There's something special that just feels right about starting your year off surrounded by good friends and mountains. I usually start constructing the annual New Years trip in my head sometime in the summer. It has to be a place where our playground offers "all condition" options and plenty of comfortable seating to enjoy the evenings, gorging on good food and beer. The most important factor involves a Jan 1 shred line to essentially start the year off right!
This year Mike and I decided to head in a day earlier than the girls and check in to our 5 day all inclusive. On Tuesday morning we arrived at the trailhead and loaded the machines with a weeks worth of provisions. It was a balmy 19degC as I loaded my 18 litres of beer and set off into the forest.
After a few hours and a few sled roll overs we arrived at our beachfront resort just in time for a late December light show! Later on that evening 6 others joined us in the cabin after a long skin trip with very large backpacks.
The next morning Mike and I set off early to pick the girls up from the highway.
Danielle and I waisted no time going after a classic line we'd hit before. The weather was on our side!
After a thorough look at the areas snowpack I found things had tightened up and moderate to hard compression tests pointed us in the direction of a great first run.
We spent the remaining light hitting some beautiful couloirs just above our homestead and headed home for NEW YEARS dinner.
The absolute highlight of this trip was Mike's "overthetop" meals. New Years dinner was a 5 course meal featuring his famous short ribs. These meals wouldn't have been complete without Mike's lovely assistant Shauna.
New Years eve was spectacular!
And then after a few too many delicious beverages we headed for the "Shitter Chute" and executed a knee deep midnight 40 deg couloir. I find it equally important to end the year in a solid line!
The next morning Jan 1 we awoke a little late and groggy but I had one one thing on my mind. Danielle and I set off early while Mike and Geoff caught up a little later.
Enroute we got some fabulous views of some of the more remote peaks in the area.
And some familiar faces showed themselves.
This line had a tricky entrance so Mike belayed me to the cornice edge. I cut off a solid chunk with his ski and we found a safe entrance.
I was so stoked to shred this line on my G3 Blacksheep Carbon X3. I'm blown away at the precision in which this board rides. The guys at G3 nailed this design in all aspects!
The view was perty....
Mike waisted no time displaying his 80's ski racer style!
Danielle admired it before shredding it....
And Geoff shredded it G3 freeheel style....
Happy New Year!
We found ourselves quite a ways from the cabin after our 900M run and made our way back for a refuelling celebration beer. With the late start we lost track of time and still decided to head out for another big one before dinner.
By the time we found our drop in point only the moon was providing a little light.
This is what it looks like at 5:30pm on new years day.
After a surprisingly good pow run I found a familiar friend back at the cabin waiting to say hi!
The next morning we has some good visuals of what the nights epic winds had produced.
This was a bit of a stormy day so we decided to take a tour into a further away zone in search for the blown away pow.
We found some I think?
On the way home it really started to puke....
I arrived at the cabin to meet a new friend who was dying to say hello!
Photo: Shauna Ullman
Photo: Shauna Ullman
Photo: Shauna Ullman
Photo: Shauna Ullman
Photo: Shauna Ullman
Photo: Shauna Ullman
Our hut caretaker Shauna. Photo: Miker Tigges
The next couple of days storms were strong so we sessioned some treed areas and milked the cabin's amenities.
After another amazing New Years week in the mountains we arrived back at the trucks safely ready to face the world for another new year.
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