An adventure into the White Peaked Coastal Mountains

An adventure into the White Peaked Coastal Mountains

If Canada is the Mecca for adventure seekers then Whistler is the shangri-la of snow sports. Arriving for our five day whirlwind visit, Whistler was a hive of energy. 8,171 acres of powder, over 200 trails, Whistler boasts the longest unsupported gondola (4.4k,) joining the Blackcomb and Whistler peaks. In an average year they have 11m of snow making this a powder capped heaven! With a great mixture of blue, red and black runs Whistler has something for everyone.

During our (Martyn & myself) trip we ventured into the back-country for the first time with a guide. An experience that Martyn and I will never forget.

Back-country Snowboarding

We met our guide, J.F from Coast Mountain Guides at the bottom of Whistler gondola with nervous anticipation as we talked through the avalanche safety gear and created a plan for the day. J.F is a highly experienced mountain and ski guide with years of experience, he probably shares more in common with mountain deer than Martyn and I though, as we stood there un-aware of the adventure that was about to unfold.

Coast Mountain Guides was started by Guillaume Otis with his Dad back in 1998.

They operate year round and provide mountain guiding services for a wide range of client’s skills and abilities.

The first challenge of the day!

Once at the top of the lift system, to make our way into the back-country we had to take a toggle lift – sounds easy right! Wrong. I managed to expertly fall off the long pole not once, but twice… The first time I hung on thinking surely I can pull myself back up, this turned out not to be the case, after a few seconds I collapsed into a crumpled heap in defeat as others slid by without a care, not struggling to sit on the pole that seemed impossible to me!

Third time lucky! With some help from J.F to balance the beast I made my way shakily to the top arriving with a smile and a sigh of relief! I made it. Wow…and we have not even started the challenging bit, I thought to myself!

After a short run down we entered the back country gate, making sure our transponder’s where working as we passed through we left the lifts behind and walked into Mother Nature’s playground.

Whistler backcountry gate

The Ascent towards the unknown

Martyn and I had never been back country skiing before or, even walked up a glacier for that matter. So a brief lesson on how to split our board in two and then how to add the skins (sticky pads which ran along the length of each ski), so that we could climb the mountain. It was an odd feeling after being on a board to split it in half to use as skis it was easy to do once you got the hang of it.

Making tracks

We started the traverse to the summit. Using the ski tracks of the people that had been on before we slowly zig zagged up the side of the mountain not dissimilar to the way you would mountain bike up a steep hill.

Each binding had a heel riser so your heel stayed high to make walking up steep terrain possible, looking behind I was amazed at the distance we had covered considering we were moving slowly.

Walking up hill was hot work!

Reaching the summit, the Fitzsimmons Mountain Range stretched out before us in every direction, a majestic landscape, frozen and wild. The wind howled around us, whirling snow into tiny tornados. I felt in awe at the sheer power of the wind and the vast expanse of snow reaching out before us, I felt humbled by my surroundings and also a little chilly!

Looking into the back-country

We worked quickly to remove the sticky skins wrapping them back in our packs, releasing our bindings from each ski and slotting them back together to form a board.

J.F applying skins to skis

Carving Powder

With the wind thrashing around us we swooped over the edge into pure white powder, it was like riding through whipped egg whites, the board carved through the deep snow descending quickly down the slope.

We traversed the side of the glacier bowl staying high so we didn’t end up in the flat valley below. It was unbelievable gliding through fluffy clouds of powder making fresh tracks where no one else had been.

The clouds stole our view.

Making our way to the next climb, we stopped beneath a ridge. The approaching storm shrouded the tops and the dark clouds looks ominous, our perfect visibility was about to be snatched away from us. It was time to split our boards, apply our skins and make our way into the cloud. It was hard, hot work climbing pushing your ski forward with your toe and the pushing down with your heel so the ski gripped the snow.

 

At the top we used our skis to compact the snow, to make a ledge to work from, then it was time to reassemble our boards. The trees gave us shelter from the wind, we worked quickly to avoid chilling off. Stopping anywhere in high mountains in changeable weather can be chilly work and the colder you get the slower you get.

Reaching the top

Ready to go, the visibility was making our route through the trees tricky so J.F went first then I boarded down to just below him and then it was Martyn’s turn. My first tree run was good however, on my second run I didn’t turn quick enough and ended up as a tree decoration! The powder was so deep my left leg sunk out of sight and all the pulling in the world was not budging it, when I looked up all I could see was snow which was a little frightening. I shouted to Martyn who heard the slight panic in my voice and came to my rescue. Its times like these that you appreciate having mates around.

