never know.. maybe more snow.

Heading for home

Labels: Prose