Our last ski day at Valhalla Mountain Touring began with a quiet morning, mixed emotions after a long week of outstanding skiing. Leg muscles were exhausted, but no one wanted to leave, especially with heavy snow falling outside again. We all had our systems dialed, and now we tried to drop any extras out of our packs, dropping ballast to hang on for one more lap in BC powder. No big camera pack for me today, just the helmet cam to catch some memories of the day.
(Graham’s POV on the last day with the VholdR helmetcam.)
The pace was a little slower, more deliberate, lapping Ruby and Emerald Glades into the afternoon, savoring the turns knowing it might be a while before skiing powder this good again. Some people worked toward the goal of 40,000 feet for the week; others found that last perfect turn to call it a day and relax into the evening.
Powder turns right to the sauna.
The heavy snow finally started to clear, perfectly preserving our last tracks right down to the lodge’s porch. The scotch came out that evening, as did the cribbage, cards, and guitars. There was nothing left to do but relax and revel in the good turns made.
Fredd, Marta, Lulu and Dede with the hut singalong.
In the quiet over Sunday’s breakfast, you could see each person’s mind racing… trying to figure out how stay, when to come back, anything to keep the skiing going. The sun shone brightly, looking deceptive warm. The cat loaded up, a couple people bundled up to cruise out the cat road to the cars, shimmering snow fading with the lost elevation. A week gone by in a heartbeat, perhaps a countdown begun for the return.
Dawn on Sunday