Watch our for that tree!

After extraction – we made our way down to where J.F had stopped to wait for us. J.F had scouted a jump for Martyn who expertly carved through the fresh powder launching off the lump and got good height landing softly in thick, thick snow.

What a show off!

 

As we split our boards ready to head back up through the trees the snow quietly fell and the only sound was coming from us, crunching back through the snow covered trees. It was hot work walking up hill and I was nicely roasting by the time we stopped.

Skins sticking to the skis to make walking up-hill possible

Our last back-country run of the day was epic! The visibility had been reduced to about 15m because of the storm. It took all my concentration to work out the contours in the snow so that I could make good turns. Once we were lower the visibility opened up and we weaved through the trees and dipped out into a long run down to Whistler village. Buzzing from our day in the back-country – full of stories, memories and feeling exhausted Martyn and I stopped for a well-earned drink and to share some amazing memories of the day.

Wine time…

 

Tips for back-country:

  1. Hire a professional guide, the equipment for avalanche safety is expensive. With proper knowledge of the areas guides can help you get the most out of your experience
  2. Layers of clothing is king. Going from snowboarding down to skiing uphill – your temperature changes constantly so having layers to zip and unzip makes it more comfortable
  3. Food and hydration. My water froze so a lucozade type drink would be better, every time you put your skins on take a sip to make sure you stay well hydrated
  4. Being able to put your helmet and goggles inside your bag will mean they don’t fill up with snow! Mine did it was a brain freezing experience outing them back on!

 

 

 

If Canada is the Mecca for adventure seekers, then Whistler is the shangri-la for snow sports

If Canada is the Mecca for adventure seekers, then Whistler is the shangri-la for snow sports

6 Days, 2 Mountains, Let’s go!

“The mountains are calling and I must go” – This quote by John Muir I have always found powerful. As a child I spent time with my family exploring majestic peaks, now in my twenties the mountains hold a special place in my heart, they are filled with wonder and adventure.

The real fun of the mountains I believe is in, the grin splitting, fist pumping, high fiving, that comes from sharing the experience with friends. To share the accomplishment of reaching the top, to be there when you fall and sit silently on the summit to take it all in is something quite special.

So it is with anticipation each year my boyfriend Martyn and I plan our annual trip to the snow.

This year was the big one, Whistler.

If Canada is the Mecca for adventure seekers, then Whistler is the shangri-la for snow sports, a hive of energy swirling around in a blizzard over 8,171 acres of powder and with over 200 trails. Whistler boasts the longest unsupported gondola (4.4k,) joining the Blackcomb and Whistler peaks. In an average year they have 11m of snow, making this a powder capped heaven! With a great mixture of blue, red and black runs Whistler has something for everyone.

As you can imagine I was super excited to get out there and test out the slopes.

Arriving late Saturday our 2 hour 30 min transfer from Vancouver to Whistler along the sea to sky road, was long! This is a stunning trip in itself following the meandering lakes. Arriving at our hotel the Fairmont Chateau a beautiful ski-in ski-out resort I knew we were in for an incredible week of luxury and snow!

Jet-lag couldn’t stop us, Sunday morning we were on one of the first lifts to the top to check out what was in store on the Blackcomb side of the mountain range. The gentle flakes of snow which had been falling from the sky since we arrived made the visibility low, about 30metres which was not great, so we spent the afternoon chilling out after a few runs enjoying the outdoor swimming pool and gym.

Having only snowboarded in Europe before I was excited to try somewhere new, Whistler is very different to Europe the trees are tightly packed together and the runs are vast, with large areas of off-piste.

We stayed on the Blackcomb side exploring the runs and off-piste areas for the first two days, the runs were beautiful and long with some mogul sections which I was not a fan of! The queues for the gondolas and lifts could be quite long but there was so much terrain you could be the only person on a run at times which was exciting, it was like you had the whole mountain to yourself.

By Tuesday evening it hadn’t stopped snowing and I was missing the sun. One of my favourite parts of snowboarding is the crystal clear skies and rays of sun creating jaw dropping views at every turn.

