Shore day....

Sometimes it's easy to take your own back-yard for granted when you live in such an amazing place. Almost every Friday I'm scrambling to find a new and mysterious zone to get lost into. So when the conditions are right and the sun fires up you should just look 15 minutes from your door and head up Vancouver's North Shore. 

Juneau has been out for much of the season with a shoulder injury so we thought it was time to test it out.

She indulged in her new passion..... digging deep holes in the snow.

Haynes Valley rarely looks this good but I see some huge potential in there!

Long day....

Chair 8

There aren't many other places you should be when the overnight snow reports 60cms of new. There's something pretty magical about Baker on a big storm day. I rarely ride the lifts but when I do Baker never lets me down. It brings back memories of strapping on my first snowboard 22 years ago and  the terrain that got me hooked. 

We spent the morning riding front country in knee deep pow right under the lifts. And after a pint at the new mid mountain lodge we headed over to Shuksan's arm..... check out Danielle's new purple helmet!  

The arm was stupid deep and we got 8 untracked runs done in 3 hours! 

Mmmmmm Baker Beer! 

  

2012 Chilliwack Visitors Guide....

Got a pair of shots in the 2012 Chilliwack Visitors Guide....

Rainbows are okay....

The weather was going to be questionable all week-end but there was finally some new snow up high to shred. We decided to visit the common heli ski / drop zone of Rainbow Mountain to see what all the hype was about.  

 
As we left the trees and headed into the meadows the sun started to show itself.

Even higher up on the vast Rainbow Glacier the summit showed itself.

And then in typical February coast weather we reached the top?

     

It was a sweet run despite the vis.....

Danielle was happy....

Wedge tried to show itself....

Rainbows, Girl, Board, Beer, Sled = good day out.

VIMFF Presentation Friday Feb 17 2012

Pat Mulrooney:
Long Live Long Rides.... Back-country mountain biking in Southwest B.C.

VIMFF Mountain Biking Evening,
presented by Norco Performance Bikes
Friday, February 17, 7:30 pm (doors 6:30 pm)
Centennial Theatre
Tickets $18 online / $20 doors    Buy Tickets Here

Pat Mulrooney will take you on a photographic journey into some of British Columbia's best multi day mountain bike rides. These adventures include everything from perfectly manicured single-track to hike-a-bike traverses on alpine ridges and mountain slopes where no trails exist. This type of riding could be considered "Bicycle Mountaineering" with the ultimate goal of finding single-track gold. Areas highlighted include Chilliwack, Squamish, Pemberton, Lillooet and new routes in the South Chilcotins.

The recent advances in the "All Mountain" bicycle category have raised the possibilities to a new level. With these new machines your can travel further with much lighter equipment without ride quality sacrificed. When it comes to overnight gear it's always a challenge to balance comfort vs weight. When the packs are too overloaded you can get bogged down and cover very little ground. Sacrifices in comfort can make all the difference. These rides are rarely trouble free however the rewards are plentiful. With the right planning and like-minded friends you can travel and cover much greater distances than by foot. Some of BCs most surprising mountain bike terrain lies just beyond your back-door!
    
Pat Mulrooney enjoys combining his passion for mountains and photography every spare moment he has. He is an avid back-country mountain biker, split-boarder, and mountaineer. Raised in the northern B.C. town of Cassiar and now residing on Vancouver's North Shore his love for the outdoors has always been just outside his front door. His desire to discover unique and challenging adventures has always driven him to explore different areas of B.C. as well as many other parts of the world.  

Lillooet Lines....

On route Saturday morning we ran into a little weather challenge in Pemberton. By challenge I mean pissing rain. The plan quickly changed to the dryer side of the range near Lillooet. Shortly after heading over Cayoosh pass it started to blue up!

After only a 20 min sled ride we found what we we're looking for. The snow was still good above 1700m. We were headed to 2600m.

At around 12:30pm greybird set in and a February storm pounded us. With full vis required for the anticipated line we retreated back to the machine with a new plan.

30 minutes later we were set up for a nice looking couloir I'd hit a few years ago.

 

 

 
The views on the way up were inspiring.

 
The snow on the face turned out to be a little challenging but the line was pretty aesthetic.

After a bit of a kung-fu billy goat we were spit out at the bottom just in time for a relaxing sunset.

   

Danielle enjoyed some Redneckery before heading home.  

Valley "X"

Have you ever had one of those week-ends where absolutely everything lined up..... this was one of those. I'd been eyeing up a few big lines for the past few years and this would be the week-end we would tick them off. After a long work week in the city we landed on the Duffey Friday night and fired up the sled for a moonlit ride to our mountain motel.

Upon arrival we discovered we had the entire valley to ourselves!

We set off early the next morning and found the whacky inversion hadn't reached this area north of Pemberton! Just the day before the temperature reached 7degC on the summit of Whistler mountain. Our temps were sitting at a light and fluffy -11degC.

Well before noon we were ready to drop into the first line of the day.

 

Recent cornice bombs were a little unnerving.

It was time to milk Valley "X".

Girl, Beer, Board, Couloir, Pow.........

The X chute was juicy!

A late exit back to our accommodations set us up for a great moonrise.

The next morning we awoke to another cold day....

Our goal was this gem!

We arrived at the top to find a cornice free entrance......

 

Snow-pit looked really good!

This also looked really good!

Got it!

Until next time!