Sunny skies, time to head for the alpine!

I love exploring new ski terrain........somewhere near Revelstoke.

click pic to see full size

The New Revelstoke?

Nothing like a little tow in van hucking to start off the holiday season!?

Great early season conditions

Lil testing snow quality in the Monashees.......looks good!

 

Mark wonders...."where did all that wind affected snow go?"

 

 Man Down!

November in Revelstoke

Early season skiing with CMH Revelstoke, not bad for November!

 
November in Revelstoke from Jeff Bellis on Vimeo.

Is this it?

Dean escaping the Hanging Judge on one of the last sunny climbing days.

Rain and snow in the forecast all week. Looks like fall in the Selkirks has finally arrived. 

Fall Jambolaya

Fall in the Selkirks, you gotta take what you can get. Fortunately the weather has been compliant of late. Low water and the promise of a warm day tempted Shane K. and myself into exploring Albert Canyon on the Illecillewaet river. Turns out this is one of the more beautiful canyons in the area. Some fun class 4 boulder gardens, one pretty real drop, then a very deep, dark, narrow, potholed canyon. Awesome! From the depths of the earth to above the highest peaks, I love the contrast between kayaking and paragliding. Two polar opposite views of the landscape. Late sept. and Mt. Mackenzie is still giving up thermal flights, 1.5 hrs cruising above the summit in mellow thermals with friends, then the throwdown to the LZ! Hard to beat, hopefully the great weather holds on a little longer before the annual fall deluge.

 Shane dropping into Albert Canyon.

 

Chris winds it up on the way down.

Fall fishing and canoe trip

September is here and that means its time for a river trip. We headed up to the Smithers/Terrace area for some fine fall salmon/steelhead fishing. After fishing in the slashing rain for days we thought we would warm up by driving 800kms further north to Telegraph Creek and the Stikine river. This river is one of the most scenic rivers I have paddled anywhere....plus it has hot springs!

Another sunny lunch break on the Stikine. (click pic)

Hot Wheels hooks another one near Kitwanga

Wes and Alessa passing us as usual.

 

Not bad views from the river.

The big peaks of the Stikine Icecap can be seen for several days as you paddle down to Wrangell

Rustic 1 bdrm, riverfront with mountain views, boat access only  

 Jamie and Erin enjoying some fine Northwest coastal weather.

 

 What? Nobody up for a swim?(click pic)

 

mmmmm......dinner

Guides Exam

Storm clouds gather as an examinator pulls out his radio......(click on photo).

Mr. Briggs all smiles as he realises Jr. is getting the heinous glacial descent.

Silly Coastie, crampons are for ice not logs.

An examinator plots the next move as unsuspecting candidates attempt to feed
.

Choss as far as the eye can see, Assiniboine on the left, Goodsirs in the middle, and the Lake Louise group on the right (click on photo).

Why do they always send the fat kid first?

No Pressure, but whats taking so long?

Classic short roping on Uto.

Nice views of Rogers and the Swiss peaks, not long until ski season.

Finally, the Rockies in a flattering light. Looking east from Uto/Sir Donald Col.

Alpine time

What is that pile of rubble.......oh its another Rockies Classic.

You gotta love summer in the Rockies

Dawson, Asulkan and Bonney groups above Rogers Pass.

Pierre wishing he'd had one less timbit this morning.

Mr. Briggs enjoying some fine Rockies choss on the Victoria traverse.

Big Drops and Sudden Stops

Becks in her old stomping grounds, the Rockies.

No more sunny weather, time to paddle again. All the local creeks and rivers have been blowing out around Revelstoke so we headed to the Rockies to find more reasonable flows. Great paddling on all the classic creeks and rivers. Unfortunately witnessed a nasty piton that resulted in two broken ankles. It appears that the left line on the first big slide on Red Earth Creek has a log pinned in the hole about 30cm below the surface. The log was impossible to see when we scouted the line. Two out of three ran this line and missed the log, number three, not so lucky. I recently purchased a creeker with a shock absorbing system in the bow (Jackson Super Hero). I dont think I will ever creek again without some form of effective shock absorbing system in my boat. Its time for all the boat manufacturers to put some effort into more effective safety systems in creek boats.

I wonder how my back is gonna feel after this?

Leviathon at low flow, still one of the best drops in AB.

Will stoked as usual.

Sure hope my paddle doesn't smack me in the face.......

Flying season turns on

Dave climbing out in Revelstoke

Its never easy sitting at home in the spring with a broken boat. All the rivers are pumping and I feel like I am missing out! Luckily the flying has been ridiculous. Endless flyable days, little wind, tons of thermals...unreal. From Pemby to Rev the flying has been going off. Last week saw the best day yet in Revy, all the locals had great flights up to 3800m (~13000ft) and hit all the local classics. Martha and back, Cartier, and just soaring over the valley until 8pm.

Mt. Begbie in a haze of Forest fire smoke

Hey look there's a ski hill down there!

This is what you look like after being hypothermic for too long, Mt Revelstoke park and Mts. Cousier, Dickey, and St. Cyr in the background

Time to warm up

Miss Bristow warming up for the season

After a long season of skiing and shoveling my driveway (and roof!) the only reasonable thing to do is head south and warm up. We headed to the Sierras in California to hit all the classic creeks and rivers that run in april/may. We had two weeks of great boating until I broke my boat 1 mile into a multi day mission. At least the hike out was through poison oak! Gotta love California.

Whats wrong with this picture?

The best thing about small western towns...good mexican food

Becks styles another one (click on pic)

Only 5 more miles to the put in.....

ahhh california

Hmmm this doesnt look good

Cheap flight , Short traverse

Becks cruising up Big Apple

Took a quick flight south of Revelstoke for a quick 1.5 day traverse home. Great powder skiing right down into treeline. Had a great campsite and a really hot ski out.

Blanket Glacier on the left, Davis Peak on the right.

Skiing towards Davis Peak, and dinner!

You gotta stay warm somehow.

Ahhh Luxury.

Becks ripping Super-G's as usual.

Hmmmm, must be spring.