Always great to be out
It’s been a little slow start here in the Selkirks. The snow is here but it is not the usual bottomless powder that we typically start the season with. Today felt more like May.
Regardless of conditions it is time to get out and condition my body. Today’s 4900 foot day was a challenge. Generally ski touring tires out the fittest people, it is a sport that wupps you into shape. Well today I was wupped. Maybe I didn’t drink enough water, or eat enough, whatever I was tired by the end. It will feel great to pass out tonight exhausted!
It really did feel like May. Warm temperatures ruined what powder there was and we were left wondering what we could do. It seemed like a great day to stand on a summit. So we toured up Balu and then up the west shoulder of Cheops. Once on the shoulder there is a great 1hr ridge climb to the summit. Cornices, rhymed rocks, it is a great hike to the summit. Easier in the early season while there is less snow. It makes it easier to differentiate between, rock and overhanging cornice. I was able to get some decent footage and had we waited for our descent we could have had some wicked Alpenglow turns. We still skied a great line, small chute that opens into a large bowl.
Great day to be out and always fun to summit something.
Life and such things
As per usual when the skiing season ends I become my alter ego. Working man. It’s as if greg hill, the skier, falls into a crevasse and hibernates for the summer. I almost sever all ties with the mountains and focus on working and family. Planting trees and working various jobs in the bush. I may think frequently of the mountains but I do not venture into them too often. I did manage to cllimb Sir Donald with Chris. It sits somewhere around the 6th highest Selkirk Mountain, and has taunted me for years. Wicked day and an awesome climb.
On September 27th I married Tracey, which was a fantastic occasion. Great family and friends, dancing and good times. As Tracey said” if you ever feel down about yourself…get married”. we had a great first dance, “Sweetest thing” by U2 played by some friends and then a nice honeymoon in Mexico sans kids. The kids are psyched for the upcoming winter, both have been in ski boots and skiing around the house.
As for other things. I worked on my first best of the best video. It took many hours to search out the best footage from last year and then compile it into a movie. If you have watched my videos you will recognize a few of the days but the story and combination of footage is different and exciting. “the Unbearable Lightness of Skiing”is a 14 minute movie that tries to explain what it is we do out in the backcountry. I tried to tie my movie into Kundera’s book but quickly realized that he was a very intelligent man and I am not. But there is no doubt that the freedom and lightness of backcountry skiing is what we search for. And that the truths of the mountains sometimes make way more sense than the rules of society.
Anyhow amazingly enough the movie made The Banff International Mountain Film Festival and will be on the world tour this year. Pretty cool that our adventures will be seen around the world.
I also realized how much better the videos were on a larger screen and that I should create and sell a small backcountry DVD . It will be “the Unbearable Lightness of Skiing”, plus a couple of my seasons videos. Something to entertain and inspire. If you are interested please email me. 
I am sure that there is a lot more to say, but it’s late.
