This weekend we hit the Coquihalla for the first time this season, pretty rare since it's usually a solid spot for November turns. Weather systems seem to tee-off on this highway through the mountains giving powdery goodness to the Vancouver ski touring masses. The Coquihalla is becoming a favourite spot for many people and with few options, crowding could shortly become a problem. Upon our arrival we saw at least 10 cars at Falls lake and another 10 at the brake check pullouts. Though there is lots of room for everyone, it becomes harder to manage terrain when people are all around you. The last thing you want to experience is a heard of skiers dropping in over top of your skin track. Dangerous and poor ski etiquette.
The 5:30 am wakeup call is a winter routine that I look forward to. This also includes an evening of gear packing and hydrating with a couple of tall cans.
Our day started with a big accident on Highway 1 closing the road and forcing us to drive through the burbs. Two coffees later we were heading up one of go to money zones for some shredding It was a busy day with 3 other parties in the area but we chose to ski a north-facing line, one that I marked last year but never had the weather or stability to hit.
Beautiful Alpine Bowl
The fog and snow rolled in and out all day which made for crappy pictures but I still managed to capture at least one decent shot.
The Coquihalla is in prime condition with a deep stable snow pack. Almost 2m of snow in the alpine has smoothed over most of the landmines. We had great skiing with about 6 inches of fluff on a supportive base. The sun of previous days had cooked anything south facing. North face provided the goods.
Finding some steep north facing pow
The long haul out from our run was not all lost we found what could be a sweet line to hit in the future. The endless possibilities.....
A couloir for the future? Does it go from the Top?
More big pacific systems look to be rolling in this week. Shred week is looking good!
