The Big Murr

Wow its been a while. A lot has happened over the past year and a half, almost two. I lost a friend of mine that was very dear to me, my dog, Murray. I built a home in Albert Canyon, just east of Revelstoke in a very rural setting. The Railroad runs through the canyon and so does a lot of wildlife. Which would contribute to his final demise. I'll start with the good things. Murray was a 90 lb black German Sheppard cross that was truly at home in the mountains. He back country skied and hiked throughout the Selkirk and Monashee mountains. A true giver mutt. He was killed by wolves. A truly sad but dignified ending to his life. He was a free spirit that had very minimal boundaries, he was never on a leash and roamed the forest with a free will. He will be truly missed by many and especially me. Some pictures to celebrate his life.

More pics.

Mt Mackenzie to Mt Cartier

It's 6am Ryan and I are making our way up the ski hill when a truck drives by and gives us a ride to 1650m. A sweet 1000m gain in the first 30 minutes of travel. Needless to say the day was filled with spectacular views and super fun route finding. We stuck mainly to the ridges and found ourselves bootpacking on more than one occasion.I'm going to send over more pics.

Masonry Season Begins

The snow banks are melting and the birds are eager with flight, spring time in revelstoke is a spectacle sight. Its back to work time but before i get in to that I'd like to show you some of my past projects.The highlights are definitely the Adiment's Lodge and the flagstone patio in a Revelstoke backyard. It was sweet, the whole thing wrapped around the entire back of the house. Masonry, try it is a super old art form and quite a challenge.

It is the last weeks of April 2006 and Ryan Gill and I set out at 4am to ski a couloir in Glacier National Park. The line in question is on Mt. Eagle on the southwest face. I have not heard of anyone else skiing this line, but it could have already been skied. Regardless, the pair of us went for it and with a few close calls which included icefall and avalanches.

The trek started in the early hours of the morning, the temperatures were well below zero and the weather was in our favor for now. A steep old growth forest takes you to the beginning of a huge drainage with rock walls on both sides. The old debris is seen on all the slide paths looking up the draw. As we make your way into the basin well spaced out with Ryan in the lead, I hear a rumble coming from behind. As I take a quick step forward a piece of debris come whirling down into the basin only 10m from my heels. I pull myself together and gain some focus. The trek ahead is not without a high degree of exposure. We walk directly under a huge hanging ice field. The only safe point is approximately 250m away so a steady pace is essential. The climb through the exposure is steep and grueling but we make it to the base of the main bowl unscathed. The push up the couloir faced us with 40 to 50 degree slope and a hard bed surface covered with 5 to 10cm of fresh snow. 10m from the summit the weather began to take a turn for the worst and we pulled the pin. Ryan and I reached the top of the couloir but missed the summit. Oh well another time, I was more concerned about the increasing winds and poor visibility. The decent was intense with variable snow conditions, the snow seemed to change drastically every 300 to 400m. Just beating the weather up high we skied out without any trouble and were ecstatic to reach the forest where we could finally relax and enjoy our triumph. If anyone else has skied this line please let us know, I'd love to hear about it.