On Wednesday we were woken to striking rays coming through the curtains. The sun makes a huge difference, the mountains peaked through the clouds showing off their tremendous tips of white fluffy snow, the added visibility is also a huge confidence boost and allows you to really get into the flow.

As the weather had opened up we went across on the Peak 2 Peak gondola to the Whistler mountain side and into the Symphony Ampetheatre, a huge expanse of open off-piste, where we spent time making fresh tracks and enjoying the sun on our faces. Getting tired of falling over and digging myself out of waist deep snow it was time for a well-earned break and to plan our next lift.

We made our way back to the Peak 2 Peak lift and from there made our own routes down to Creek-side, for what turned out to be the best and biggest bowl of pulled pork nachos I have ever seen!

Back-country Snowboarding

Thursday we went out into the back country with Coast Mountain Guides. We met our guide, J.F at the bottom of the Whistler gondola with nervous anticipation. We talked through the avalanche safety gear and created a plan for the day.

Coast Mountain Guides was started by Guillaume Otis with his Dad back in 1998. They operate all year round and provide mountain guiding services for a wide range of client’s skills and abilities.

We took the lift up to the top of Blackcomb Mountain, to get into the glacier bowl we had to use the toggle lift, which I expertly fell off twice! We started to traverse the glacier ridge on foot it was absolutely stunning, in every direction mountains towered over us gleaming in the morning sun.

After a short run down we entered the back country gate, making sure our transponder’s where working as we passed through, we left the lifts behind and walked into Mother Nature’s playground.

Martyn and I had never been back country before or walked up a glacier for that matter, so a brief lesson on how to split our board in two and then how to add the skins (sticky pads which ran along the length of each ski), so that we could climb the mountain. It was an odd feeling after being on a board to split it in half to use as skis it was easy to do once you got the hang of it.

We started the traverse to the summit. Using the ski tracks of the people that had been before we slowly zig-zagged up the side of the mountain not dissimilar to the way you would mountain bike up a steep hill.

Each binding had a heel riser so your heel stayed high to make walking up steep terrain possible, looking behind I was amazed at the distance we had covered considering we were moving slowly.

Reaching the summit, the Fitzsimmons Range stretched out before us like a scene from an action movie, the wind howled around us, whirling snow into tiny tornadoes. I felt in awe at the sheer power of the wind and the vast expanse of snow reaching out before us. Although a little chilly I felt humbled by my surroundings.

We worked quickly to remove the sticky skins wrapping them back in our packs, releasing our bindings from each ski and slotting them back together to form a board.

Then we were ready, with the wind thrashing around us, we swooped over the edge into pure white powder, it was like riding through whipped egg whites. The board carved through the deep snow descending quickly down the slope.

We traversed the side of the glacier bowl staying high so we didn’t end up in the flat valley below. It was unbelievable gliding through fluffy clouds of powder making fresh tracks where no one else had been.

Making our way to the next climb, we stopped beneath the ridge, where we had to climb in the bowl for a lunch stop with a serious view.

The approaching storm shrouded the tops and the dark clouds looked ominous, our perfect visibility was about to be snatched. After a few bites it was time to split our boards, apply our skins and make our way into the cloud. It was hard, hot work climbing pushing your ski forward with your toe and the pushing down with your heel so the ski gripped the snow.

At the top we used our skis to compact the snow, to make a ledge to work from, then it was time to reassemble our boards. The trees gave us shelter from the wind and we worked quickly. Stopping anywhere in high up mountains in changeable weather can be chilly work and the colder you get the slower you get.

Ready to go, the visibility was making our route through the trees tricky so our guide J.F went first then I boarded down to just below him and then it was Martyn’s turn. My first tree run was good however on my second run I didn’t turn quick enough and ended up in a tree… The powder was so deep my left leg sunk out of sight and all the pulling in the world was not budging it, when I looked up all I could see was snow which was a little frightening. I shouted to Martyn who heard the slight panic in my voice and came to my rescue. It’s times like these that you appreciate the wild of the wilderness and understand the respect that should be given to outdoor sports and mother nature.

Making my way down to J.F to rest, it was Martyn’s turn. J.F had scouted a jump for Martyn who expertly carved through the fresh powder launching off a jump into the air, landing in thick, thick snow.

As we split our boards ready to head back up through the trees the snow quietly fell and the only sound was coming from us, crunching back through the snow covered trees. It was hot work walking up hill and I was nicely roasting by the time we stopped.

