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Grounded

Cypress mountain is showing 30+ cm of new snow in the last 24 hours on a 100cm base. The road is completely buried in snow on the Duffy Lake Road Webcam. My car has spent more time in the shop than the mountains this month. The snow is out there waiting for me to come ski but I am sitting grounded, waiting for a new starter motor. Tomorrow is a full day at school. Hope I can get out this weekend.

Nutrition - Competing Interests

"What supplements should I consider taking for improving performance and staying healthy during competition season?"

This is a common question that I get from friends and fellow racers (running, nordic, skimo or otherwise - it doesn't matter). My answer is usually a rambling version of "it depends" as diet, training plan, and personal taste all bring a lot of variation. I started this article with the purpose of generally answering the question (and thats still how I will finish it) but quickly got sidetracked with the issue of competing interests.

First Ski!

East Ridge of Mt. Matier

I have never had snow on my birthday but Friday night, after celebrating with Sarah, it started to snow in the mountains. Saturday morning we woke up to snow low on the north shore and even saw a bit down in the valley during a run. I had to wait until Wednesday for a full day free but when it finally came, I got an early start driving to Pemberton.

Nick hiking in Ceriese Creek

Nick and I hoped to climb the East Ridge of Mt. Matier, normally a easy climb/scramble in summer, we expected things to be a little more exciting with a bit of snow and ice. We also figured we could get a good ski run in down the Anniversary Glacier with all the new snow.

Trip Report - Mt. Baker

Sarah with her eyes on the prize.

Sarah and I decided to fill up our (Canadian) Thanksgiving long weekend with a trip down to Mt. Baker. Usually a spring ski trip or summer climb, the moderate temps and good forecast gave us the confidence to head out for a climb up the Coleman-Demming Route - one of the more relatively low key on the mountain.

Gear - Plum Race 145 Bindings

Plum Race 145

Plum is a French skimo binding company that produces several solid looking products. Among their all metal bindings (no plastic bits to worry about breaking) is their race series, the flagship of which is the Race 145. The name of course refers to the weight of one binding in grams. Certainly in the same league as the lightest bindings available (the Race 135 is lighter but has a lower release setting), the Race 145 is built with a steel rear fork giving it a forward release of 8.5 and a lateral release of 7.5.

Trip Report - Mt. Weart Recon

North face of Mount Weart

When climbers go to the trouble of packing up a rope, rack and gear for an alpine climb, hike in, reach the route, and then decide not to climb it for whatever reason, one way of justifying the effort is calling it a recon. This trip was definitely a recon - certainly not a failure.