out again with my 'lost' son

Almost a year ago I took my son Luka out to Mt. Buller for his first ski tour. At that time he was eight and to my surprise he really enjoyed the laborious act of skinning up.

Earlier this Winter we got out again for a bit of a shorter day on Mt. Norquay, and we had an equally good time. There was only one problem with the progress in Lukas ski touring career...

...he developed a really bad habit and fell in love with a snow board.

In his vocabulary, the word skiing did not even exist anymore until recently, when he got to see some of my latest ski pictures which showed the perfect conditions we have these days out there.

This must have re-sparked the smoldering fire burning inside his well hidden skiing soul and he did not have to ask me twice to take him out again.

Yesterday we took advantage of the parent teacher interviews and had our own papa/son interviews on our way up a mountain on the Banff/Radium Highway. 

The 4 hour climb was rewarded by a perfect 1100m powder run 

and a hot chocolate plus donut at a locally owned Tim Hortons. 

Sweeeet!

today, somewhere in the back yard

Today was my first day off guiding in a long time. One of my guests cancelled last minute

 (seems to be a bit of a trend lately) and so I had the chance to treat my wife out for a bunch of fine runs in Kananaskis Country. 

Lot's of fresh powder to be had out there after the warm pineapple express got replaced with some colder air from the North.

I consider this a very special present, the ability to go on short adventures like this with my wife during the few hours our kids are in school. 

I just hope you take advantage of your back yard too!

the perfect guiding mix

It's been a while since my last posting, simply due to the fact that I did not have time for any private adventures in a long time. Nothing worthwhile to write about...

Work has taken over and it's high season for Winter guiding. 

Since I stopped full time heli skiing a couple years back I thought hard during that Summer of what would be the perfect guiding Winter for me. 

The answer was always the same: 

I wanted to have a big variety in my work, from a few weeks of heli skiing in different areas with new terrain and route finding challenges, Ice climbing guiding around the Rockies, and last but not least a bunch of back country ski touring in all it's different forms.

Last Winter I started to work towards this goal and it was not always easy to get the work I wanted to, but it was a start and I know it will still be a long road to achieve this goal. 

Therefore I am very psyched about the last 6 weeks, which included every "guiding discipline" mentioned above in almost equal parts. 

The only part that was missing was playtime for myself and with my Family, but that should change soon as the Winter starts to wind down.

first run of a fine day in the Cariboos

One of those magic weeks of heli skiing,
powder from mountain top to the Valley floor.

My new friend Cleo, one of the 2 mouse chasers of the Cariboo lodge.

On my only weekend off in February I experienced together with Luka
our first live NHL game in the Calgary Saddle Dome.
The Flames beat the Coyotes 4:3 in an epic game.
Thanks to Lorne for the prime tickets! 

Chris on the virgin left side of the top tier of Polar Circus.

the upper part of Polar Circus

rappelling the fat top part of the Circus

Guinness stout with Carl

one of the great climbs with Carl, the top pitch of Murchison Falls.

Skitouring in the Vermillion Range, a saving grace this year  .
The Goodsirs present a dramatic scenery.

The first time I had my wife Kimby joining me on a guided daytrip
to Vermillion Peak. She sure knows how to ski and have fun.

Another "secret" spot in the Vermillion Range.
When everyone was complaining about the lack of powder in the Rockies and to many tracks, this place seems to deliver even after a 2 week drought.