Arc’teryx Women’s Ski Camp Review
I have owned skis for a few seasons now but with only a handful of days spent inbounds at resorts and an equal amount trying to backcountry ski, I have to admit that there has been more frustration with the sport than there has been love for it. So the decision to sign up for a ski camp was easy, but which one would I choose? A few months ago I discovered the 2 day Arc’teryx Women’s Ski Camp being held at Whistler Blackcomb. I will confess though that the thought of participating in an all women’s camp wasn’t appealing to me and all women events are typically something I try to avoid for fear that they may be too “pink”. Would the atmosphere be overly girly - an estrogen charged atmosphere of emotion and snack breaks filled with chocolate and group hugs? But they did advertise that you would leave with “more confidence guaranteed”. I had nothing to lose, so I signed up. The weeks went by and when the camp weekend finally rolled in I was excited to see what it offered. I arrived at the meetup point, Merlin’s at the base of Blackcomb which would also serve as our Après ski location, and found the room packed. I was amazed at how many women showed up, clearly not everyone is as apprehensive as I am about all women’s environments. That first morning we were given the opportunity to meet each other, provided with coffee, tea and a healthy breakfast spread that included yogurt, granola, seeds & berries (a very nice touch) and we separated into groups based on our self-designated ability levels. Despite the large turnout, each group maxed out with a 6 to 1 ratio of clients to guides and some even as low as 2 to 1. Our first day was spent on Blackcomb mountain and our group coach, Connie Baker, immediately sent us down a slope to assess our abilities. Right away Connie was able to critique my technique and provide me with advice and tips on how to improve. Within a few hours, I was already starting to feel more confident and feeling a vast improvement from all of my other previous days on the hill. Connie was there watching each of us individually as we skied each run and provided feedback. I was so impressed with how much individual instruction we received. We spent hours sessioning specific moves until they felt natural. Connie was patient, funny and very dedicated in her teaching and by the end of the second day on Whistler mountain our group of 5 women were all skiing more confidently. Not...
14 Adventures in 2014
So last year we did a recap of our Top 13 adventures in 2013. It only seems fitting to follow suit this year with a look back on our Top 14 Adventures in 2014. It’s always interesting looking back over the photo albums. In hindsight an entire year can seem pretty short, it’s only when we actually sit down and remember what we did and where we went that we begin to realize just how much we packed into those 12 short months. It was a tough process cutting down our list of adventures to only 14. In the end we decided to cut out anything we didn’t do together, which was actually quite a lot. Spring did a ton of running in 2014, mostly solo or with some running friends. She also ran 80km of technical trails in the Squamish50 race. I was there, at the Aid Stations and the Finish line, but not beside her in the fray. Myself I got out a few times either with other friends or solo to visit some mountains I was interested in. Excellent experiences, especially the solo trips, but getting out with Spring and sharing the adventure always makes it better. If not for just the fact that I have a subject for my photographs. I also want to point out that both myself and Spring currently work full-time, 40 hours per week jobs. Myself, due to my work requiring an odd schedule, I worked about 60% of my weekends this past year. We’ve also increased the work we’ve been doing on Pebbleshoo by working with Brands and Companies we believe in to write for them and create content. To add to this, in 2014 neither myself nor Spring took any Holidays. You heard that right. Apart from the odd Statutory Holiday weekend of 3 days, we took no other periods of time off longer than 2 days. Mostly it was 1 day adventures. I guess the point I wanted to make is that there is 52 weeks in a year. There is no reason why you can’t make 52 unique memories from new Adventures every year. I’ve been working most weekends but we still make it work because we’re motivated. During the Summer, after finishing an 8 hour day at 5pm, there is still a good 6 hours of usable daylight to get out and explore. The most important step, and likely the most difficult for most people, is putting yourself in a place that enables the way of life you want to live. Living in our home of Squamish means that we rarely need to worry about commuting....
