Day 3 at Valhalla Mountain Touring dawned with blue skies and word of more broken weather and storms piling up later in the week. With the opportunity in the forecast, Evan decided to take our group out to explore the Caribou area, another drainage over from the lodge. We started out skiing down the cat road to the drainage’s access point, bitter cold wind whipping at our noses in the early morning.
Up a new drainage with blue skies and beautiful snow.
A long, gradual climb brought us up to the base of Three Doors, a chuted section of steeps broken by trees and pillow lines. The lines looked tempting above, but before getting ahead of ourselves, we stopped to assess the lurking danger from the high pressure that preceded the recent storms. Evan and tail guide Ross dug a pit while we observed, seeing a clean shear of the most recent snow on buried surface hoar.
Evan and Ross evaluate the snowpack in Three Doors.
With the pit results in mind, Evan kept our lines conservative for the day, keeping us on terrain that had been skied hard during the high pressure and the week since, cutting up some of the surface hoar. Up and onward we went, breaking out into thin trees and finding a scenic transition spot on a perfect bench at the base of the alpine.
Hitting the bench under Caribou Ridge for a snack and transition to the first run.
The first run was like a dream… with the helmet cam rolling, I chased Evan and his dog Benny through a couple pitches of widely-spaced trees before dropping through the open chutes of Three Doors. Just when the powder smiles couldn’t get much wider, Evan led us on a short traverse through a thick stand of trees that opened up over a gleaming field of pillows. With cameras and audience at hand in the ampitheater, everyone searched out a little adrenaline to cap it all off.
(POV footage of my first and second runs, shot on the VholdR helmetcam.)
At the bottom, we ran into VMT owner Dale Caton and our cook, Annie, out for some mid-day runs. With them on the group, we made short work of the skin track lapping back up for more. Cloud cover starting sneaking back in, keeping the untracked snow creamy smooth. Fast and supportive, a quick slash of the tails was all it took to throw up deep powder and snag a faceshot.
Marta cranks into the first turn in Three Doors.
Jason arcs out one of the Doors, powder S-ing over Benny's dotted track.
After 3 laps, it was time to work our way back out of the drainage. A fun lower section gave way to the long traverse, finally dumping us back at the cat road below the hut. With tired legs and hot apps waiting back at the lodge, everyone smiled a little at Evan’s belief that “you shouldn’t end the day climbing,” as he and Dale gave us a quick snowmobile tow back up the road. Not a bad way to cap it all off.
Tags: British Columbia, Evan Stevens, Valhalla Mountain Touring