Backcountry Skiing
By Lockie Brown, Thu Dec 8th

Western Canada is a land of mountains, lakes and rivers. Thereare also deserts (yes, Walter, small deserts), huge forestedplateaus and lush farmland, but mountains are a predominantfeature. From the Coast Range in the west to the Rockies in theeast, from the Cascades in the south, to the Cassiar Range inthe north, there is one range after another; the Cariboos, theMonashees, and the Selkirks, to name just a few.

The mountains of British Columbia offer untold opportunities forevery kind of skiing, including backcountry touring, snowcatskiing and heli-skiing. There are many ski resorts and manybackcountry lodges, mostly located near small interior towns,away from the large population centers and internationalairports.

Getting to a backcountry holiday can involve travel onroads that traverse narrow valleys and high passes. After heavysnowfalls, roads can sometimes be closed while crews clear awaydebris from slides.

At the end of January 2004, a heavy snowfall caused overnightclosures on some BC highways. Two days later, a second stormclosed other roads, including the Trans Canada highway. This isa tale of getting from Vancouver to Golden BC in the midst ofthese storms.

The weather in Vancouver was mild. There had been a recentgaggle of small disturbances, but no big storms. The freezinglevel was too high. We prayed for snow. We watched theforecasts, but things looked “iffy”.

After months of anticipation, our trip to Chatter Creek wasnearing. In two days our annual powder-bash would begin. Fourdays of cat in Rocky Mountain powder!

This year, we had a group of 24 old friends and regular skibuddies. Many had been to Chatter Creek before and knew what toexpect. We were all anxiously counting down the days.

Most of us live in Vancouver, Squamish and Whistler.Individually, we had made our arrangements for getting toGolden. Some would fly to Calgary, rent a car and drive togetherto Golden, a four-hour trip through Banff, Lake Louise and theKicking Horse Pass. They would arrive in Golden just in time forour 3:00 PM helicopter flight into the lodge.

Others would drive from Vancouver or Whistler, at best a longnine-hour trip. With an early start on flight day, and with hardsteady driving, they should easily reach Golden in time. I wouldleave a day early, stay with one of the group in Kamloops, andhave a leisurely drive to Golden the next day.

Missing the helicopter flight to the lodge was to be avoided. Noone’s budget covered an extra night in Golden and a privatehelicopter flight.

The flights don’t wait. They have to go on time. They woulddeliver us to the lodge and bring out departing guests. Thetransfer starts in mid-afternoon (time varies as the winterprogresses) and has to be to be completed in daylight.

Two days to go and the telephone rang. “Hi, it’s Merle.”

My heart sank. A call this late from Merle McKnight, ChatterCreek’s marvelous manager, could only mean trouble. What waswrong?

“We’ve had a 'dump'! The passes are closed in both directions.No one is getting through. Crews will work all night and theroads should open sometime tomorrow. However, there is talk ofyet more snow. Get here a day early. Come tomorrow!"

Good news and bad news! Lots of fresh snow at Chatter Creek, butgetting there would be a challenge.

One always heeds Merle’s advice! As my group’s organizer, it wastime to start phoning.

Hours later, everyone had been alerted. Most were changing theirplans but some could not or decided to chance it. Not a goodplan! Weather in the Interior can be unpredictable.

I called Al in Kamloops. “We’ll be there by 10:00 AM tomorrow,let’s go right through. We can ski Kicking Horse in the morning,before our flight”. “Fine”! Al would be ready.

A few hours later, a mate and I were on the road. After days ofdrizzle, the day dawned sunny and mild. It was like spring! Thefirst mountain road is the Coquihalla. It was bare and the skywas clear. There was no hint of a storm. The roads ahead werereported open.

I thought to myself, “I’m never going to hear the end of this!After getting all those people to change their plans, I’m goingto get some rockets.”

We were in Kamloops in less than four hours. We picked up Al andsix hours later we were in Golden. There had been a delay atThree Valley Gap, where road crews were cleaning up a slide.However, there had been no real problem and the driving had beeneasy. False alarm! Oh well, we would get a morning at KickingHorse Resort before our afternoon flight

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to Chatter Creek.