A Winter Storm
*WHUMPF* “Did you hear that?” “I felt it” “Wait what? I didn’t feel it!” “What do we do?” “We don’t go any higher. We turn back.” “… ok” Last Winter myself and Spring started getting into backcountry ski touring. Learning to ski follows naturally if you live near mountains and wish to continue to visit them through the Winter. There is of course snowshoeing, but it is laborious. Skiing makes the uphill climbing more energy efficient and the downhill is fast. You can’t beat skiing for the ground that can be covered during the short hours of daylight through the Winter months. While the mountains in Winter are staggeringly beautiful they are also extremely dangerous. More so than in Summer when the temperatures are more hospitable and the hazards, though still present, are largely visible and known. As Humans we tend to anthropomorphize many things and I feel that when we see something beautiful that makes us feel happiness we imagine that the source of that beauty cares for us, otherwise why would it make us happy? We imbue these places with intent towards us. When the winds howl the mountain doesn’t want us there, but when the sun shines it welcomes us openly. I have felt this in the mountains while watching a sunrise or staring out at a grand panorama. It can be easy to let the joy felt blind us to the objective dangers that are always present. The mountains do not care if we find happiness or not. The are eternally indifferent. To an outsider who has never explored deep into a remote mountain range this may seem laughably obvious. It is only those that answer the call to venture into these high places that understand the struggle to separate the objective reality with the subjective emotional experience that one undergoes while immersed in these environments. I know I will spend a lifetime trying to understand it and, like all those pulled back to the mountains, will continue to go there to experience it. When I first started my Winter forays into the Hills it was easy to fool myself into believing that all I needed to get into the mountains was enough mettle to endure the cold and the skill to be able to ski, but I’ve since learned that this is merely the tip of the iceberg of the knowledge and experience that I actually require. The Winter Storm that titles this post does not refer to the weather but rather the early experiences of most individuals who push into the mountains in Winter without an understanding of the risks they are taking....
10 Things My First Ultra Taught Me
Technically anything over the marathon distance of 42.2 km (26.2 miles) is classified as an ultra distance. With this in mind it means I officially ran my first ultra trail race in August 2013, when I ran the Squamish 50 50 km (31 miles) trail race. However, it wasn’t until I decided to run my first 80 km (50 mile) trail race that it actually felt like I was entering the ultra arena. This felt monumental and to be honest a little outside of my wheelhouse. But I was committed to running it, not just surviving it, and I tried to focus hard on training. Seeing as I am not a professional and fairly new to the trail running scene, my approach to training, although a little more refined recently, could be called somewhat clumsy and haphazard. I have several sports/hobbies that I like to pursue - rock climbing, mountaineering, ice climbing,skiing - so my attention and energy can be diverted easily. Because of this my training became a bit of a juggling act. I ended up learning a lot while training and running my first ultra. Here are the top 10 things I learned during the process: 1) Run a lot of hills - Yes this means hill repeats. BORING! That’s probably what you are thinking and I know because I thought the exact same thing. In fact I remember one elite trail runner say that you know are deep into training season when you have a fair share of boring runs. Yes, not every run is going to be about having fun but about pushing you outside of your comfort zone. Besides if you are anything like me, slightly masochistic as most long distance runners are, you will find joy in these training runs too! 2) Run back to back long runs -The LSD (long slow distance) is the trademark of endurance runners. Spending a lot of time on your feet, not worrying so much about the actual distance covered, but about the hours you spend out there. So run a big 6-8 hour run on Saturday and get ready to run at least another 2-4 hours on Sunday. Let your body know your mind is in control and you are running whether the body protests or not; run on tired legs. 3) Eat a lot while running, even when you don’t want to - I learned this when I let a podium finish slip through my fingers because I didn’t focus on getting calories into my body early on in the race. It was only when my friend, who was keeping pace with me that day,...
Sky Pilot Race Recap
From reading some of our past posts you may have realized that the Sky Pilot is one of our favorite mountains around Squamish. It’s a spectacular alpine area where backcountry adventure is around every corner. So when we heard that the Coast Mountain Trail Series was bringing a trail race to this area, we knew we had to run it! The inaugural race was scheduled for September 21, which could mean beautiful fall weather or torrential rain; it could go either way here on the west coast. With the race being set in such a rugged area there was a lot of trail building happening weeks before the race. Everyone involved in creating this race wanted to make it a unique mountain running experience. The excitement was building when there was talk of roped sections, boulder fields and ridge running. However,days before the race, the endless summer sunshine we had been experiencing changed to the autumnal rains, which meant all of the fresh new trail became streams of mud. The steep trails were now too wet to run and it would be too risky to send all of the runners out onto this terrain. But if I have learnt anything about the Coast Mountain Trail Series races, it’s that they do not disappoint, and with literally hours before the start of the race, a change of route was put in place. They were going to make sure everyone got the mountain running experience they promised! This was some of the rugged mountain trail. Mt. Habrich from the summit point of the race. Checking out the view from the summit. We showed up to the starting line, on a sunny blue bird day at the top of the Sea to Sky Gondola, not totally sure of the new route and curious where exactly it was going to take us. Leigh and I were running this one together and decided to run it as a fun run. No need to race, just enjoy the new course, take a few photos along the way and revel in the scenery. As usual the starting area was buzzing with the energy of runners antsy to start, one of my favorite parts of racing. Just feeding off of that energy can carry you for miles! And we needed that energy to carry us. This course was unforgiving in its ascent. Starting on the tame and gentle uphill Sky Pilot ridge trail, we would eventually be taken straight up to a ridge that connected to Mt. Habrich. Running or rather power hiking up steep, loose, duff covered forest trail, straight onto a boulder field. Crossing the...