Our last backcountry run of the day was epic! The visibility had been reduced to about 15m because of the storm. It took all my concentration to work out the contours in the snow, so that I could make good turns. Once we were lower the visibility opened up as we weaved through the trees and dipped out into a long run down to Whistler village. Buzzing from our day in the back-country full of stories, memories and feeling exhausted we stopped for a well-earned drink.

Tips for back-country:

  1. Hire a professional guide, the equipment for avalanche safety is expensive and with proper knowledge of the areas guides can help you get the most out of your experience
  2. Layers, going from snowboarding down to skiing up your temperature changes constantly so having layers to zip and unzip makes it more comfortable
  3. Food and hydration, My water froze so a lucozade type drink would be better, every time you put your skins on take a sip to make sure you stay well hydrated
  4. Being able to put your helmet and goggles inside your bag will mean they don’t fill up with snow! Mine did it was a brain freezing experience putting them back on!

Our time in Whistler was over too quickly. We met some wonderful people and you cannot fault the Canadian hospitality, everyone is super nice and welcoming. Whister village has a great selection of outdoor shops for perusing and a buzzing après ski scene, although to be honest we spent more time on the slopes than in the bars.

The Blackcomb side of the mountain has, in my opinion the better longer runs and on the Whistler side you have more powder and glaciers to explore. The blue runs are like red runs in Europe and the black and black diamond are more advanced. The whole area is vast and we only touched the surface on ticking off the runs.

We will be back!

Fun off-piste and snowboarding jumps

Fun off-piste and snowboarding jumps

Second video edit form Sestiere. We had great fun off-piste found an amazing lunch stop with a view!

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Leaving our lunch stop on the Sauze d’oulx side we slid off down to Sestriere carving through the trees. Heading back up the Sestriere side we spotted a great expanse of white, the ultimate jump building territory!

It took a long time to build the jump and soon we were both sweating and taking layers off as we created our jump.

I had never done any jumps before and it was confidence boosting flying along and landing in soft, deep snow, like floating and anding in a cloud.

Take a look at my latest edit from fun off-piste and jumps in Sestriere.

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I hope you enjoyed my edit, if you did please subscribe to my you tube channel.

Hannah x

 

 

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Sestriere Snowboarding Edit

Sestriere Snowboarding Edit

I have always loved photography and film and this year have decided to have a go at creating videos.

These video’s was shot sing a Go Pro Hero 4 Black and a Go Pro Hero 4 Silver.

Film lesson one was I accidentally changed the resolution on one camera so have had to make two edits! (second one to come) Had loads of footage so this was not a problem.

My tip for anyone else looking to make videos would be create a story board of what you want in your video. I found it really helpful to know the type of outcome I wanted before I went out and filmed everything, Martyn and I then proceeded to film everything anyway but at least we had an idea of what we wanted to create!

I would love feedback on what you think of my videos and you tube channel. If you like it please subscribe here.

Snowboarding adventures in Sestriere.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5DL4UVuIW0]

Thanks for watching! if you like please comment and share.

Follow me on Instagram for photos from two wheeled adventures.

H x

 

Snowboarding Sestriere 2015

Snowboarding Sestriere 2015

After what seemed like the longest journey ever, we touched down in Borgata outside the Banchetta hotel, weary from a day spent in Gatwick having missed our flight due to a communication blunder by our travel company.

We were delighted to have not missed dinner and tucked into hot soup and bread before getting an early night ready for our first day on the slopes.

We woke early with excitement ready for the day ahead. From our hotel we could walk to the lift and had planned to check out the piste in Sestriere before planning the two weeks boarding ahead of us.

sestriere

Martyn is a very confident snowboarder and was buzzing to get to the highest point and see how quickly he could make it to the bottom. After dislocating my arm last year I was a bit apprehensive and nervous, I had however brought elbow pads to help give me a confidence boost!

Having not been on my board since hurting my arm, the butterflies continued to rise and intensify  closer to the top of the chair lift. Deposited at the top of the slope I eagerly strapped in my feet and edged close to the edge of the slope, I gingerly started my descent getting into the rhythm of toe edge, flat, heel edge, flat. I crept down the slope watching others, including Martyn, hurtle past at a lightning speed.

snowboarding 2015

At the bottom I breathed a sigh of relief at getting down my first run, and by the end of the first day I was back in the swing of things.

