Sunshine Mountain Village!

What a day today, blue bird skies and a few cm's of fresh snow. We got into beautiful Sunshine Village at about noon, and headed straight to the Chimney Corner Lounge for a bite to eat. This place has some great views from your table overlooking the vast amount of skiable terrain. After lunch we checked into the Sunshine Inn. A hotel literally 10 feet away from a chairlift. Pretty sweet if you ask me. Later on we got the chance to talk with Chef Brenner at the Look Out Cabin, to give us an idea of what the chow scene is all about here at Sunshine. We had the luxury of sitting in on this months "employee of the month" ceremony. An amazing 3 course meal followed by a chocolate fondu and prizes. A gathering that only a select 40 people attend from the Sunshine Village Staff. We got to see what the staff is all about here at Sunshine. With 40% of them being Aussi, it was pretty interesting!

Make sure to follow up and read more on the website HERE ---->  www.snowseekers.ca

and don't forget to check out the video HERE ----> www.snowseekers.ca

Sunny Sun Peaks

Only about half an hour away from beautiful Kamloops, Sun Peaks Mountain Resort is quite the site to see. Three mountains for one ski resort. Are you serious? We got the chance to get out with Senator Nancy Greene to show us some of her favorite spots on this wicked mountain, and really show us what makes Sun Peaks shine. Epic views into foggy valleys as you burn down their wide open groomers is a sensational experience, but ripping down the crystal bowl's intense moguls is a whole nether story. Two mountains chalked with steep terrain and epic glades not good enough? Ride down to the bridge crosswalk and head up to Mount Morrisey for even more action. Special thanks to Nancy and the crew at Sun Peaks for making the experience happen. Read more about the trip -->here<---

And don't forget to check out the video for a little sneak peak of what your missing out on!

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Lovin Life at Mount Washington

Well what can I say. Mount Washington was another amazing experience to tack onto the west coast tour. We hit the slopes with a fellow snow seeking friend Brent from Mount Washington Alpine Resort. We toured around the mountain with him all morning, filming the good stuff Mount Washington has to offer. Came across some pretty rad stuff! Jim and Brent hiked up this steep slope on a run off the Boomerang chair so I could get a nice shot. Successful ski tour to say the least. I love these ski tours. While I'm out there filming, its like being on a giant location scout for the runs I want to hit on my free time. Brent took us over to the Outback. This has the gnarliest runs of them all. With a massive dump of snow a couple days before, shredding the trees of runs like Billabong and the Copper Glades was ridiculous. Being my first actual double black diamond runs I was amped as hell. If hit some pretty steep terrain at Kicking Horse. But hiking past a double black diamond sign and dropping into a chute as wide as something like my car is defiantly something to write home about, and I don't drive a limo. After a gnarly day on the hill, why not go down to the Crown Isle Golf Club and shoot some balls? Can it get any better. I don't even golf, and I knew I was getting myself into something really cool. One second I'm dropping into some double diamond glades, and the next me and the Doc are shooting 9 at Crown Isle. I'll stop bragging now. Anyways make sure you check out the video! It turned out well.---->snowseekers<------

Come to Castle

On our tour through Southern Alberta, we had the luxury of hitting this place up. Castle Mountain Resort prints "powder to share" on their lift tickets, and they aren't kidding. When we got in the first night, there was this hilarious staff party going on at the T-Bar pub and grub located at the bottom of the hill. These guys were awesome, they have a themed party every other wednesday. This party was themed 80's night. Twister was rockin' and so was the rest of the clan. This place isn't just a great night scene, but for apres after a hard day of riding you can't go wrong either. Their pizza is definitely something to write home about. On the hill is just as good. The mountain sits rite along the continental divide with some epic views to say the least. They recently installed a new chairlift opening up a wealth of terrain for the resort. You can't go wrong at Castle. See for yourself, watch the video on our website! www.snowseekers.ca

Big Mountain Education

As mentioned below in my last post, one of the stellar things
about Nothern Escape's annual steep camp program is the education that comes with it.

"We pass along this eduction because then people can be aware of their skiing, the terrain and make the most of it," explains Yvan Sabourin, 12 year mountain ski guide with Northern Escape.

For my buddy Michael Grand, a big lesson was learned about looking before your leaping, as the guides lead us off with the words, “ok so I want you to just get out on this slope and take which ever line you think is the right one.” Grand, a first time backcountry skier, charged over a lip where you couldn’t see to the other side only to be in one of those, “oh shi*t” moments dropping I’d say about 15 feet into a creek bed and into a sizeable hole. A double eject later and a strong sense of pride missing, Grand was back, with that lesson learned. “You want to establish the run before you and asses which hazards could be out there, if you just ski into it blindly, that is where you can get into trouble. Always look before you leap," says John Forrest, anouther of Northern Escape's stellar guides.

Some big lessons came into play yesterday morning, when they took us to one of the venues to be featured in this fall's release of Standard Film's Black Winter. This one was all about how to read the terrain and prepare yourself for potential sluff hazards. Sluff is the small stream of snow that can come loose as a skier or shredder makes their traverse.
“On a particular slope you can give a big cut turn, I’d say on anything with an over 45 grade pitch. Do a big wide cut turn on top of it and continue to ski out to the side. You could experience a sluff slide, wait for it to run out and than which will clear the way for your turns below," explained Sabourin. "Should you get caught in it, work your best to ski out to the side." As he explained, even this little stuff can really get you in trouble.

As for the run from the top its was gnarly, big mountain riding at its best, two shoots, some trees and a few major cliffs to avoid but all us steep campers made it out in one piece, all fully charged to get up and do it all again.
It's stellar this is five days...lots more ops to shred some more gnar!

doc pow over and out
http://www.snowseekers.ca/

Northern Escape Steep Camp

SnowSeekers is on special assignment this week up in Terrace BC - home to Northern Escape Heli-skiing. This is Doc Pow here and I am fortunate enough to be up here for five days as part of their new program entitled Steep Camp.

We all have seen the movies, those segments where you think, "how is this guy going to navigate this line and get off that mountain face in one piece." While if you wanted to really get an answer to that question and at the same time maybe try a line or four that is going to push your big mountain snow shredding buttons than this camp is for you.

We've been hanging with Yvan Saborin for the last few days up here who is responsible for managing the film crews and programs for Northern Escape (NEH). Since its start five years ago the operation has been featured in a bunch of films by Matchstick Productions, Standard Films and a host of others. Its Saborin's job to take the atheletes out and get them what they are looking for - some phat lines that will translate well on camera.

"What you dont see in the movies is the amount of preperation that has to go into each shot," explains Saborin. But here at steep camp you sure get to and its awesome.

What I am loving about this program is the fact that not only do you get to ski some phat lines but also you get a stellar amount of education behind it. Big mountain riding does not come easy, you have to be savy to the wealth of hazards that are out there- cravasees, avalanche dangers and many other factors that may not have you come back in one piece.

The biggest thing is experience, and that is sure what we are getting up here at steep camp.

more updates and a movie from our days to come in the next bit....