A week ago or so now the first big snowfall came into the area and I started seeing plenty of ski shots from the Highwood Pass area. After arranging some time off work I was able to get out that way to see what it was all about.

Jackie, Trevor and I met Nick at the main parking lot and then went a little south to the drainage coming out of the southern Storm Mountain area. Lots of cars at the other hot spots but we were the only ones at ours and we were happy to be so. We started up the creek where we found low or no snow until getting to treeline where there was enough snow to travel most places.

We skied 3 laps during the day in the two cirques. Our first lap was on a solar aspect and the breakable crust was a real treat. Our second lap had the best snow, a fan on a northwest facing couloir. For our last lap we tried for a northern lee pocket that turned out to be less loaded than it looked. The exit through the trees was sporty, some of us ended up walking the bottom 100m of vertical.

Right now the game is to get up above the trash coverage in the forests and find an isolated feature with good snow, while remembering that there is barely any snow and plentry of rocks. Hate the game, not the player.