The sun rose brightly on Monday and we headed over to the gondola to go to the other side of the mountain into Sauze d’oulx. As we reached the top the view was incredible, stretching in every direction were white peaks set against a beautiful blue sky. The beauty and exposure when you’re standing on top of a mountain is breath taking, there is no feeling quite like it.

Sestriere 2015

Heading down the slope I encountered my first flat bit of road, the same type of surface where I hurt my arm. A feeling of dread resurfaced which I tried to push to the back of my mind and focused on my turns, but found myself skating down on one edge which sent burning sensations down my hamstrings. Tired from my mini panic and extra adrenalin I was relieved to stop for a hot chocolate! The rest of the day went smoothly and I soon learnt to relax on the roads looking ahead instead of at the drops off the side when they became narrow.

The next morning the fog had rolled in and the sky was releasing a soft flowing stream of snow. For the next three days the snow was relentless, a never ending flurry of white stuff. It was a surreal feeling to take a chair lift up through the snow covered trees and see the deep snow drifts.

Snowboarding in the fog is a bizzar experience, when you can’t see more than 5 metres in front of you and the sky and ground both appear in a white haze. It makes differentiating lumps and bumps almost impossible. At this point you realise how reliant you are on sight as a sense and that without it you feel very lost. This is when you have to tell yourself to relax, if you stiffen up every bump lands you on your bum! Relaxing and letting the board move beneath me I soon got into the flow of things and started to enjoy my white out experience. Everything is so still and you can hear so much more it’s like your ears become hyper sensitive to the sound of the crunchy piste or cracks of ice and the sound of others around you.

snowboarding sestriere

When the skies cleared and the sun came out to play the scenery was remarkable. Everything was coated in a white vale and we immediately went off –piste to enjoy the newly fallen snow. I followed Martyn straight off the side of a run and ran straight into waist deep snow! However hard I tried I didn’t seem to be able to dig my way out, so ended up taking my board off my feet, digging it out and walked to a clearing.

stuck in the snow

Once the piste bashers had groomed the slopes I felt a weird sense of un-easiness as I could now see how steep the slopes were and every lump I had in my path ahead. It was funny to think when the visibility had been awful I had completely trusted my skill level and felt my own way down the slopes, but now my eyes were looking down I wasn’t convinced I could do runs that I had done when I hadn’t been able to see anything!

huskys

After another few days of more snow falling and lots of great days boarding we felt like a change of pace and mode of transport so Martyn and I booked a trip of Husky dog sledding.  I was expecting this to be a fun and less tiring activity, how wrong I was! My team of three Huskys Jack, Annie and Toffee were eager to pull the sled as we set off on our mini adventure. They  worked well and listened to my commands of ‘Okay!’ meaning Go, ‘Woah’ meaning stop and ‘Easy’ meaning, well take it easy! However whenever the slope turned uphill they found a new game to play, this was called “role in the snow and sit down and let Hannah do all the hard work pushing the sled” I suppose they felt that after pulling me down the hill it was only fair I did some of the work. Despite it being not the rest day we had anticipated it was great fund and a brilliant experience and one I would recommend!

husky sledding

That afternoon it was back to boarding and Martyn, who was teaching himself to ride switch and 360 taught me to 180 something I am still working on!

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The Milky Way ski area which is vast and covers 400 kilometres and straddles the Italian-French border. sunset sestriereThe resorts are staggered at very different altitudes, from Cesana at 1350m to Sestriere at 2035m meters. Sestriere is the highest resort in the Milky Way with some of the most difficult terrain, we spent a lot of time here and Sauze d’oulx where the runs were longer than in Sestriere and had a flowing feel to them which we both enjoyed.

Martyn off-piste

We spent our last day in Montegenvre (1850m) over the border in France the runs here were steep and small but the scenery was beautiful and it was great fun weaving across the mountains through Italy and France for the day.

sitting on top of the world

Two weeks in the snow covered mountains was awesome. I had pushed myself outside my comfort zone when the going got tough. I felt like a tiny ant in a very big world standing at 2035m, I felt exhilarated and a little scared on my first black run when it seemed like I was free falling through the air, but it all added to the satisfaction and self fulfilment of snowboarding.IMG_0094

 

There is something special about being in the mountains which makes you feel more alive. They are a place of beauty and adventure a place where you can feel free and live life to the full.

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