Deep. That’s the best way to describe Thursday at Valhalla Mountain Touring.
“Thanksgiving” – as we came to call it – started the way all skiers dream, with huge soft flakes pouring from the sky, dulling the daylight coming through the windows. We’d been getting regular evening storms to refresh the snow overnight, a few inches here and there, but it had dumped the night before. Evan confirmed how sweet the news was over breakfast – 20 inches of new snow, and the temperature hovering around 5F. Blower.
The storm still pounding hard, sign of a good day to come.
From the start, it was clear that it would be a big day. On the skintrack up, the snow quickly piled up on our shoulders as we climbed. It was a day to pack an extra jacket, more gloves, anything you needed to stay out longer. Evan’s dog Benny waded out in front on the skintrack, plowing through up to his chest. Each step of the skis whomphed a little cloud of light powder around you. Expectations were high, and the first run did not let us down.
Charlie blows by in a trail of cold smoke.
We were all stunned after the first run. First and second turn faceshots soon turned into the full white room. The wispy trails of snow obscured anyone watched from above, just a winding worm of snow hanging in the air. The excitement was on, and the only question left was how much could we ski? Tired legs were forgotten as we pushed lap after lap through the trees, ramping up the vert, craving more powder. There wasn’t much to say about each runs… I’ll let the photos and video tell the story:
Evan earning a guide's perks.
Lulu finds the white room as the group watches above.
Another faceshot for Chris.
Post-run evidence of good turns.
Charlie needing a snorkel.
(Charlie carried the VholdR helmet cam all day on Thursday, and caught some good faceshots and follow cam with it.)
Eventually a few people ran out of legs, and the rest ran out of daylight. Evan picked up the pace to squeeze out the last runs, dropping the hammer on the pack. Worn out and weary, we made it back to the lodge with dusk all around us, the hard-chargers earning a respectable 8,000 feet on the day. The collective of die-hard skiers declared it easily all-time, and we reveled in the turns all night.
Thankful for great turns, thankful for Annie's feast.
The “Thanksgiving” declaration stuck on Deep Thursday, particularly with the feast that Annie had prepared (while still getting out for turns with us) – whole turkey, mashed potatoes, squash, gravy… the traditional November holiday fare. The food went straight to replenish exhausted muscles, and that night we all slept soundly on dreams of deep powder.
Tags: British Columbia, Evan Stevens, Valhalla Mountain Touring