Morning dawned, and I arose to look outside. My car had become ahuge white mound. Not even the tires were visible! It had dumpedovernight and it was still dumping! On went the “telly”. Theroad to the east was closed again. The road to the west couldclose at any time.

Some of the lads were leaving the coast in the “wee” hours, muchearlier than usual to give themselves extra time. Would theymake it? Would they get through Three Valley Gap and then thehigh Rogers Pass before things shut down? The road was bound toclose, it was just a matter of time.

At 2:00PM, shaking off the Kicking Horse powder, we headed forthe airport. The radio advised that all the passes were nowclosed. Had our friends made it?

As we drove up to the hanger, we saw all sorts of activity.There was Owen, and Jim was there too. The others from the coasthad arrived, the last cars allowed through. Great relief!

However, as we assembled to count heads; 17,18,19,20….?? We weremissing the four who were flying to Calgary. They were not to beseen.

A cell phone rang. Chris and Kevin were stopped on the Radiumroad. The Kicking Horse Pass was closed, so they had tried thealternate route. No luck, it was closed too. They were there forthe night. Disaster!

Guests fly to the lodge in three flights, one flight of 12 andtwo flights of 6. If all 20 of us were to fly to the lodge thatnight, the stragglers would have an expensive private flight thenext day.

Merle and her husband Mike came to the rescue. A radio call wasmade to the lodge.

“Were there six departing clients willing to stay over and flyout in the morning?” Affirmative! No problem! There were manyvolunteers.

Merle then asked, “Now, are any two people willing to staytonight in Golden? Then the last flight of 6 will fly in themorning”

Silence. Glum faces. Hands in pockets. No volunteers!

There was more discussion. “Was anyone willing to snowmobile tothe lodge tonight?”

Hesitation, then Tony, good old Tony, raised his hand. He woulddo it. A ninety-km trip on a snowmobile, following a leader athigh speed on a cold night with fresh snow on an unplowed roadwas not anyone’s idea of fun! Tony would have a 90-km blizzard.

Merle explained, “If we sled the luggage to the lodge tonight,and one person sleds too, then we’ll put an extra person in thelarge ‘bird’ and the last flight will go in the morning. Therewill be no extra charges and everyone that’s here will get intonight.

Perfect! Relief! We would have warm drinks and a meal waitingfor Tony.

The flight to Chatter Creek was spectacular,with shafts of late afternoon sunlight striking the surroundingpeaks. In 20 minutes, back on the ground, we stumbling thoughthe fresh “powder” to the welcoming door of Vertebrae Lodge. Eighteen glum-facedskiers and boarders passed us on the way. After a great tour, noone wanted to leave. Six smiling faces greeted us at the door.They would get another great meal and an extra night atVertebrae Lodge, an unexpected bonus.

Two hours later, Tony arrived, a frozen “Michelin Man”. It tooka while to thaw him out. Next morning, not long after breakfast,we heard the familiar sound of an approaching helicopter. Thelast four were arriving.

Our group was complete, the weather was clear, there was lots offresh snow and our Chatter Creek tour was launched. It turnedout to be the best tour yet!

Travel to Golden is not usually difficult. This was aninfrequent, but very possible case. The roads from the east andthe west both go over high passes, and can pose a problem. Theroad from the south (Spokane WA) follows valleys and is rarelyclosed.

For more information on getting to Golden for your cat skiingadventure, look at the “Getting to Golden” page on the Chatter Creek Web site. Also, the ChatterNews photo journal (http://powder-skiing.blogspot.com)describes all aspects of of cat and life at ChatterCreek.

About the author:Lockie Brown lives in Vancouver and skis regularly at Whistlerand Blackcomb. For five years, he has organized snowcat skingtours to Chatter Creek(http://www.chattercreekcatskiing.com). Before that, he had anumber of trips to Island Lake Lodge near Fernie.